Client Care Information

CLIENT CARE INFORMATION

THIS IS AN INDICATIVE VERSION OF THE CLIENT CARE LETTER THAT THIS FIRM UTILISES. CLIENT CARE LETTERS WHEN SENT TO CLIENTS CONTAIN FURTHER INFORMATION THAN THAT WHICH IS READILY DESCERNABLE FROM THIS VERSION WHICH IS FOR WEBSITE PUBLICATION PURPOSES AND / OR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY.

Your Ref:

Our Ref:

Date:

ADDRESS:

Email:

Dear ,

We write to confirm your kind instructions to act on your behalf in this matter as described above. [Insert name] will carry out most of the work in this matter on your behalf and where appropriate, in the interest of costs considerations, delegate aspects of this matter to more junior members of the firm. [Insert name] is a [insert position] specialising in [here insert details].

In Property and / or Conveyancing matters please insert the following at this stage: -
“In relation to property and conveyancing transactions we confirm that this firm’s estimated fees will be [£0.00 here insert details] plus VAT and disbursements. Please forward a cheque for [£0.00 here insert details] on account of costs and disbursements so that we may pay for disbursements such as Local Authority Searches soon in order to speed matters up. Whilst writing we would strongly recommend that you have a full survey carried out on any property that you wish to purchase since the basic mortgagee survey may not be sufficient for all purposes. We do not consider that a HIP is necessarily sufficient to cover you in respect of all liabilities you may assume or have either as a vendor or purchaser of a property. If you are in any doubt about this whatsoever please contact [here insert name] to discuss”.

1. The Scope And Nature Of This Firm’s Instructions

[Full Rule 2 compliant description to be inserted here].
We do not offer or give personal, corporate or specialised tax advice and we strongly recommend that you engage a specialist to provide this advice for you.

2.   Terms Of Business

(a)   We aim to offer our clients a friendly and efficient service, and we understand that you will want to know the basis upon which this firm will act for you. We therefore set out within the body of this Clause 2 the main terms that apply as an integral part of this firm’s retainer. We hope that this will help you and we would be grateful if you would ensure that you sign the bottom of this letter acknowledging receipt of the same in the confidence that both you and we understand the basis upon which we will act for you.

(b)   If there is the slightest doubt in your own mind as to what it is we are supposed to do would you please contact us and we will of course clarify any ambiguity that you may consider exists.   Unless otherwise agreed these terms of business apply to any future instructions you may give to this firm and we will consider these terms applicable to our ongoing course of dealings unless or until you advise us that you no longer wish to be bound by them. In that event would you please ensure that you write to us and receive an acknowledgment of your communication indicating your wish to be no longer so bound.

2.1   People Responsible for Your Work

2.1.1   We identify above the person who will be carrying out your work, his/her status in the practice and where appropriate who will be supervising the work and is accordingly ultimately responsible for your matter. Where the work is being carried out by an Assistant Solicitor (a qualified solicitor who is employed by the firm), a Legal Executive or a Trainee Solicitor, the Senior Partner (Michael Segen) will always supervise the work.

2.1.2   If you need to telephone you should in the first instance speak to the person undertaking your work, but if they are unavailable their Secretary will be happy to take any message for you. Most contact details are available via our website at www.segens.com.

2.1.3   We try hard to avoid changing the people who are handling your work, but if this cannot be avoided (for example, because of their absence on holiday or for some other reason) then in the interests of efficiency and avoiding delay, the matter will on those occasions be handled by someone else and you will be notified as appropriate. Equally, if for any reason there is a need to change permanently the person handling your matter you will be notified promptly and given the reason for such change.

2.1.4   The person handling your matter will explain to you the issues raised in that matter and keep you informed as to progress. He or she will advise you whether the likely outcome of your case will justify the costs of pursuing the litigation. He or she will also keep you advised of the likely time it will take to complete your matter, assuming it proceeds smoothly.

2.2   Charges and Expenses

2.2.1   Our charges are based on the time we spend dealing with a case. Time spent on your matter will include meetings with you and perhaps others, any time spent travelling, considering, preparing and working on papers, correspondence and making and receiving telephone calls.

