Our Terms of Business
Introduction
Auxillias Limited (Auxillias/we/us/our) is committed to providing you with an excellent level of service. These terms and conditions, together with the letter enclosing them (and any subsequent letters from us confirming your further instructions) ("the Engagement Letter(s)") and any variation, deletion and/or addition to these terms agreed by us with you in writing contain all the terms and conditions which we have agreed with you. In the event of any conflict between these terms and conditions and the Engagement Letter(s), the Engagement Letter(s) will prevail.
We reserve the right to amend these Terms of Engagement in the future, to reflect relevant changes in law or commercial practice. The services provided to you and the contract under which those services are provided is with Auxillias Limited and not with any individual partner, employee, or agent of Auxillias Limited. Acceptance of our commencement of the provision of services to you shall be deemed to be acceptance of these Terms of Engagement whether or not you have in fact signed the Engagement Letter(s).
Regulatory Status and Jurisdiction
Auxillias is a limited company and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of England and Wales number 670195. The professional rules relating to solicitors can be accessed on the SRA website at https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations. Its registered company number is 12419806 and its VAT registration number is 341163141. Like many other companies, Auxillias will continue to use the title ‘partner’ to describe both employees and other senior professionals employed by Auxillias with equivalent standing, experience and qualifications. However, the use of this title should not be seen as indicating that any relationship of partnership has arisen between Auxillias and you.
Please note that your contract is with Auxillias and any work done for you by a partner, consultant or employee of Auxillias is given or done by that individual on behalf of Auxillias. No such individual will owe a personal duty of care to you. Unless instructed to the contrary, Auxillias shall be entitled to assume that any of your directors, employees, partners, consultants, agents or professional representatives who give instructions to Auxillias, are authorised to do so and that Auxillias may act upon such instructions.
The contract is governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Any disputes or claims arising shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
Instruction And Communication
We shall be entitled to act on the instructions of any of your apparently authorised employees or agents and to rely on any information provided to us by such employees and agents.
We shall carry out our engagement as recorded in the Engagement Letter(s). We shall not be responsible for any failure to advise or comment on any matter which falls outside the scope and limitations of our engagement and will have no responsibility to you for draft advice or to update any advice for events or changes in law which take place after it is issued.
Advice rendered by us is provided for your benefit and solely for the purpose of the instructions to which it relates. It may not be used or relied on for any other purpose or by any person other than you without our prior written agreement. Where we are instructed by more than one person, the
responsibility to pay our charges will be joint and several, meaning that any one joint client will be responsible for all the charges and other expenses due to us. It is also a condition of our accepting instructions from joint clients that we may be open with all other joint clients as to any information which would be subject to our normal professional duty of disclosure. If our ability to meet our duty of disclosure to each joint client is restricted in any way, or if a conflict arises between joint clients, we may cease to act for one or more, or all the joint clients. When acting for joint clients, we assume that we are fully authorised by all joint clients to take instructions from any one of them, unless otherwise notified in writing We also operate a 'Client Partner' system to ensure that you have a single, senior lawyer who will maintain an overview of your files and matters. Your Client Partner is the individual identified as such in initial correspondence with you and, if you are in any doubt about who to contact, please contact the Office Manager.
We may use email or other electronic means to communicate with you. This carries with it the risk of, but not limited to, interception, inadvertent misdirection, or non-delivery. It is your responsibility to carry out a virus check on any attachments received. All risks connected with sending commercially sensitive or other information relating to you and/or your business are borne by you and are your responsibility.
If you do not accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that email is not an acceptable means of communication and ensure that you do not use email to communicate with us.
