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1. Introduction Lloyd & Associates LLP is constituted as a limited liability partnership in accordance with the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 registered in England and Wales under Partnership number OC314010. The registered office is 35 Thurloe Street, South Kensington, London, SW7 2LQ. Please note that when we refer to ‘a partner’ or ‘partners’ of Lloyd & Associates LLP, the term ‘partner’ means a member of Lloyd & Associates LLP and should not be construed as indicating that the members of Lloyd & Associates LLP are carrying on a business for the purposes of the Partnership Act 1890. The firm’s Value Added Tax Registration Number (VAT number) is 863 858 867. The members of Lloyd & Associates LLP are Mo Hakim and Philip Lafferty. Lloyd & Associates LLP is referred to within these Terms and Conditions and the Engagement Letter as ‘the firm’, ‘we’ or ‘us’. You are referred to within these Terms and Conditions and the Engagement Letter as ‘you’ or ‘the client’. These Terms and Conditions together with the Engagement Letter provided to you at the outset of your matter constitutes the contract between this firm and you, outlines our responsibilities to you and sets out the basis upon which we provide services and charge for those services. Our offices are situated at 35 Thurloe Street South Kensington London SW7 2LQ. Our normal office opening hours are between 9.00am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays. We are normally closed between 24th December and 2nd January. Appointments can be made outside normal office hours by prior arrangement with the fee earner dealing with your matter. 3. Client identification & money laundering In accordance with statutory requirements governing all solicitors, we are required to verify the identity of our clients at the outset of our business relationship. Specifically, we require all clients to complete at the outset of our business relationship with you the Lloyd & Associates LLP KYC (Know Your Client) Form. Please note that unless otherwise agreed, we are unable to proceed with your matter until such time as we are in receipt of the KYC Form duly signed and completed by you. A fee earner will be assigned with the day to day conduct of your matter. A Partner of the firm will have overall responsibility for your matter. The details of the fee earner and the Partner with overall responsibility of your matter will be set out within the firm’s Engagement Letter. Method of Charging. There are two methods by which our professional fees are charged.
5.1 Time Incurred Method of Charging All time spent working on a matter is recorded. The time spent by the fee earner on any activity relating to the matter is charged by reference to minimum time units of 6 minutes each rounded up to the nearest unit e.g. telephone call of 5 minutes – charge is 1 unit; telephone call of 9 minutes – charge is 2 units. Our current hourly charge rates are set out below:
You will be notified in writing of any changes to our rates before they are applied. Our aim is to provide you with the best-cost estimate that we can throughout your matter. We will always try to provide an estimate for the total cost of the matter at the outset, however it is often not possible to to do so. Where a total cost estimate is not possible, we favour the approach of providing you with an estimate of your costs on a stage-by-stage basis throughout the matter. This means you will be provided with a written estimate of costs in advance of each stage together with details of the work to be undertaken. In exceptional circumstances where we cannot provide a meaningful cost estimate at the outset of a matter we will agree with you a ceiling figure that cannot be exceeded so that initial work can be undertaken. Thereafter as soon as is practicable we will provide you with a costs estimate either for the matter as whole or on a stage basis. 5.2 Guide Price Method of Charging We are able to offer on request a guide price for the following areas of work:
A guide price may be agreed with a Partner of the firm for any other area of work. Any guide price provided is on the basis that the matter proceeds in a normal timely straightforward and uncomplicated fashion. If we have to spend more time than anticipated due to the nature or urgency of the matter, the actions of other parties or as a result of your instructions, this may result in an increase in our charges. If there is to be an increase in our charges from the original guide price provided, then we shall endeavour to notify you of such as soon as reasonably practicable and where the circumstances permit prior to that particular work being undertaken which is attributable to the costs increase. In respect of residential property sale and purchase transactions, in the event there are 7 days or less between exchange of contracts and completion, we reserve the right to charge an expedition fee in order to cover the cost of co-ordinating such a timetable. The amount will depend upon the time scales but will not exceed £200 plus VAT. Any guide price agreed for residential property sale and purchase transactions is on the basis that it covers the normal routine work associated with a conveyance of a residential property. If during the course of the transaction, additional non-routine work becomes necessary, we reserve the right to apply additional charges. A non-exhaustive list of examples of additional non-routine work will be provided at the outset of the transaction together with our Engagement Letter. Unless specifically otherwise advised in writing, all guide prices provided are inclusive of postage, telephone calls, stationery and photocopying. In the event the matter becomes abortive, we reserve the right to charge an abortive matter fee based upon the actual time taken, the actual amount of work undertaken at the juncture at which the matter became abortive and the hourly charging rate of the fee earner(s) involved in your matter. In addition to the abortive matter fee, any payments to third parties already incurred by us will also be charged. 5.3 Time Critical work For emergency time critical work, or where the value to you is unusually high and/or where the matter is of an exceptionally high value given the nature of the work, we reserve the right to increase our hourly charging rates and/or charge on a value element basis. In such circumstances, you will be notified of the charging rates which will apply. 5.4 File opening fee There is a one off fee that is payable at the commencement of every matter of £25 plus VAT for our time in relation to completing all matter opening requirements and obligations required in order to satisfy our statutory requirements. 5.5 VAT All our professional fees are charged net or exclusive of VAT unless otherwise stated. VAT at the appropriate rate from time to time (currently 17.5%) will be payable in addition to the fees. In certain cases, you and/or the subject matter of the transaction may not be liable to VAT. There may also be certain disbursements which incur VAT and we will notify you of these as appropriate. In addition to the fees charged for the work undertaken on your matter, you will be liable to reimburse us for all expenses paid or incurred by us to third parties on your behalf in connection with your matter. Examples of such expenses include but are not limited to the following: fees payable on your behalf to the courts, local authorities, government departments, counsel, other professionals and experts; travel expenses; couriers and messengers; photocopying expenses where the copying is not carried out by us. At the conclusion of your matter, we require that your papers are scanned to disc by an external logistics company of our choice. We are charged a fee for this service and this is charged to you as a disbursement. The cost of this service varies depending on the volume of papers to be scanned. The minimum fee in every matter is £50 plus VAT. Invoices must be paid in full within 14 days of the invoice date (without any deduction by way of set-off or counterclaim or otherwise). In respect of all property transactional matters, invoices must be paid in full within 14 days of the invoice date or the completion date, whichever is the earlier. If an invoice is not paid within 14 days of the invoice date, we reserve the right to charge interest on the total amount payable at the lower of the rate payable for the time being on judgment debts or the rate of 3% over the base rate from time to time of National Westminster Bank PLC from the invoice date until payment is made in full. We shall be entitled to recover on a full indemnity basis any costs including VAT and disbursements incurred by us in collecting overdue payments. We further reserve the right to retain all documents and any other items in our possession relating to any matter until all invoices are paid in full. We further reserve the right to cease work on all matters if any invoice on any matter shall be overdue for payment. 