Terms and Conditions
AWAN LEGAL ASSOCIATES LTD – GENERAL TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
THESE ARE TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR CLIENT CARE LETTER WHICH WILL BE MORE SPECIFIC TO YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER. THESE TERMS TOGETHER WITH THE CLIENT CARE LETTER SET OUT THE CONTRACTUAL BASIS ON WHICH WE ARE TO ACT FOR YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTER. IN THE EVENT OF ANY CONFLICT OR INCONSISTENCY BETWEEN THESE TERMS AND THE CLIENT CARE LETTER, THEN THE PROVISIONS OF THE LETTER SHALL PREVAIL. OUR PRIVACY NOTICE IS ON OUR WEBSITE AND SHOULD ALSO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THIS LETTER.
Wherever possible we ask that you send all correspondence electronically.
We are continuing to make appointments and have consultations by telephone or video call in addition to face to face due to the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic. This has been working very successfully since April 2020 and allows us to continue to meet our service standards in a new and effective manner.
1. Costs and how we charge
1.1 Please note that our standard hourly charging rates are subject to review. We will notify you of any increase in our hourly rates arising from such review. Ms Nargis Awan hourly rate is £300.00 Plus VAT and Mr Ibrar Ahmed hourly rate is £250.00 Plus VAT. Other fee earners will have quoted their hourly rates to you in writing.
1.2 Our costs are exclusive of VAT and disbursements (expenses that we incur on your behalf in the matter). We are VAT registered and our VAT registration number is 298884025.
1.3 We will endeavour to keep you regularly advised of the amount of our costs as matters progress and in particular we will advise you if it becomes apparent that the level of our costs is likely to exceed the levels mentioned in the attached letter.
1.4 You may agree with us an upper limit in respect of our costs which we are not to exceed without your authority.
1.5 We reserve the right to submit periodic interim bills to you in respect of accumulated unbilled time and disbursements.
1.6 We must also reserve the right to call upon you at the start of the matter and from time to time thereafter to make payments on account of costs and disbursements to be incurred or to provide security.
1.7 Our invoices will relate to services that we have provided and as such, will be due for payment on presentation. If “you” are more than one person, firm or company then your liability to us is joint and several. We currently allow 14 days from the delivery of the invoice for payment and request that the invoice be discharged within that period. We reserve the right to cease further work until our costs, VAT and disbursements are paid and to claim interest at the rate of 4% p.a. over the base rate of Barclays Bank plc from time to time from the date of delivery of our invoice should it remain unpaid over a 14 day period.
1.8 In some matters it is sometimes agreed (or ordered, eg by a Court or Tribunal) that the other party is to pay our costs VAT and disbursements. In most cases this is most unlikely to cover all of our costs. The point we must make is that our services are given to you and, even if all or part of the costs are to be paid by another party, you will still be primarily responsible for payment. Therefore, in the (hopefully unlikely) event that the other party fails or is unable to pay the agreed (or ordered) costs by the due date, we may require you to pay them yourself. You may then be able to take action against the third party to recover the amount they should pay, although further costs and disbursements are then likely to be involved which you may not be able to recover from the other party.
Each lawyer has an hourly charge out rate, which takes into account his or her individual experience. We review these hourly-charging rates annually, and we will notify you of any changes to these rates.
The hourly rates for each lawyer initially involved in your work will be set out in the accompanying letter of engagement or are available on request.
Our fees will be calculated by reference to the time spent on the matter and to the usual billing
criteria regarding solicitors’ fees:
(a) The complexity of the matter.
(b) The urgency of the matter.
(c) The difficulty or the novelty of the questions raised.
(d) The skill, labour, specialised knowledge and responsibility involved.
(e) The number and importance of the documents prepared or examined.
(f) The amount or value of any transaction involved.
(g) The importance of the matter to you.
(h) The time reasonably spent by any solicitor and this firm on the matter.
(i) The places and circumstances in which the matter is to be pursued.
Our lawyers record their time spent on your matter and we will charge you in units of 6 minutes, rounded upwards to the nearest whole unit in relation to each activity undertaken in relation to the matter.
However, we may charge a premium if, for example, our lawyers have to put in extra effort to complete your Matter such as by working outside normal working hours.
We also reserve the right to charge additional fees in the event that any reports we produce for you are re-addressed to any other parties or advisers in the Matter.
We will charge for all time spent by our lawyers on your Matter. For the purposes of clarity, this will include time spent on the following activities:
– opening your file to include dealing with compliance;
– attending meetings with you and others, including travel to and from the meeting;
– attending court; and
– supervising junior solicitors.