OUR FEES
Unless otherwise agreed we shall charge you for work carried out as follows:
(a) time spent – we charge hourly rates for any time spent dealing with your work. We use ten, six minute, units per hour and charge for each unit or part thereof;
(b) routine letters, emails and telephone calls – each routine letter, email and telephone call is charged as a unit of one tenth of the hourly rate. Letters, emails and telephone calls that take longer than six minutes are charged on a time basis;
(c) disbursements – we charge for all disbursements incurred. Disbursements may include, for example, court fees, experts’ fees, search fees, and counsels’ fees;
(d) expenses - we may charge for travel and subsistence costs, courier fees, external copying and document production and other similar expenses, necessarily incurred by us, at cost or appropriate standard rates. We may also charge for internal document production and copying at our current rates which will be provided on request; and
(d) VAT – we add VAT to our fees, as appropriate, at the prevailing rate. Hourly rates quoted are exclusive of VAT.
Hourly rates vary depending upon the seniority of the lawyer (or other adviser) and the type of work undertaken. To carry out work for you it may be necessary for different lawyers/advisers to be involved.
Although, primarily, our fees are based on time spent, they may be adjusted by reference to certain factors such as value, urgency (including any need to carry out work outside our normal office hours) and the level of expertise involved. You may place a limit on the amount of fees which may be incurred without your prior approval. This may limit the work we will be able to do for you. If you wish to do so, please tell us in writing.
Any estimates of fees are not intended to be fixed or binding.
Our hourly rates are reviewed periodically and, therefore, may vary from time to time during your matter. We will advise you in writing in the event of any such change.
Save as set out below for new clients where total fees for the first matter (excluding VAT and disbursements) are more than £750 we will apply a fee of £30 plus VAT in respect of various administrative functions and identity searches that we are required to undertake (“File Opening Fee”). We will also charge the File Opening Fee should you instruct us on a further matter more than one year after these searches have been performed where the total fees for such matter (excluding VAT and disbursements) are more than £750, or such revised fee as shall be charged for such administrative functions and identity searches at that time. For non UK clients additional fees will be applicable.
We will not charge a File Opening Fee at all where a client is (i) FCA registered (ii) a listed plc (iii) a UK law firm (or a law firm based in another jurisdiction provided we can fully search the appropriate regulatory register) or (iv) where we in our sole discretion waive the File Opening Fee.
We are required to comply with various statutory and regulatory requirements (such as the Money Laundering Regulations) in relation to our retainer with you. The work done, and any other actions that we may be required to take, in order to comply with those requirements form part of the work and we may include the cost of any such work (together with VAT, as applicable) in the fees payable by you.
Invoicing and Payment
We shall be entitled to invoice you at appropriate intervals, normally on a monthly basis or at appropriate stages in the conduct of the matter Unless otherwise agreed in writing, invoices are payable immediately or at the latest within fourteen days of the date of the invoice, by you, and will be rendered in pounds sterling. If any invoice is not paid within fourteen days of the date of the invoice any other outstanding invoices, or invoices issued to you, will become due for payment immediately.
You agree that you are willing to accept delivery of bills sent in electronic form, including by email or fax to any email address or fax number we use to communicate with you. For any bill we deliver in this way, which relates to regulated services provided only, you waive your rights under s.69 of the Solicitors Act 1974 to have the invoice signed by a partner and delivered personally, sent by post or left at your address.
We may require you to make a payment or payments on account of our fees, including disbursements and expenses. If you are required to do so, your money will not be held on account for you or specifically ring-fenced, as the money may be held and used as part of the firm’s own money in the business account. If you would you like your monies to be held outside or you would like to consider alternative arrangements, please let us know.
Invoices may be paid by banker’s draft, credit card or telegraphic transfer. Cheques are also accepted though not preferred. A charge may be made by us for credit card payments. Monies held by us, on your behalf, unless earmarked for other purposes, will be used to pay our invoices and disbursements. Details of our bank account, to which payment should be made will be shown on our invoice and may be obtained from us upon request. us. Any cheques should be made payable to Auxillias Limited.
Unless we agree to do so, we do not accept payment in cash either from clients direct or deposited with our bank.
Interest may be charged on outstanding invoices that are not paid within thirty days of receipt (or other period agreed), from that date, at the statutory rate of 8%. If an invoice is overdue for payment, we reserve the right to suspend work and to retain documents and papers belonging to you and all legal entities which you control, or, if you form part of a group, all legal entities in that group. You remain responsible for payment of invoices even if the Engagement does not proceed to completion or if a third party (including an insurer), who has agreed to pay or has been ordered to pay, fails to do so. Where we are instructed by more than one individual client, you will all be jointly and severally liable for the total amount of our fees.