2.2.2   There are several grades of fee earner and the expense rate per hour is:
Senior Partner £350.00 plus VAT

Partner £300.00 plus VAT

Senior Legal Executive £300.00 plus VAT

Assistant Solicitor £200.00 plus VAT

Trainee Solicitor £150.00 plus VAT

2.2.3   Routine letters that we write and routine telephone calls that we make and receive will be charged at units of one tenth of an hour (i.e. six minute minimum units). Routine letters received are not charged for. Other letters and calls will be charged on a timed basis.

2.2.4    If your instructions mean we have to work outside normal office hours, we reserve the right to increase the level of the hourly rate/s. You will be notified in writing of any increased rate.

2.2.5    The hourly rate set out above takes into account a number of factors which include the status and grade of the fee earner, the complexity of the issues, the speed at which action must be taken, the expertise or specialist knowledge that the case requires and, if appropriate, the value of the property or subject matter involved. On the basis of the information currently available, we expect these factors to be adequately covered by the hourly rates set out above. The rates may be higher if, for example, the matter becomes more complex than expected in which event we will notify you.

2.2.6    If you have any query about the level of any revised rate notified to you, please contact the person in charge of your case straightaway.

2.2.7    In contentious matters it is unusual to recover all of the costs that you need to pay us from another party to the case. In public funded cases, such shortfall in costs attaches to any property recovered or preserved so that the compensation one receives is paid after deduction of this shortfall.

2.2.8    We will add Value Added Tax to our charges at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present, VAT is 17.5%.

2.2.9    Expenses include disbursements i.e. expenses which are incurred and do not form part of our own legal costs. They commonly include Counsel’s fees, fees for medical or other experts in preparing reports and carrying out our instructions, agent’s fees, process-server’s fees, Court issue fees, costs draftsmen’s fees and company searches.

2.2.10    This list is not exhaustive but is intended to provide you with an idea of the range of expenses, in addition to solicitors’ costs, that can be incurred in dealing with your case. Photocopying charges and the costs of facsimile transmissions which form part of our overheads are normally included within the service at the expense rate quoted. However we reserve the right to charge for these separately in the event that the amount of photocopying and the use of facsimile transmissions or other technology reasonably requires this.

2.2.11    Details of such expenses which you are likely to have to pay, when they are likely to become due and an estimate of these costs will be given to you by the person in charge of your case as soon as possible.

2.2.12    In property and conveyancing matters our estimate of our fee and / or our agreed fee is based upon the matter progressing as a transaction involving the amount of work normally attributable to be carried out by a reasonably competent fee earner or Partner. In the event that the transaction involves considerably more time than initially (or could be reasonably) envisaged then we reserve the right to submit an invoice in respect of that additional unforeseen time. As far as practicable we will attempt to advise you of this in advance.

2.3   Estimate

2.3.1    In general contentious matters it is often hard, in the first instance, to provide an accurate estimate of the likely overall costs. Nevertheless we try where possible to give estimates for the overall costs of the matter concerned and more particularly, we shall endeavour to give you estimates for each stage of the matter as the matter proceeds and at least every six months.

2.3.2   We will inform you if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary (for example, due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances significantly change during the course of the matter). We will also inform you of the estimated cost in writing before any extra charges and expenses are incurred.

2.3.3   If, for any reason, this matter does not proceed to completion, we will charge you for work done and expenses incurred.

2.3.4   You may set a limit on the charges and expenses to be incurred. This means that you must pay those incurred up to the agreed limit without our needing to refer back to you. We will inform you as soon as it appears that the limit may be exceeded and will not exceed the limit without first obtaining your consent. You should bear in mind that in such situations your instructions may be needed urgently so as to avoid a delay in dealing with your matter which can, in some circumstances, result in orders for costs being made against you.

2.3.5   It is normal practice to ask clients to pay sums of money on account of the charges and expenses which are expected to be incurred in the following weeks or months. This helps to avoid delay in the progress of their case. You will be notified if a payment on account is required and the reason for it. We may request further payments on account for charges and expenses to be incurred as the matter progresses. When we put these payments towards your bill, we will send you a receipted bill. We will offset any such payments against your final bill, but it is important that you understand that your total charges and expenses may be greater than any advance payments.

