CNG LAW

These terms and my initial letter acknowledging your instructions (‘Engagement Letter’) set out the basis upon which I will carry out the work necessary in your matter.

My aim

I aim to offer my clients quality legal advice with a personal service at a fair cost. I am required to set out in this statement the basis on which I will provide my professional services.

My hours of business

My normal hours of business are between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm on weekdays. I work from home. I take appointments at home or I visit clients. I have conference facilities, which can be arranged if needed. Appointments can be arranged at other times. I do not generally charge for travelling to meet clients to take their instructions and would agree this in advance if it were to happen.

People responsible for your work

I am responsible for dealing with your work. I am assisted by my wife, Janine Green, who may be able to deal with your queries and who will be pleased to take any messages. I will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but, if this cannot be avoided, I will tell you promptly of any change and why it may be necessary.
I have final responsibility for work done and I am fully insured as a solicitor pursuant to professional requirements.

Charges and expenses

My charges will be calculated mainly by reference to the time actually spent by me in respect of work done on your behalf. This may include meetings with you and perhaps others; reading, preparing and working on papers; making and receiving telephone calls, emails, faxes and text messages; preparation of any detailed costs estimates, schedules and bills; attending at court; and time necessarily spent travelling in representing my clients. From time to time I may arrange for some of this work to be carried out by persons not directly employed by me; such work will be charged to you at the hourly rate which would be charged if I had done the work myself.
Barristers fees which are a disbursement are generally agreed or based on an hourly rate which may vary depending on their seniority and experience.
Routine letters, emails and texts that I send and routine telephone calls that I make and receive are charged at one-tenth of the hourly rate. Routine letters, emails and texts received are charged at one-twentieth of the hourly rate. Other letters, emails and calls are charged on a time spent basis.
The current hourly rate that I charge is £190 per hour. On occasions Mrs Green acts in the capacity of a legal assistant under my supervision. In this case her chargeable time is £100 per hour. I will not add VAT to my fees as at present I am not registered for VAT. I reserve the right to do so in future and if I choose to register for VAT I will notify you. VAT may well still be payable on disbursements.
These hourly rates may have to be reviewed periodically to reflect increases in overhead costs and inflation. Normally the rates are reviewed with effect from 1 January each year. If a review is carried out before this matter has been concluded, I will inform you of any variation in the rate before it takes effect.
The hourly charge out rate referred to above is the charge that I apply for work of a routine nature. In addition to the time spent, at my discretion I may apply a mark up rate of up to 50% of the hourly charge out rate. If I do this either at the beginning of the case or during the course of the case I will tell you. The percentage uplift will reflect the complexity of the issues, the speed at which an action has to be taken, any particular specialist expertise which the case may demand, the importance of the matter to you, any substantial financial value or benefit to the client, the value of the dispute, or any other relevant factor. It is of course not always possible to determine the percentage uplift at the outcome and this may become relevant as matters progress and as I understand more about the work that is being undertaken.
You are entitled to complain about your bill. You can do this by applying to the Court for an assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. I would invite you to discuss the matter with me first as it may be something that can be resolved between us.
Solicitors have to pay out various other expenses on behalf of clients ranging from Barristers fees, court fees, experts’ fees, and so on. I have no obligation to make such payments unless you have provided me with the funds for that purpose. VAT is payable on certain expenses. I refer to such payments generally as ‘disbursements’.

Costs in specific cases

My practice does not at present deal with Residential Conveyancing, Uncontested Probate, Motoring Offences tried only in the Magistrates Courts, licensing matters or Immigration Matters.
There are however certain specific types of work that I do undertake which regulation requires specific information concerning costs being provided.
These are set out in the paragraphs following. In all other cases my general terms apply and as part of that process you will receive specific correspondence to enable you to adequately decide how you wish to progress the litigation and what costs will be incurred by you. Bills will be sent throughout the course of the matter at regular intervals in the event that we have not agreed a fixed fee. This will enable you to keep a check on costs.