If you have a query about any invoice please contact one of the partners of the firm. If the query is not resolved, and the query relates to regulated services, you may have the right to object to the invoice by applying to the court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.
Suspension and Termination of work
You may terminate the work at any time by giving written notice to us.
We may in our absolute discretion suspend or terminate the work forthwith in the event that:
- you fail to make a payment on account of fees and/or disbursements and/or VAT;
- you fail to pay any invoice within thirty days of presentation to you;
- you persistently fail to pay invoices in accordance with the terms agreed in the Terms;
- you persistently fail to provide us with instructions in relation to the work;
- your instructions may result in us being required to act in a manner that is unlawful and/or may contravene applicable legislative or regulatory requirements and/or may otherwise give rise to unacceptable professional risk to us or breach of our duty under the Solicitors Regulation Authority Handbook;
- the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, The Money Laundering Regulations 2007, or any legislation of like or similar effect prohibits us from continuing to act for you; or the relationship between us have otherwise irretrievably broken down.
In the event that you or we suspend or terminate the work, we shall be entitled to invoice you for our fees in respect of the work done, disbursements incurred and any applicable VAT to the point that the work was suspended or terminated, and in respect of any work (such as applications to remove us from the Court Register as acting for you) that may reasonably be necessary following such suspension or termination. Any invoice raised by us as a result of work being suspended or terminated shall be payable immediately upon presentation to you.
Insurance mediation and other Financial Services
The provision of our legal services may involve regulated activities in relation to investments within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority under that Act but may undertake activities such as arranging and advising which are incidental to our legal services or which may reasonably be regarded as a necessary part of our legal services. We cannot provide advice on the merits of financial products but can assist you to execute decisions which you have made in relation to financial products.
Money Laundering Regulations
The law requires solicitors, as well as many other institutions, to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of clients and information concerning the source of client funds where the work undertaken is regulated. It is our firm’s policy to carry out such verification for all unregulated work too. If you are requested to do so, you must provide us with documents to verify your identity and must provide details concerning the source of your funds. If we are not given satisfactory information at the appropriate time, we will be obliged to terminate the contract.
To ensure that we comply with money laundering legislation, we may validate name, address and other personal information supplied by you against appropriate third-party databases. By accepting these terms, you consent to such checks being made regardless of whether the work being undertaken is regulated or not. In performing these checks, personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered credit reference agency which may keep a record of that information. This is done only to confirm your identity. A credit check is not performed, and your credit rating will be unaffected. All information provided by you will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018. We confirm that any personal data we obtain for the purposes of the Money Laundering Regulations will only be processed for the purposes of preventing money laundering or terrorist financing.
If you are unable to come in to see us so that we can check your original identity documents, we can accept copies. However, in certain circumstances, those copies will need to be certified by a trusted third party such as a credit or financial institution, auditor, insolvency practitioner, external accountant, tax adviser or independent legal professional. They should write “I (name) a (profession) of (address) hereby certify this to be a true and exact copy of the original” and on the photo ID also add the words “and a true likeness of the bearer” on the copy document(s), and then sign and date it/them. They should include their name, occupation and contact details. Alternatively, you may be able to use an identification checking service offered by the Post Office. The Post Office will be able to tell you the procedure and cost involved.
We are obliged to keep records relating to your identity and a record of transactions relating to you for at least five years.
Solicitors are under professional and legal obligations to keep the affairs of clients confidential in respect of regulated work. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception: legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing has placed solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to the National Crime Agency. Where any member of Auxillias staff knows or suspects that a transaction, on behalf of a client, involves money laundering, the staff member may be required to make a money laundering disclosure. If this happens, we may be prohibited from informing you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it.
You agree that we will not be liable for any costs, claims, penalties, damages or other losses incurred by you resulting from or in connection with the compliance by us with these professional and legal obligations.
