Terms of business

E-mail

We may contact you by unencrypted email. We cannot guarantee the security of information sent by email and it is possible that e-mails and attachments may be corrupted, intercepted or amended after they have been transmitted. We exclude liability for any loss or damage caused if this happens. We may monitor e-mail communications.

Quality control audits

Your files may be reviewed by a supervisor, a quality control organisation and/or our auditors. They may also be reviewed by an external assessor but you can exclude your files from the external assessment by notifying in writing the person dealing with your matter.

Copyright

We retain the copyright and all other intellectual property rights and other rights in all documents issued by us.

Investment advice

We will act as your legal adviser and it is not part of our role to give advice on the merits of investment transactions. Any investment decision is for you to make and no communication by us should be treated as an invitation or inducement to you to engage in investment activity.

Data Protection Act 2018

Hamlins LLP (“Hamlins”) is registered under the Data Protection legislation and our Data Protection Officer is Matthew Pryke. Any personal data Hamlins collects from you, or you provide, will be processed in accordance with the Hamlins Privacy Policy, available on the Hamlins Website at https://hamlins.com/compliance-and-regulatory/privacy/. The data collected shall be stored and processed as per the Hamlins Data Retention Policy, available on the Hamlins Website at https://hamlins.com/compliance-and-regulatory/data-retention/.

Any personal data which you send us relating to third parties is received on the understanding that you have complied with the provisions of the Act, and that the receipt by us of the data and any subsequent processing undertaken by us at your request will comply with the Act.

Termination

You may terminate our instructions at any time in writing but we can keep your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us. We may decide that we ought to stop acting for you, but this would only be on reasonable notice and for good reason and we would be entitled to be paid for the work we had done at the hourly rates specified in your client care letter. There may be circumstances in which we may be required to immediately stop acting for you, particularly if we consider continuing to act may lead to a breach of our professional conduct obligations and/or applicable laws.

Complaints procedure

We pride ourselves in providing an efficient service to our clients. Unfortunately, there are occasions when matters do not proceed as we would wish, in which case it is important that any dissatisfaction is brought to our attention as soon as possible.

You are entitled to invoke our complaints procedure and if you are not satisfied with the response from the partner supervising your matter or you would prefer not to bring it up with that person, then you should contact our Complaints Officer, Martin Ochs, Email: martin.ochs@hamlins.com, DDI: 020 7355 6018. Your complaint will be dealt with promptly and you will receive a written response at no cost to you.

If we have not resolved your complaint within 8 weeks or you are still dissatisfied then you may seek further help from the Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, tel: 0300 555 0333 – (from 8.30am to 5.30pm), e-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk).

The Legal Ombudsmen expects complaints to be received by them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsmen within six months of receipt of our final response to you. Generally, the Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints relating to acts or omissions that happened after 5 October 2010. The Legal Ombudsman deals only with complaints by consumers and very small businesses. This means some clients may not have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, eg charities or clubs with an annual income of more than £1 million, trustees of trusts with an asset value of more than £1 million and most businesses. This does not prevent you from making a complaint directly to us about the service or any bill you have received.

If a barrister is retained to advise on your matter and you are not satisfied with the service you receive, you can make a complaint through the barrister’s website or in some cases to the Legal Ombudsman, as mentioned above.

Storage of papers and documents

We will store any original deeds and contracts. We may scan and destroy any other documents (including letters) we receive from you or on your behalf. At the end of your matter we will store any such documents which have not been scanned for the minimum period recommended by the Law Society, which is currently 6 years. At the expiration of this period, we will destroy the remaining documents unless you have requested us in writing not to do so. If you do request us not to destroy the remaining documents, we will write to you telling you that your remaining documents are available. If they are not collected within 28 days we will destroy them. At any time we may scan your papers and destroy the originals. For further details of the Hamlins Document Retention Policy, please refer to our website at: https://hamlins.com/compliance-and-regulatory/data-retention/.