Employment Tribunal Range of Costs

My costs for bringing or defending a simple case for unfair or wrongful dismissal before an Employment Tribunal would be between £5,000 and £10,000, if the case were more complex the costs may increase to between £10,000 and £15,000 but in cases of high complexity the costs would exceed £15,000 and could be as high as £40,000.
Complicating factors may be the need to make or defend applications to amend the required court papers, conducting a claim where the other party is acting without lawyers or there is more than one opposing party, allegations of discrimination of dishonesty, complex issues that need the courts attention before the final hearing, disability issues and the possibility of experts needing to give evidence and the number of witnesses and documents that are relevant to the issues before the tribunal.
Barristers fees would typically be in the region of between £1,000 and £10,000 for the first day of a final hearing and a proportion of those fees going forward for subsequent days before the tribunal.
Given the normal rule that costs are not recoverable from the loosing party in proceedings before an Employment Tribunal I am very minded of the need to negotiate a settlement and avoid the above expense if possible. And would strongly recommend that you investigate whether you have legal expenses cover associated with your home insurance or otherwise.
In injunction proceedings in the Supreme Court and monitory claims in Civil Proceedings totally different considerations apply both in relation to costs and the nature of the proceedings themselves and I would advise in more specific detail both in relation to my own fees and those that may be incurred by the other party.

Business debt recovery

The following costs apply to a claim in relation to an unpaid money claim based on an invoice that is not disputed.
There are court fees that are paid if proceedings have to be commenced. These vary depending on the amount of money that it is sought to recover. For claims with a value of less that £300 the fee is £35. For claims with a value of between £300 and £500 the fee is £50. For claims between £500 and £1,500 the fee is £80. For claims between £1,500 and £3,000 the fee is £115. For a claim of between £3,000 and £5,000 the fee is £205. For claims between £5,00 and £10,000 the fee is £455 and for fees greater than £10,000 the fee is 5% of the value claimed subject to a maximum fee of £10,000.
In so far as my fees are concerned my costs of taking initial instructions and settling a letter before action and advising you on an initial basis are £300. I will send of the letter within 7 days of receiving full instructions. There may be a very modest additional cost for undertaking land registry or other searches depending on the precise circumstances of the case.
In the event that I am able to secure payment as an immediate and final response to the letter before action there will be no further charge.
If I manage to agree for payments by instalments to be made to you that are immediately acceptable without proceedings being issued my fee will be for a further £100 given the additional time involved.
If there are protected negotiations I will advise you and there will be further fees payable based on the time taken but I will give you an estimate of the likely extra cost and seek your permission before undertaking this additional work.
My charges for settling a straightforward money claim based on an unpaid invoice and sending the court papers for issue will attract a further fee of £150. I would aim to do this within 7 days of instruction by you.
In the event that there is no form of acknowledgement of service or defence filed then my further fee will be £50 and I will inform you of this, enter judgement and do both in a timely fashion. As part of this process I will also write to the Defendant seeking payment.
If no payment is received the costs of enforcement will vary on the method chosen and the availability of a particular method. I will advise you of this separately.
These may include the anticipated costs of seeking a charging order against land, insolvency proceedings or instructing a High Court Enforcement office to levy distress against the Defendants property.
If the claim is fully or partially contested after proceedings are issued the matter would proceed to a full trial or an application for judgement on the basis of a weak or implausible defence. I would advise you of the costs associated with this but these would depend depending on many circumstances and seek to recover as much of the costs as is reasonably practical as part of the court process.
Contested proceedings can arise where a Defendant simply contests the proceedings to delay payment and frustrate matters and under those circumstances an application for judgement without a full trial can succeed and I am always mindful to explore this as a possibility and seek costs.
It is difficult to be specific about the time that litigation takes. If a debt is acknowledged following a letter of claim the process can be over within 6 weeks. It is usual for proceedings to be delayed in some circumstances for up to 3 months to allow time to settle or resolve outstanding issues before litigation starts. A failure to observe this can result in costs not being awarded event to the victor. If no defence is served then matters can usually move on to enforcement within a further month. If proceedings are contested the court will usually want these resolved within a further year if the claim is less than £25,000 and proceedings can last longer if the value is higher or if there are complicated issues to resolve and one may need to allow some further time for mediation.