Data Protection
Your details and any details of key individuals within your organisation may be entered into our database. We refer to this information as “personal data”. We will use this personal data, primarily, to provide you with legal services. You confirm that you are authorised to provide to us any personal data that we process on your behalf.
Such personal data will also be kept on our database for administration and accounting purposes, to enable us to undertake any searches with credit reference agencies and so that we can send you, or such key individuals, relevant information about us, our services and about developments and events which we consider to be of interest to you. A copy of our Client Data Protection Policy is available upon request.
However, except as permitted above or as required by law, we will not share or otherwise disclose to any third party any information provided by you, save as set out in our Client Data Protection Policy. All personal information will be processed in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
You have a right to see any of your personal information held by us and can request access to it by contacting us on admin@Auxillias.com. If you believe that any of the personal information held by us may be incorrect, please let us know.
If, during the course of acting for you, you require us to process personal data on your behalf as your processor (for example, to upload documentation or information into an online data room, hosted by our supplier, HighQ or other data room providers during the course of a merger or acquisition) (Services), the following terms and conditions in this clause will apply.
In these circumstances, references in this clause to a Regulation are to regulation 2016/679/EC. References to an Article are to an Article of the Regulation. Capitalised terms in this clause have the meaning defined by the Regulation.
We shall:
(a) process the personal data in accordance with all applicable Data Protection Laws and Regulations;
(b) process the personal data within the European Economic Area and on your documented instructions only, including with regard to transfers of Personal Data to a third country or an international organisation;
(c) unless prohibited by law, notify you before Processing the Personal Data, if we are required by any law of the European Union or the law of one of the Member States of the European Union to act other than in accordance with your instructions; or if, in our opinion, any of your instructions infringes the Regulation or other Union or Member State data protection provisions;
(d) obtain your prior written authorisation before engaging another Data Processor (other than our existing provider of our virtual data room, HighQ, for which you hereby give your authorisation) and shall respect the conditions referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 28 for any such engagement. Subject to the limitation on liability, we shall be liable for the acts and omissions of our Sub-processors, and we shall ensure that the Sub-processor contract (as it relates to the Processing of Personal Data) is on terms which are substantially the same as, and in any case no less onerous than, the terms set out in this clause;
(e) comply with the clause on confidentiality in respect of such Processing, and the Personal Data shall be "Confidential Information";
(f) take all measures required pursuant to Article 32;
(g) taking into account the nature of the Processing, assist you at your cost by appropriate technical and organisational measures, insofar as this is possible, for the fulfilment of your obligation to respond to requests for exercising the Data Subject's rights laid down in Chapter III of the Regulation;
(h) provide reasonable assistance to you on your written request and at your cost in ensuring compliance with your obligations pursuant to Articles 32 to 36, taking into account the nature of Processing and the information available to us;
(i) at your choice and at your cost, delete or return all the Personal Data to you after the end of the provision of the Services relating to the Processing, and delete existing copies unless Union or Member State law requires storage of the Personal Data;
(j) at your cost and following written agreement as to the details make available to you all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations laid down in Article 28; and allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections, conducted by you or another auditor mandated by you, to the extent required by Article 28;
(k) in the event of an actual or suspected Personal Data Breach notify you without undue delay and provide reasonable and timely cooperation with your investigation into the Personal Data Breach; and unless required by binding law, or under a subpoena, court order or similar legal document issued by a court or regulatory authority, not disclose the Personal Data Breach to anyone other than you without first obtaining your prior written consent; and
(l) not transfer, publish, disclose, divulge or otherwise permit access to Personal Data by recipients (including Sub-processors) in jurisdictions outside of the European Economic Area unless you provide your written consent.
You agree that you have sole responsibility for and shall ensure that:
(a) you have all necessary rights to authorise us and our Sub-processors to Process Personal Data in accordance with this agreement and the Regulation and other applicable data protection laws;
(b) you have provided adequate fair processing notices to, and obtained all necessary consents from all Data Subjects to enable us and our Sub-processors to Process the Personal Data for the purposes of providing our services to you and performing our obligations and exercising our rights as set out in this agreement;
(c) you provide us with only Personal Data that is adequate, readable, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the lawful purposes for which they are processed;
(d) all Personal Data provided to us is accurate and where necessary, kept up to date; and
(e) your instructions to us relating to Processing of Personal Data shall not breach, and will not put either party in breach of, any applicable law.