You may place a limit on the amount of fees, which may be incurred, without your prior approval. If you wish to do so, please tell us in writing. We are happy to help you to set a realistic limit. As our fees approach any limit set we will notify you in writing.
We will explain to you the amount of time likely to be spent in dealing with your Matter. If it becomes apparent that changed circumstances may affect the amount of time spent on your Matter we will explain the consequences to you and confirm in writing.
Please be aware that you will be charged for all routine letters / emails sent in and out plus for all telephone calls in and out; as well as any formal or informal meetings/attendances with any of the solicitors dealing with your matter.
We reserve the right to charge additional fees if there are any unforeseen complications or additional work is incurred. Our charges will be calculated mainly by reference to the time spent by the concerned solicitor and other solicitors and staff dealing with the matter. This includes advising, attending to you and others dealing with the papers, correspondence and telephone calls as also explained above.
Barrister’s fees will also be separate and charged.
You will have to pay extra court fees if applicable. We may require this fee from you before we can proceed any further with any applications to court /the Home Office / probate office and so forth.
We reserve the right to charge additional fees if there are any unforeseen complications or additional work is incurred during the transaction. Our charges will be calculated mainly by reference to the time spent by the concerned solicitor and other solicitors and staff dealing with the matter. This includes advising, attending to you and others dealing with the papers, correspondence and telephone calls.
You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time. We will decide to stop acting for you only with good reason and on giving you reasonable notice.
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
• We will normally send you our bill following the exchange of contracts and payment is required on a purchase prior to completion; and at completion on a sale. If sufficient funds are available on completion, and we have sent you a bill, we will deduct our charges and expenses from the funds.
• 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. We find that 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, this firm must reserve the right to stop acting for you further.
• We are entitled to keep your papers and documents while money is owing to us.
For information about how your funds will be paid and held you may access the following link: http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/accountsrules/part4/content.page
We will keep you informed of costs as the Matter progresses, and aim to do so at least every 6 months.
1.9 Additional costs
We will add to our fees these additional amounts:
– VAT (value added tax) at the rate applicable when the bill is raised;
– disbursements (i.e. expenditure incurred on your behalf) such as barrister’s fees, purchase of statutory books and corporate seals, search fees, registration fees, stamp duty and third party accounts. We will notify you of the need to incur disbursements as soon as it becomes apparent, and where appropriate we will obtain a firm figure or cap on the amount of the disbursement;
Any disbursements such as COURT FEES, counsel fees, courier fees, services of an interpreter, translation of documents and specialist reports e.g. medical, DNA tests would be additional to the legal fees quoted. Expenses such as travelling, subsistence, bulk photocopying, fax and telephone charges. These expenses will normally be shown as disbursements on our bill but will be added to and included in our total fee for legal services.
1.10 Estimates and fixed fees
It is often difficult for us to estimate how many hours of work will be necessary to complete your Matter.
Where we are asked to give an estimate of the fees, which may be incurred, you will appreciate that this is a broad indication and is not intended to be a fixed quotation. We reserve the right to revise our estimate at any time if it becomes apparent that we will have to spend more time on the transaction than originally envisaged or if anything else occurs to make it necessary to revise the estimate. If we are instructed to undertake further work this would, of course, result in a revised estimate. We will notify you in writing if it appears that any estimate given may be exceeded. In some circumstances we are able to provide fixed fees or a quotation for part or all of the Matter. Any fixed fees that may be given will be based on the assumptions set out in the covering engagement letter.
1.11 Client account
For details of how your money will be paid and held (in a client account unless stated otherwise in the attached link) please refer to the Solicitors Accounts Rules and the following link: http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/accountsrules/part4/content.page
2. Service Levels
We aim to deliver to our clients a high quality and cost-effective service, which meets or exceeds
their expectations. In relation to each piece of work (“Matter”), which we handle for you, we will:
– allocate overall responsibility for that Matter to a partner;
– provide such information as you may reasonably request on every person directly involved in your work, and as a minimum their name and status;
– if we involve specialists in your Matter, explain the need to involve them and, where applicable, introduce you to them before they are involved;
– explain what we are doing on your behalf and why;
– clearly explain the legal and other issues raised in your Matter;
We will update you by telephone or in writing with progress on your matter [regularly or following agreed events or whenever we receive information about an update in your case].
We will communicate with you in plain language.
We will explain to you by telephone or in writing the legal work required as your matter progresses. We will update you on the cost of your matter [regularly or at agreed events].