Documents in relation to disputed matters: Your Obligations

If now, or at any time in the future, any matter upon which we act for you is the subject of a dispute, whether in the Courts, other tribunals, you will almost certainly be obliged to disclose documents, including electronic documents (e.g. email, SMS text messages and the metadata relevant to the electronic documents) which are relevant to the matter, even where such documents are unhelpful to your case. You must ensure you preserve all documents (whether paper or electronic) that relate to such matter as your position in such proceedings could be seriously compromised if documents are destroyed or allowed to be destroyed. Any deletion or archiving of documents usually undertaken in line with retention or destruction policies should therefore be suspended and/or adapted to comply with this obligation. Where relevant, further guidance as to your disclosure obligations will be provided by the solicitor in charge of your case, which may include the provision to you of a template document preservation notice to be sent to employees and former employees as appropriate. It is important you understand and comply with your disclosure obligations because we as your solicitors will be required to certify in due course we have explained and you have understood these obligations. Please therefore raise any questions with us at the earliest opportunity.

In addition, we recommend you do not create any new documents in relation to any contemplated proceedings until we have advised what can and cannot be produced safely as such documents could well become disclosable early on in the proceedings.

You are responsible for ensuring you have all necessary rights and licences in accordance with applicable law to supply us with the information, data and documentation you provide and our use of that information will not infringe the rights of any third party or result in a breach of any applicable law. In respect of third parties generally, we recommend you do not request documents from third parties, or request such third parties send documents to us, without first seeking our advice. Failing to comply could result in having to disclose documents early on in the proceedings, when they could otherwise have been withheld, which may have a detrimental effect on the outcome of the dispute.

Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

We are required by law to obtain documentation in order to confirm our clients’ identity, to understand their business and the source of any funds that will be used in the matters on which we give advice.

We have subscribed to an on-line identity verification service which we use to satisfy these requirements in relation to individuals. In the case of corporate clients or trusts, it may be necessary for us to obtain detailed information about their structure and ultimate ownership or about their beneficiaries. We may not act until the information is received and we exclude liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result.

We are also required to monitor the identity of our clients on an ongoing basis and we may have to ask you to supply updated information from time to time. If the identity of our client changes during a transaction, we will have to suspend acting until the Money Laundering Regulations have been complied with by the new client and we exclude liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result. If we suspect that any breach of the Money Laundering Regulations or other criminal law has occurred, we may stop acting or suspend our services and the law may prohibit us from telling you the reason.

We may also conduct on line credit checks on personal clients through a Credit Reference Agency. The Agency keeps records of these checks. We will always obtain your consent prior to running such checks.

Mortgages

If you buying a property and if you are intending to raise mortgage finance, then you should be aware that we have a duty to fully reveal to your lender all relevant facts about the purchase and mortgage. This includes any differences between your mortgage application and information we receive during the transaction plus any cash back payments or discount schemes that a seller is giving you.

Limits on our liability

Hamlins is a limited liability partnership and are solely responsible for all legal advice and legal services. Any advice and services given by individual partners and by our staff is given for and on behalf of Hamlins and their personal liability is excluded to the extent permitted by law.

We have professional indemnity insurance giving cover for claims against the firm. Details of this insurance, including contact details of our insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy, can be inspected at our office or made available on request.

We do not exclude or limit our liability under these terms and conditions for (a) death or personal injury caused by negligence, (b) fraudulent misrepresentation or (c) any other type of liability which cannot by law be excluded or limited.

Subject to the above provision, we limit our liability under these terms and conditions, whether such liability arises in contract, tort (including without limitation negligence) or otherwise, as follows:

• our maximum liability for each claim or series of related claims shall be limited to, and not in aggregate exceed, £10 million subject to any lower figure stated in the client care letter for that matter; and
• we shall not be liable for (i) loss of business, use, profit, anticipated profit, contracts, revenues, goodwill or anticipated savings, (ii) loss of data or use of data, (iii) damage to the other party’s reputation or (iv) consequential, special or indirect loss or damage, even if we have been advised of the possibility of any such loss or damage.

Increases to the limit of liability, or removal of any exclusion, shall not be effective unless agreed in writing and signed by a Partner in advance.

Our liability is limited to a proportion of the total loss or damage, which is just and equitable, after taking into account other factors such as contributory negligence and/or the legal responsibility of any other person.