Confidentiality, disclosure and conflicts
We owe you a duty of confidentiality but may be required to make exceptional disclosure as required by statute, court order, regulation, the SRA or as set out below.
We may hold confidential information about a former, current or prospective client which might reasonably be expected to be material to an Engagement. In those circumstances, we owe you no duty to disclose such information to you.
Where we hold confidential information about you, we shall not be precluded from acting or continuing to act for another client or prospective client where that information might reasonably be expected to be material to it and it has an adverse interest to you provided that it is reasonable for us to act. In those circumstances, all proper steps will be taken to ensure that confidential information about you is safeguarded, protected and not disclosed including, if appropriate, by the establishment of internal information barriers, in accordance with professional regulations.
You agree that we may disclose our files to regulatory bodies, our auditors, courts or other bodies working with us, as appropriate, in the exercise of their powers or in order to carry out work for you. If we are required, for any reason (whether during the course of an Engagement or after it has terminated), compulsorily to disclose documents or to give information, orally or in writing, relating to a matter or your affairs pursuant to a court order, notice or demand served by an entity or person with the authority to compel such disclosure, then we shall comply. If any documents or information are subject to legal professional privilege, then, if possible, we will let you know and advise you of the opportunity to claim privilege. Unless you confirm any claim to privilege, we reserve the right to treat it as waived. Should you decide to claim privilege, we shall be entitled to charge you for consequential work, including any disbursements.
It is possible that actual or potential conflict between your interests and the interests of our other existing or new clients may arise in the course of this engagement. If any such situation arises we will discuss the position with you and agree an appropriate course of action which in some cases may require us to cease acting on your behalf. It is however possible that some of our clients, as well as future clients may have commercial or other interests which may be adverse to you or your business or to any entity or person relating to you. You consent to our representation of such other competing clients in other separate matters provided that there is no conflict of interest or risk of future conflicts of interest with the specific matter or matters upon which you are instructing us. We will keep confidential all information relevant to your affairs and business unless compelled to disclose such information by operation of law.
Retention and Storage of Documents
We are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while money is owing to us. This is known as a lien. Upon payment, in full, we will return them to you at your request. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody. Since 1 May 2020 we have used an electronic filing system and do not retain copies of any paperwork unless it is an original document. Presently no charge is made for storage but we reserve the right to do so upon reasonable notice to you.
Intellectual Property Rights
We retain all copyright and other intellectual property rights in all materials and know-how developed or created by us, either before or during the course of carrying out any work for you, although you may freely distribute copies of these materials within your own organisation for the purposes of the Engagement.
Complaints
We are committed to providing high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about an invoice please contact us by email at admin@Auxillias.com, by phone on 07741 240114/07458 304068, or by post to the Compliance Manager at Chargrove House, Shurdington Road, Shurdington, Cheltenham GL51 4GA. We have a documented procedure in place, detailing how we handle complaints, that is available on request.
If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint in relation to a regulated service provided by us only, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ (telephone 0300 5550333 or www.legalombudsman.org.uk) to consider the complaint. Usually, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six years from the date of act/omission, or three years from the date you should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint (complaints will not be accepted where the act or date of awareness pre-dates October 2010) or within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman will be able to tell you if you are entitled to complain.
You may have the right to object to an invoice by applying to the court for an assessment of the invoice under part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you apply for an assessment of an invoice the Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint in relation to it. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has confirmed that the following Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entities are currently available to deal with disputes in the legal services sector: Ombudsman Services, ProMediate and Small Claims Mediation in the event you wish to engage in mediation concerning your complaint. However, we will not be agreeable to engage in ADR mediation until such time as the Legal Ombudsman is approved to be an ADR provider.