Payment arrangement

It is normal practice to ask clients to pay interim bills and sums of money from time to time on account of the charges and expenses which are expected in the following weeks or months. This helps clients in budgeting for costs as well as keeping them informed of the legal expenses, which are being incurred. If such requests are not met with prompt payment, delay in the progress of a case may result. In the unlikely event of any bill or request for payment not being met, my firm reserves the right to stop acting for you further.
Payment is due to me within 28 days of my sending you a bill. Interest will be charged on a daily basis at 8% from the date of the bill in cases where payment is not made within 28 days of delivery of the bill.
The common law entitles me to retain any money, papers or other property belonging to you, which properly come into my possession, pending payment of my costs and disbursements, whether or not the property is acquired in connection with the matter for which the costs were incurred. This is known as a ‘general lien’. I am not entitled to sell property held under a lien but I am entitled to hold property, other than money, even if the value of it greatly exceeds the amount due to me in respect of costs.
If I am conducting litigation for you, I have additional rights in any property recovered or preserved for you whether it is in our possession or not and in respect of all costs incurred, whether billed or unbilled. I also have a right to ask the court to make a charging order in my favour for any assessed costs.
I do not accept payments in cash. Monies due to you from me will be paid by cheque or bank transfer, but not in cash, and will not be made payable to a third party.

Other parties’ charges and expenses

In some cases and transactions a client may be entitled to payment of costs by some other person. It is important that you understand that in such circumstances, the other person may not be required to pay all the charges and disbursements that you incur with me. You have to pay my charges and disbursements in the first place and any amounts that are recovered will be a contribution towards them. If the other party is in receipt of legal aid no costs are likely to be recovered. You are responsible to pay my costs on time and the fact that someone else may owe you money does not affect this at all.
If you are successful and a court orders another 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. I will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid my charges or expenses on account, but I am entitled to the rest of that interest.
You will also be responsible for paying my charges and expenses of seeking to recover any costs that the court orders the other party to pay to you.
A client who is unsuccessful in a court case is likely to be ordered to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses. That money would be payable in addition to my charges and disbursements. Arrangements can be made to take out insurance to cover liability for such legal expenses. Please discuss this with me if you wish to explore this possibility. This may attract a premium that may not be recoverable. I will contact third parties who offer this facility if you want me to.
If you carry certain forms of insurance such as car insurance, household insurance or are a member of a trade union it may be the case that you can claim part or all of your legal costs from the insurer or your union. If you are in doubt and have such a policy please send me a copy of it and I will advise you of the implications.

Interest payment

Any money received on your behalf will be held in my Client Account. Subject to certain minimum amounts and periods of time set out in the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 1998, interest will be calculated and paid to you at the rate from time to time payable on Lloyds Bank PLC’s Designated Client Accounts. The period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date(s) on which funds are received in cleared funds by us until the date(s) of issue of any cheque(s) from our Client Account.

Insurance Mediation

I am not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, I am included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that I can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of my business, including arrangements for complaints 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 fsa.gov.uk/register.
The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but the responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society and the Legal Complaints Service is the independent complaints handling body of the Law Society.

Storage of papers and documents

After completing the work, I am entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to me for my charges and disbursements. In addition, I will keep your file of papers for you in storage for not less than one year. After that, storage is on the clear understanding that I have the right to destroy it after such a period as I consider reasonable or to make a charge for storage if I ask you to collect your papers and you fail to do so. I will not of course destroy any documents such as wills, deeds and other securities, which you ask me to hold in safe custody. No charge will be made to you for such storage unless prior notice in writing is given to you of a charge to be made from a future date, which may be specified in that notice.
If I retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, I will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, I may make a charge based on time spent at the hourly rate of £100 for producing stored papers or documents to you or another at your request. I may also charge for reading, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with your instructions.

Financial services and insurance contracts

If, while I am acting for you, you need advice on investments, I may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority, as I am not. However, as I am regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, I may be able to provide certain limited investment services where these are closely linked to the legal work I am doing for you.
I am not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, I am included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that I can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. Insurance mediation activities and investment services, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register.

Termination

You may terminate your instructions to me in writing at any time but I will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to me for my charges and disbursements. If at any stage you do not wish me to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and disbursements on your behalf, you must tell me this clearly in writing. I may also stop acting for you at any time. In such circumstances I will charge you for the work that I have done to date.
If I decide to stop acting for you for any reason, for example if you do not pay an interim bill, comply with the request for a payment on account or fail to provide me with instructions I will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.
If I am acting for you in court proceedings you must provide the necessary legal documents to remove me from the court record as your legal representative and you will remain liable for my costs and disbursements until you do.
Under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, for some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within seven working days of the date on which you asked me to act for you. However, if I start work with your consent within that period, you lose that right to withdraw. Your acceptance of these terms and conditions of business will amount to such a consent. If you seek to withdraw instructions, you should give notice by email or letter to me. The Regulations require me to inform you that the work involved is likely to take more than 30 days.
If at any time a conflict of interest arises it may be necessary for me to terminate the retainer with immediate effect. Similarly, you are expected to provide me with clear, timely accurate and truthful instructions and also take care of and produce relevant documents to your case and I would have to cease to act if you failed in any of these responsibilities.