We exclude liability for taxation advice and the taxation consequences of any matter unless this advice is specifically requested and agreed in writing and signed by a Partner. In a property transaction, you have the following obligations (a) confirm the correct stamp duty land tax return is filed and (b) obtain advice from a tax adviser to ascertain the correct amount of stamp duty land tax payable. We do not give advice on the value of any capital allowances that may be available in respect of property transactions.

The provisions in this section shall survive the termination or expiry of the legal services Hamlins provides to you.

Future dealings and individuals using corporate vehicles

These Terms of Business will apply to all matters which we undertake on your behalf and on behalf of any associated company and on behalf of any partnership or body corporate in which you have an interest. We sometimes accept instructions from an individual acting in their personal capacity who later uses a company to enter into a transaction; the individual and the company will be jointly and individually liable for our fees.

Insurance Contracts

We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we may advise on, sell and administer insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register. The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against lawyers. If you are unhappy with any insurance advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies. If we recommend an insurance contract, we will not have carried out an analysis of the insurance products available and the policy we recommend may not necessarily provide best value, be best suited to your circumstances or provide the best cover. You are not obliged to accept the contract which we recommend you can instruct your own insurance broker to recommend an appropriate insurance contract and you can ask us to disclose details of the insurance undertakings with which we conduct business.

Value added tax, disbursements, photocopying and bank transfers

VAT and disbursements are payable in addition to all fee estimates, fixed fees and hourly rates. A charge will be made for any bank transfers and is in addition to any estimate or fixed fee. A charge will be made for photocopying and printing and this is in addition to any estimate or fixed fee.

How are our fees calculated?

Our charges will be based on the time spent dealing with your affairs, unless we agree to a fixed fee arrangement. A time charge will include time spent at meetings, travelling, working on papers, correspondence, telephone calls, preparing itemised bills for assessment and internal discussions. Routine correspondence and telephone calls are charged at units of one tenth of an hour. Hourly charge-out rates are normally reviewed with effect from 1 May every year and if the matter has not been completed before the next review, the rates may rise.

The hourly rate takes into account the seniority and experience of the people acting for you. The hourly rate is designed to cover only the work that we have been instructed to undertake. If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we may need to increase the hourly charge out rate, but we will discuss this with you at the time.

If your matter does not proceed to completion, a reasonable fee for the work carried out will be payable calculated by reference to the time spent on your matter.

Estimates and fixed fees

Any estimate is not a fixed fee unless expressly stated to be so. Estimates can be revised during the matter, for instance, if the matter is more complicated or takes longer than originally anticipated. Any agreement to charge a fixed fee is only binding if it is confirmed in writing and signed by a Partner. A fixed fee will cover only the work that we have been specifically instructed to undertake. If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we will make additional charges.

Payments on account and interim bills

We may request payment of a reasonable sum on account of the costs and disbursements that are likely to be incurred on your behalf and we will hold the payment on account against our final invoice. If a disbursement fee is required to be paid to carry out instructions from you, we shall (a) raise an invoice and/or a Request for Funds with you for the sum of the disbursement fee, (b) settle the disbursement fee from any sums we have in the client account, or (c) manage the settlement of the disbursement fee as we deem appropriate based on the progression of the matter. Meanwhile, we may deliver bills to you from time to time throughout the course of the matter and you will still have to settle those interim bills as they arise. Please let us know if you wish to set a limit on the costs which may be incurred after which we must refer back to you for further authority.

Payment of our bills

All bills should be settled promptly on receipt and we do not accept cash as a means of payment. Our costs are payable without deduction or set-off. Interest backdated to the date of the bill may be charged on bills that are not paid within 30 days. Interest will be charged on a monthly basis at the rate payable on judgment debts. If you do not pay the bill and we take steps for recovery, you will have to pay the additional costs we incur. It is our policy to sue for payment of unpaid invoices.

If any bill is not paid within 14 days or if a reasonable request for payment on account is not complied with, we may suspend work pending payment or we may stop acting for you at which point we will submit a bill for the full amount of work that has been done.

We are entitled to settle our bills from monies held on your behalf and to retain your papers and documents until all our bills have been settled.

Instalment arrangements or agreements to defer payment are only effective if they are in writing and signed by a Partner; they will become ineffective if any instalment is not paid on the due date. Even if we agree an instalment arrangement or deferred payment, interest will be charged on the balance outstanding at bank base rate prevailing at the time.