2.4   Billing Arrangements

2.4.1   To help you budget, we shall be entitled to send to you an interim bill for our charges and expenses to date at the end of each month while the work is in progress. We will send a final bill after completion of the work.

2.4.2   Payment is due to us within 28 days of our sending you an interim or final bill. If the extent of any interim or final bill is outstanding after twenty eight days after it shall have been sent to the address appearing at the top of this letter or any other address notified by the client during the course of our retainer, we reserve the right to claim interest upon the sum outstanding pursuant to The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, as amended and supplemented by The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002. This permits Segens to apply late payment interest and seek reasonable debt recovery costs.

2.4.3   If you have any query about your bill you should contact the person undertaking the work on your matter straightaway.

2.4.4   If requested by a client we pay interest on client monies held by us in accordance with the Solicitors Act 1974. In the event that we are holding monies to your credit on one of your matter, and there are unpaid costs or disbursements on another of your matters, we reserve the right to apply any such funds to discharge your liability to us.

2.5   Other Parties’ Charges and Expenses

2.5.1   It is important that you understand that you will be responsible for paying our bills unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by us. We will discuss with you whether your charges and expenses might be paid by another person. Even if you are successful, the other party may not be ordered to pay all of your charges and expenses or these may not be recovered from them in full. If this happens, you will have to pay the balance of our charges and expenses. If the other party is receiving Legal Community Service funding (formerly known as Legal Aid) you may not recover any of those charges and expenses even if you win the case.

2.5.2   If you are successful and the court orders the other party to pay some or all of your charges and expenses, interest can be claimed on them from the other party from the date of the court order obliging them to pay those costs. We will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid our charges or expenses as billed or on account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest.

2.5.3   You will also be responsible for paying the charges and expenses of seeking to recover any charges and expenses the court orders the other party to pay i.e. the costs of any detailed assessment save to the extent that such costs are also recoverable under a court order.

2.5.4   In some circumstances, the court may order you to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses (for example, if you lose the case). The money would be payable in addition to our charges and expenses. We will discuss with you whether our charges and expenses and your liability for another party’s charges and expenses may be covered by insurance, and, if not, whether it would be advisable for you to have insurance to meet the other party’s charges and expenses.

2.6   Storage of Paper and Documents

2.6.1   After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. We will usually keep our file of papers (except for any of your papers which you ask to be returned to you) for no more than six years. We keep the file on the understanding that we have your authority to destroy it six years after the date of the final bill we send you for this matter. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody.

2.6.2   If we retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, we will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, we may make a charge based on time spent producing stored papers or documents to you or another at your request. We may also charge for reading, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with the instructions given by you or on your behalf.

2.7   Our Liability

2.7.1   We will perform the work which we do for you with reasonable skill and care and we acknowledge that we will be liable to you for losses, damages, costs or expenses (“Losses”) caused by our negligence or wilful default, subject to the following provisions:
2.7.1.1   We will not be so liable if such losses are due to the provision of false, misleading or incomplete information or documentation or due to the acts or omissions of any person other than us.
2.7.1.2   The aggregate liability, whether to you or to any third party, of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort of otherwise, of Segens for any losses whatsoever and howsoever caused arising from or in any way connected with each matter upon which we are instructed and / or advice on it, shall not exceed £2million.
2.7.1.3    Your rights in respect of any beach on our part of this engagement shall only be enforceable if notice in writing giving all material details of any claim shall have been given to us on or before the second anniversary of the date appearing at the top of this engagement letter.

2.7.2    Our liability, whether to you or any third party, in contract or tort under statute or otherwise shall exclude any indirect or consequential economic loss or damage (including loss of profits) suffered by you or any third party arising from or in connection with the matter on which we are instructed and / or advice on it, howsoever the indirect or consequential economic loss or damage is caused, including our negligence but not our wilful default.

2.7.3    Nothing in this section of these terms shall impose on us any liability of any kind or for any amount which we would not have but for this section.

2.7.4    Nothing in this section of these terms shall have the effect of restricting our liability in respect of any kind of loss, damage or liability which cannot or must not be excluded or limited under English law.