If you are not entitled to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and, in the unlikely event of an unresolved issue arising in connection with our services, which you regard as a complaint, you may contact Joanne Davis or Daksha Mistry at Admin@auxillias.com, by phone on 07741 240114/07458 304068, or by post to Chargrove House, Shurdington Road, Shurdington, Cheltenham GL51 4GA.
A copy of our complaints procedure will be provided on request.
Where outstanding monies are due to Auxillias Limited and you have made a complaint, all monies due to Auxillias Limited will be recovered in the normal way separate to any complaint you may have and in accordance with our terms and conditions of business. In the event your complaint is upheld (either through our complaint’s procedure or via the Legal Ombudsman), any necessary refund will be made upon conclusion of your complaint.
Exclusion and Liability
We hold professional indemnity insurance which, in accordance with the Solicitors Indemnity Insurance Rules, provides a compulsory minimum level of cover of £3 million. Our professional indemnity insurance is provided by Sompo Holdings Inc, 1st Floor, 2 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7BB.
If you incur any expenses, damages, losses or liabilities whatsoever (including legal fees), in connection with or arising from the provision of our services, whether in contract, tort or otherwise and it is found that we are liable to you, as a result, then our total aggregate liability to you shall, in no circumstances, exceed the sum of £3 million.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the aggregate liability:
(i) shall not exceed £3 million or the minimum required by law, whichever is the greater:
(ii) whether to you or any third party;
(iii) on the part of Auxillias Limited or its partners, employees or consultants together, for any losses incurred by you as a result of or in connection with any breach of contract, breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty or tort (including negligence) or other civil liability.
Our fees chargeable to you in respect of the work have been calculated by reference to:
(i) the risk to us associated with the work;
(ii) the general provision of the Terms;
(iii) the level of indemnity insurance carried by us; and, particularly,
(iv) the limitations on our liability contained in this section.
If you wish us to accept a greater risk and/or increased limit of liability, we may be prepared to do so although we may, in these circumstances, include a surcharge referable to the additional risk accepted by us and/or the cost to us of any additional insurance cover that may be required.
We shall not in any circumstances be liable to you for any loss of profit or any other consequential or indirect loss (howsoever arising). Our liability to you in connection with this matter is limited to the proportion of loss or damage (including interest and costs) suffered by you which is just and equitable, having regard to the extent of your own responsibility and the contribution of any other person to the loss or damage regardless of any contractual or other limitation of their liability and/or their ability to pay and/or limitation defences available to them.
You agree that the liability of Auxillias Limited, its partners, employees, subcontractors and consultants shall not be increased by any limitation, exclusion or restriction of liability that you may have agreed with any other advisor, by your inability to recover against any of your advisors, or by your decision not to recover from any of your advisors. You agree that you will inform us if you agree, or are asked to agree, to limit the liability of any of your other advisors in relation to the work.
If goods and/or services are supplied or provided by any third party (“Third Party”) in connection with the work, and regardless of whether we have recommended the Third Party to you and/or we engaged the Third Party on your behalf, we do not accept any responsibility for the performance, acts or omissions of the Third Party nor do we give any warranty, guarantee or other representation as to the suitability or quality of such goods and/or services but may, where applicable, at your request assign to you the benefit of any warranty, guarantee or representation given by the Third Party. Where we instruct a Third Party on your behalf, you will be their client and you will be responsible for payment of their fees and expenses. If we pay their fees or expenses, we will invoice you for them and payment will be due in accordance with our payment terms.
We can only limit our liability to the extent the law allows. In particular, we cannot limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
Auxillias Limited (rather than its members, employees and consultants as individuals) will provide advice and services to you, and we alone will be responsible for the performance of the agreement between us. You agree that you will not bring any claim for any losses incurred by you as a result of or in connection with any breach of contract, breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty or tort (including negligence) or other civil liability in connection with any advice and/or services provided to you against any member, employee or consultant of Auxillias Limited itself for the acts or omissions of its members, employees or consultants.
All work done and advice provided by us is for your use and benefit only and may not be passed on to any other person without our prior written approval, and subject to such conditions as we may impose at the time.