Limited companies

When accepting instructions to act on behalf of a limited company, I may require a Director and/or controlling shareholder to sign a form of personal guarantee in respect of the charges and expenses of my firm. If such a request is refused, I will be entitled to stop acting and to require immediate payment of my charges on an hourly basis and Disbursements.

Tax advice

Any work that I do for you may involve tax implications or necessitate the consideration of tax planning strategies. I may not be qualified to advise you on the tax implications of a transaction that you instruct me to carry out, or the likelihood of them arising. If you have any concerns in this respect, please raise them with me immediately. If I can undertake the research necessary to resolve the issue, I will do so and advise you accordingly. If I cannot, I may be able to identify a source of assistance for you. You may need to seek the advice of your own accountant in conjunction with my advice.

Identity, disclosure and confidentiality requirements

I am entitled to refuse to act for you if you fail to supply appropriate proof of identity for yourself or for any principal whom you may represent. I may arrange to carry out an electronic verification of your identity if I consider that a saving of time and cost will be achieved by doing so. The cost of any such search will be charged to you. If the amount is in excess of £10 including VAT, I will seek your prior agreement.
Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of the client confidential. 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 Serious and Organised Crime Agency. Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, the solicitor may be required to make a disclosure. If, while I am acting for you, it becomes necessary to make such a disclosure, I may not be able to inform you that it has been made, or of the reasons for it, because the law prohibits ‘tipping-off’. Where the law permits me, I will tell you about any potential money laundering problem and explain what action I may need to take.
My firm may be subject to audit or quality checks by external firms or organisations. I may also outsource work. This might be, for example, typing or photocopying or costings, or research and preparation to assist with your matter. Information from your file may therefore be made available in such circumstances. I will always aim to obtain a confidentiality agreement with the third party.
In order to comply with court and tribunal rules, all documentation relevant to any issues in litigation, however potentially damaging to your case, have to be preserved and may be required to be made available to the other side. This aspect of proceedings is known as ‘disclosure’. Subject to this or to an order made by a court or because I am legally obliged to I will not reveal confidential information about your case except to enable me to fulfil the terms of my retainer pursuant to these terms and conditions of business or with your permission. If I am put to any expense in this context I will be entitled to seek a full indemnity from you.

Communication between us

My aim is to offer all my clients an efficient and effective service at all times. I hope that you will be pleased with the work I do for you. However, should there be any aspect of my service with which you are unhappy, please raise your concern with me in the first place. If I cannot resolve matters you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.
I will aim to communicate with you by such method as you may request. I may need to virus check discs or email. Unless you withdraw consent, I will communicate with others when appropriate by email or fax but I cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent by email or fax. Any security issues associated with email viruses are your responsibility.
The Data Protection Act requires me to advise you that your particulars are held on my database. I may, from time to time, use these details to send you information, which I think might be of interest to you.
Where I act for two or more clients jointly it is on the clear understanding that I am authorised to act on instructions from either, both or any of them.

Complaints information

I want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service I have provided then you should inform me immediately, so that I can do my best to resolve the problem.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you should write to me and set out the nature of the complaint in as much detail as possible and what you would like me to do to remedy the situation to your satisfaction. I will consider what is said and discuss the matter with you and do my best to resolve matters. Making a complaint will not affect how I handle your case.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about my behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority on the link provided.

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if I am unable to resolve your complaint personally. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how I handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with me first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

Terms of business

Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of then current hourly rates, these Terms of Business shall apply to any future instructions given by you to my firm.
Although your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to an acceptance of these Terms of Business, I would appreciate it if you could sign the copy provided. I would be happy to advise you further on any aspect of my retainer and these terms.

I confirm I have read and understood, and I accept, these Terms of Business.

Signed ————————————————-

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