2.8   Financial Services

2.8.1    We are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are members of The Law Society and regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide.

2.8.2    This firm is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advertising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complainants or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website at: www.fsa.gov.uk/register.

2.9   Termination

2.9.1    You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time, but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses.

2.9.2    In some circumstances, you may consider we ought to stop acting for you, for example, if you cannot give clear or proper instructions on how we are to proceed, or if it is clear that you have lost confidence in how we are carrying out your work.

2.9.3    We may decide to stop acting for you only with good reason, for example, if you do not pay an interim bill or comply with our request for a payment on account. We must give you reasonable notice in writing that we will stop acting for you, which is likely to be seven days after the time first prescribed for payment.

2.9.4   If you or we decide that we will no longer act for you, you will pay our charges on an hourly basis and expenses as set out earlier for any additional work in concluding our retainer with you. In such circumstances we reserve the right to come off the Court Record as acting on your behalf and charge separately for this if an application to the Court is required to achieve this.

2.10   Continuing Relationship

2.10.1   Unless otherwise agreed, these terms of business apply to any future instructions you may give us.

2.10.2   Your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to your acceptance of these terms and conditions of business. Even so, we ask you please to sign and date the bottom of this letter and return it to us immediately. We can then be confident that you understand the basis on which we will act for you.

3.   Charges And Estimates Of Costs

This firm’s charges are fully explained in the terms the preceding paragraphs. [Insert fee earner / partners name] hourly rate is £[0.00 as appropriate] [Please ensure you take account of Rule 2].

4.   POCA Requirements

4.1   The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) which came into force in March of 2004, requires us to confirm certain items of information where transactions involve value of in excess of €15,000 (approximately £10,000). These documents are usually passports and a utility bill from home or a current (modern form) of driving licence. Please comply with these requests when asked to do so since they will assist us in dealing with our statutory obligations.

4.2   The Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-geographical Police unit responsible for undertaking proactive operations against serious and organised crime. Segens is compelled by the Proceeds of Crime Act, additionally, to make suspicious activity reports as soon as any member of staff has knowledge or a suspicion that criminal proceeds may exist, especially if consent may be required. No member of staff is able to advise a client if or when any such suspicious activity report has been submitted to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

5.   Data Protection

We are compliant with the terms of the Data Protection Act. Our registered data controller is Martin Webster.

6.   Complaints Handling Procedure

6.1   We are confident of providing a high quality service in all respects. If, however, you have any queries or concerns about our work for you, please raise them in the first instance with Martin Webster. If that does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to speak to Martin Webster then you may raise your concerns with Michael Segen who is ultimately responsible for client care.

6.2   All solicitors must attempt to resolve problems that may arise with their services. It is therefore important that you immediately raise any concerns you may have with this practice. This firm values you and would not wish to think that you have any reason to be unhappy with the service provided.

7.   Conflict

7.1   It may occur that a conflict of interest arises either at the time of the commencement of our retainer or at a point after you sign this letter. Wherever possible we will attempt to avoid this occurrence.

7.2   Conflicts do not just arise where we may be asked to act for two clients on opposite sides of a dispute, which we are not permitted to do.

7.3   Conflicts can also occur where: -

Clients have a joint interest in a transaction – e.g. the disposal of loan funds or sale proceeds to one client where two or more clients have a claim on those funds.

Married and unmarried couples – potential conflicts of interest arise even where no dispute is apparent. Where this occurs we will advise upon the necessity for a trust deed and whether independent legal advice is required.

Partnership issues – not all partners will have the same interest. We will attempt to recognise this and where a potential conflict arises, advise as to separate representation.Repeat instructions – where these are received from just one party, we will check the extent of our continuing authority.

Company Clients – we will check that the proposed action is intra vires the Company by referring to an up to date copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

THIS LETTER IS AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT. PLEASE KEEP IT IN A SAFE PLACE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

We look forward to assisting you in this matter.

Yours faithfully,
Segens

I / We hereby accept the terms and conditions set out above and in the firm’s attached terms of business.

Signed ………………………………….. Dated …………………………200