7.1 information on challenging an invoice The following applies to both contentious and non contentious matters. Upon receipt of an invoice from the firm if you are not satisfied with the amount you have been invoiced you may have a right to object to this invoice by way of the firm's complaints procedure, and/or by making a complaint to the Legal Complaints Service, and/or by applying to the court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 within one month of the delivery of the invoice. You may be liable to pay interest on any portion of your invoice that remains outstanding one month after delivery of the invoice which is held to be payable. You can write to The Legal Complaints Service at 8 Dormer Place, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 5AE or call their helpline on 0845 608 6565. Further information is available on their website at www.legalcomplaints.org.uk Further information is also available by telephoning the Supreme Court Costs Office on 020 7947 7124 or by viewing their website at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk 7.2 Set Off In circumstances where an invoice remains outstanding in respect of a matter for at least 14 days from the invoice date and the firm is holding client monies on account in respect of another matter relating to you, the firm will be entitled to settle any such outstanding invoices from those client monies on account without further notice to you. Where the firm acts for two or more persons jointly in one particular transaction, they shall be jointly and severally liable for payment of the firm’s fees and disbursements in connection with that matter. In the event of a client being a limited company or a limited liability partnership, any individual signing or providing instructions on behalf of that limited company or limited liability partnership will be deemed to be liable for any fees or disbursements not settled by that company or partnership. You will be asked to pay sums or deposits on account of costs and/or disbursements (expenses) to be incurred. Such monies will be held in our client account to your credit until required to cover the payment of invoices or expenses. We reserve the right to cease work if you do not pay sums on account of costs and disbursements as requested. In the event of payments on account being made by credit card, we reserve the right to pass on any surcharge that may apply. You will be notified of any surcharge being applied prior to payment being taken. 11. Financial services & insurance mediation During the course of your matter you may require financial advice. In these circumstances, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority, as we are not. However, as we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, we may be able to provide certain limited investment services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. If you have any problem with the service we have provided for you then please let us know. We will try to resolve any problem quickly and operate an internal complaints handling system to help us to resolve the problem between us. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, then the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Complaints Service provide complaints and redress mechanisms. We are 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 advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our 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 www.fsa.gov.uk/register. The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but 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. 12. Storage of documents & papers At the conclusion of your matter your file of papers will be sent to an independent logistics company to be scanned on to disc. There is a one off fee payable at the start of your matter of a minimum of £50 plus VAT to cover this service. Once your file has been transferred to disc we will store the disc for up to 10 years. Please note that once your file has been transferred to disc we may not however retain your original physical file of papers. Unless we receive confirmation in writing within 14 days at the conclusion of your matter that you wish to be sent your physical file, we will arrange for your complete file of papers to be securely destroyed. The timing of the destruction will be at our discretion but may be at any time from the moment that we have received back into our office your scanned file disc. If you require items or information from a file more than six months after the conclusion or completion of your matter, we reserve the right to make a separate charge for the recovery of that item or information to cover the time spent in our doing so. Please note that we are not responsible for alerting clients to key dates that may arise in the future once a matter has been completed and committed to disc for example the date of a rent renewal. In addition to the above we offer a storage service to clients for wills, deeds and documents. If you would like us to retain these original documents for you there is a one off fee payable of £50 plus VAT. We reserve the right to retain all your documents and papers and not release them until all outstanding amounts owing to the firm by you have been settled in full whether relating to that matter or any other matter undertaken by the firm on behalf of you. 13. Termination You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents whilst there are monies owing to us for our costs in relation to work undertaken by us on your behalf until we received notice of your termination of instructions. In some circumstances, we may decide to stop acting for you but only for good reason, if for example you do not comply with a request for a payment on account, you fail to comply with KYC obligations, or if you fail to provide us with clear instructions. We will however provide you with reasonable notice where possible and in this event our costs will have to be paid by you in accordance with the charging rates applicable to your matter. 14. Miscellaneous These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales and any disputes arising in relation to them will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the firm does not provide any form of advice on any tax implications arising from your matter. 15. Confirmation & acceptance of instructions Unless otherwise agreed in writing, receipt by the firm of any form of instructions in connection with your matter after delivery of these Terms and Conditions and the Engagement Letter is to be treated as your having fully understood and accepted these Terms and Conditions and the information contained within the Engagement Letter. The Terms and Conditions and information contained within the Engagement Letter are to apply to all future matters unless otherwise notified in writing. |
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