Queries on our bills

If you have any query on your bill you should first contact the fee earner dealing with your matter or the supervising partner referred to in your client care letter. Please notify us of your concern within 30 days of receiving the bill; if you do not, we will assume you approve and accept the bill.

If you are dissatisfied with our bill you are entitled to make a complaint to us and there may also be a right to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please see the Complaints procedure referred to above.

In addition you have the right to challenge our bill by applying to the court for an assessment of it under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The usual time limit for making an application is one month from the date of delivery of the bill. If the application is made after one month but before twelve months from delivery of the bill, the court’s permission is required for the bill to be assessed. Unless there are special circumstances, the court will not usually order a bill to be assessed (a) after twelve months from delivery of the bill, (b) if a judgment has been obtained for the recovery of the costs covered by the bill or (c) if the bill has been paid, even if this is within 12 months. The Legal

Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about the bill if you have applied to the court for an assessment of it.

Payment of our fees by your opponent in dispute resolution matters

If you win your case, you may be entitled to a contribution towards your costs. You may also be able to claim interest on those costs. If any part of our fees has not been paid on account, we may retain any interest received against that part of the fees that have not been paid.

It is impossible to gauge what proportion of your costs may be recoverable from your opponent but we will provide you with further information as regards this as and when it becomes available. In any case we will recoup as much of your outlay as we can.

Whether your opponent is able to pay or not, you are responsible for paying our bills and we are entitled to request you to pay our bills before any costs are recovered from your opponent. Even if you are successful, the other party will not be ordered to pay all our charges and expenses or they may not have the means to pay the costs; in either case you will have to pay the balance of our charges and expenses. If the other party is legally aided or becomes so during the proceedings, you may not get back any of your costs, even if you win the case. You will also be responsible for paying the costs and expense, including any disbursements, of trying to recover any charges and expenses that the other party is required to pay.

Any monies we recover from the other party will be first applied to payment of our own costs or held in anticipation of any charges that may arise.

Paying your opponents fees in dispute resolution matters

You may be required to pay the other party’s legal costs; for example, if you lose the dispute or decide to withdraw from any proceedings. These costs will be payable in addition to our costs.

Also, in the course of proceedings the Court has the power to order that a party pays their opponent’s costs in respect of a particular aspect of the case and, for example, if the party fails to comply with an order that is made during the proceedings. These costs are normally payable within 14 days of the date of the order.

Calculating costs payable by one party to another in dispute resolution matters

Calculating the costs payable by one party to another is dealt with under a process known as “Summary Assessment” or “Detailed Assessment”. Summary Assessment is quicker and less expensive but whatever type of Assessment is required you will be responsible for the costs we incur in the process. As with the case itself, the Court may order one party to bear the costs of the process incurred by the other party.

Alternative ways of paying for your dispute resolution matter

In addition to privately funding your matter there may be other methods of paying for it, for example by conditional fee or damages-based arrangements. We can discuss the possibility of this with you if you wish. If we agree to act for you under such arrangements you will receive an agreement and a separate letter explaining the additional terms and conditions.

There is also insurance. Please tell us if you have an insurance policy which will cover you for legal expenses. It may be possible to take out a policy of insurance now to cover your opponent’s costs in the event that you lose; this is called After the Event Insurance.

We do not provide a service for clients who fund their litigation by a Public Funding Certificate (Legal Aid). If you feel that you qualify or may qualify in the future, please let us know and we will refer you to a firm who will be able to act for you and apply for a Public Funding Certificate.

Hours of Business

Hamlins’ usual hours of business are 9.30am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

Equality and Diversity

Hamlins is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees.

Third Party Rights

No person or organisation who is not a party to these terms and conditions shall have any right to enforce these terms and conditions pursuant to the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Applicable Law

Any dispute or legal issue arising from our terms of business will be determined by the law of England and Wales and considered exclusively by the English courts.

Interest on your money

 We will pay interest when it is fair and reasonable to do so in all the circumstances and we will pay a fair and reasonable sum calculated over the whole period for which any money is held.