We shall have no liability for any loss or damage suffered by you as a result of our inability to comply with your instructions to transfer monies because of bank insolvency or other inability or mistake of a bank to pay.
Pursuant to various statutes, regulations or court orders, we may, exceptionally, have obligations that lead us to disclosing details of your affairs to the relevant authorities. We will not always be permitted to inform you that this has occurred. In some cases, compliance with these obligations may cause delay in carrying out your instructions or proceeding with the matter and provided we have acted in good faith, we shall have no liability to you for the consequences of such delay.
Court Costs
In court cases, the court may order one party to make a contribution towards another party’s costs, either of the whole court case or just a part of it. It is important to understand that, even if another party is ordered to pay costs, you remain responsible for payment of our invoices. You can try to recover costs from another party. If they are legally aided, if they have little or no money or cannot be traced, it may not be possible to recover costs from them. In “small claims track” cases it is unusual for parties to be ordered to pay costs.
If the court orders another party to pay your costs, the amount paid will rarely exceed about 70% of those costs. Whether you win or lose, instructing us to act for you in a court case will almost certainly cost you money. You agree to waive the provisions of section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974. You may be ordered to pay costs to your opponent, particularly if you lose. That money is payable in addition to our invoices. Sometimes you can take out insurance cover (or obtain other funding) to pay another party's costs; please discuss this with us if you are interested. You may have legal expenses insurance to cover our invoices and another party's costs. You should check your existing insurance policies, including household, motor and any other major policy.
We do not offer legal aid and we are not franchised by the Legal Services Commission. If you believe that you may be eligible for legal aid then we can direct you to a franchised firm.
Contentious Cases
There are a number of specific points that you should be aware of when involved in litigation (including arbitration).
In any action you will be required to disclose to the other party or parties any document (written or electronic) in which information of any description is recorded (including correspondence, notes, memoranda, computer databases, diaries, video and audio tapes) which are or have been in your control and which relate in any way to the issues in the case. This duty covers documents which may be prejudicial to your case but which, subject to certain 'privileged' exceptions, you are nevertheless obliged to reveal. The obligation of disclosure continues until the action is over and therefore all such documentation must be preserved in a safe place. This obligation is onerous, and you may be liable for severe penalties including fines and/or imprisonment in cases of deliberate non-disclosure. It is important therefore that you do not commit an inadvertent breach of this rule by destroying any documentation which relates in any way to the action.
Please let us know straightaway if you were assisted in relation to events in question by brokers, lawyers or other agents as they may have a duty to similarly preserve documents.
We have statutory and professional conduct duties to the courts which may sometimes override any obligation which the lawyer may have to you.
Court files in England and Wales can no longer be regarded as confidential because third parties now have statutory rights of access to court files. This means that if you issue court proceedings or you are a party to proceedings in England and Wales, then a non-party (such as the press or a business competitor) can in certain circumstances request copies of documents from the court file. In some cases it is possible for parties to proceedings to make an application for an order that non-parties be prohibited from or have restricted inspection of the court file and you must therefore consult with us and seek our advice at the earliest opportunity should you wish us to pursue such an application on your behalf.
We will advise you whether an alternative dispute resolution procedure is appropriate for your case.
Rights of Third Parties
No third party has the right to enforce any of the terms set out in the Engagement under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. This does not affect any other right or remedy available to a third party.
Equality and Diversity
The firm is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees, and is required to produce a written equality and diversity policy. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a copy of that equality and diversity policy.
DEFINITIONS
Adviser – the word adviser refers to non-lawyers, e.g. tax adviser.
Disbursement – a disbursement is a payment that we make to a third party on your behalf.
Engagement – an engagement is a particular piece of work that we do for you. The scope of the work to be carried out will usually be set out in the Engagement.
Lawyer – the word lawyer refers to solicitors, legal executives, trainee solicitors and paralegals.
Non-regulated work relates to any services provided which fall outside the scope of the SRA regulation. This work does not have the protection and regulation of the SRA.
Regulated services are as defined in Section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ ukpga/2007/29/section/12.