We will not pay interest on money held to pay a professional disbursement, once the intended recipient has requested that we delay in paying them or where the amount of interest, calculated in accordance with this policy, is less than £20.

As a general rule, we will discuss with you the use of a separate designated client account (SDCA) when we reasonably expect to hold high value funds for a considerable period of time and can therefore achieve a higher rate of interest. This is not a rigid rule and you should contact us if you would prefer us to take a different approach. Unless we are instructed to the contrary, we will pay 100% of the interest received on monies deposited in an SDCA to the recipient to whom we ultimately pay the monies on deposit. Where the monies on deposit are divided between more than one recipient, we will divide the interest in the same proportions. Interest will be paid net of tax unless the recipient has signed a declaration that they are entitled to receive gross interest.

Any money not held in an SDCA will be held in our general client account. We will pay interest each quarter at the rate that would be payable by Coutts & Co on their instant access “Client’s Reserve Account” (or the replacement account in the event that this account is withdrawn) for the matter balance deposited. The interest rate is likely to change from time to time. Latest rates can be obtained from the Coutts & Co. Interest will be paid before deduction of tax. It will be the recipient’s responsibility to declare interest received to HMRC.

We are required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to deposit monies in instant access accounts only. This means that the interest rate paid on monies in an SDCA or in our general client account may not be as high as the recipient can achieve by placing the money on deposit themselves. Where we hold monies on more than one matter for a recipient, interest will be calculated separately for each individual instruction, unless it is fair and reasonable to aggregate the interest. Interest will be paid on a quarterly basis and at the conclusion of the matter. Interest will be calculated over the whole period that we hold the monies, starting from the date the monies are treated by us as cleared funds. If we hold money jointly with another firm, we will agree with the other firm how interest will be allocated. Where we pay money by cheque to a recipient who delays in paying the cheque into their bank, we will pay additional interest only where it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so. We reserve the right to charge for the additional work involved. This section is a summary of our Interest Policy and you can ask us to send the full policy to you.

Entire Agreement

These terms and conditions and the engagement letter constitutes the entire agreement between us relating to your matter.

Anti-Corruption Policy

It is our policy to conduct all of our business in an honest and ethical manner. We take a zero- tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships wherever we operate and implementing and enforcing effective systems to counter bribery. We will uphold all laws relevant to countering bribery and corruption including the Bribery Act 2010, in respect of our conduct both at home and abroad.

Provision of HighQ Software – Limited Warranties and Limitations of Liability

If we agree to host your data on the HighQ platform, the following terms apply. There will be an additional charge for the use of the HighQ platform which we will discuss with you but which will be subject to a minimum of £950. The HighQ Software product is sub-licensed and supplied to you by Hamlins via a third party software supplier which is licensed strictly subject to limited warranties and strict limitations on liability. Therefore in relation to any liability created as a consequence of using the HighQ Software Hamlins’ aggregate liability shall under no circumstances exceed the lesser of either £100,000 per claim (or series of related claims in aggregate) or the payments to which Hamlins would be entitled to invoice you specifically in connection with your use of HighQ product in the most recent calendar year.

In connection with your use of the HiqhQ product, Hamlins shall not be liable for any loss of profit, loss of business, loss of revenue, depletion of goodwill or similar losses, interruption of business, the cost of procurement of substitute goods or services, or pure economic loss for any special, indirect or consequential loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses or any kind, howsoever arising, even if advised of the possibility of such damage or if such damage could have been reasonably foreseen.

If there is a loss of any content posted on HighQ platform, Hamlins shall use reasonable endeavours to liaise with HighQ to re-constitute and retrieve such content at its own expense, provided however, that Hamlins shall not be required to expend any amount exceeding the lesser of the licence fees paid for the applicable year to use the HighQ platform or £100,000. You shall provide all proactive cooperation with Hamlins and HighQ in such efforts, including by providing HighQ and/or Hamlins with electronic and/or physical copies of materials making up any loss of content.

The HighQ software is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non- infringement.

Regulation

Hamlins is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN. This means we are governed by a Code of Conduct and other professional rules which you can access on the SRA’s website, www.sra.org.uk or by calling 0370 606 2555.

Last Updated: 19 September 2024