We will update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances.
We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.
We will continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.
We will advise you of any changes in the law.
3. Your responsibilities:
You will provide us with clear, timely and accurate instructions.
You will provide all documentation required to complete the transaction in a timely manner. You will safeguard any documents that are likely to be required for discovery.
You will let us know straight away if you change your address or if there is any other important change in your circumstances.
3.1 Electronic communication
We are able to communicate with you by e-mail as well as by post, fax, and telephone. Unless you let us know to the contrary, we will assume that you are happy for us to communicate by e-mail, even though we cannot guarantee the security or confidentiality of e-mail communications.
3.2 Conflict of interest
We are not aware of any conflict of interest, which prohibits us from acting for you. If we become aware that a conflict exists, or may arise during the course of the transaction, we will contact you immediately to discuss how to proceed in the light of this conflict.
4. Financial Services
4.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. If, while we are acting for you, you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide the necessary advice.
4.2 Tax Advice
Please note that we will not be giving you any tax advice other than Stamp duty Land Tax. If you require assistance regarding tax implications on this transaction, you should contact your accountant.
4.3 However, we may provide certain limited investment advice services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. This is because we are members of the Law Society
of England and Wales, which is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
4.4 The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman is the independent body who deals with complaints against solicitors. If you are unhappy with any investment advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies.
5 Insurance Mediation
5.3 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 may 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 website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register.
5.4 The Law Society of England and Wales 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 function. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman is the independent body who deals with complaints against solicitors. If you are unhappy with any insurance advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service you may complain in writing to our office and to the person who dealt with your matter. We will aim to send an acknowledgement of your complaint within eight working days of the date we receive it. Please note that we have eight weeks to consider your complaint.
Once the internal procedure is exhausted, we are unable to settle the complaint with you and you must contact the Legal Ombudsman on http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/, whereby we are obliged to submit to the alternative dispute resolution procedure operated by the Legal Ombudsman.
6 Data protection – GDPR Regulation
We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including:
• updating and enhancing client records;
• analysis to help us manage our practice;
• statutory returns;
• legal and regulatory compliance.
Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
We refer you to our privacy policy which is enclosed herewith for your information.
7 Confidentiality, Duty of Care and Contractual Responsibility
The performance of the duty of care owed and of our contractual responsibilities are only to you (and
not to anyone else) and are the sole responsibility of Awan Legal Associates Ltd. We accept no responsibility to any third party.
Confidentiality
Everything you tell us will be treated in confidence. This means that we will not disclose information about your case to anyone other than is necessary to deal effectively with your case and in accordance with the law. All members of staff in this firm and the interpreters and clerks used by us are bound by confidentiality and will not disclose details of clients or their cases to anyone without your express or occasionally implied permission.
8 Regulation
Awan Legal Associates Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (under number 573874). The SRA’s rules can be found at www.sra.org.uk. A list of members of Awan Legal Associates Ltd and of the non-members, who are designated as partners, is open to inspection at the registered office 135 High Street, Slough, SL1 1DN. The term partner is used to refer to a member or director of Awan Legal Associates Ltd.
9 Outsourcing
Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing/photocopying/other work on our files to ensure this is done promptly. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.
10 Auditing and vetting of files
You should advise your client if your files are required to be produced to assessors or others as part of an audit or quality check. For example, External firms or organisations may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files.
11 Retention of File
11.3 At the end of your matter we will keep our file of papers (except for any papers which you ask to be returned to you) for a reasonable period (six years) on the understanding that we then have the authority to destroy it. We will not destroy any documents you ask us to keep in safe custody.
11.4 If we retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act concerning your affairs, we will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, we will charge if you need the copies of any documents based on the number of pages and the time spent to produce stored papers or documents to you or another at your request.
12 If you have a concern about our service or our fees
12.1 Awan Legal Associates Ltd is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, please contact Ms Nargis Awan on 07867723472 or nargis@awanlegal.co.uk or by post to our office. We have a procedure in place, which details how we handle complaints, which is available at our office. We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman. You may first put your complaint in writing to us and we will respond as soon as reasonable or aim to respond within 14 days at the latest but this can take up to eight weeks to fully investigate. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ (Tel: 0300 555 0333; website – www.legalombudsman.org.uk; email – enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk) to consider the complaint. The time limits for the Ombudsman accepting a complaint are:
“Ordinarily:
a) the act or omission, or when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5 October 2010; and
b) the complainant must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than:
C) six years from the act/omission; or
d) three years from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for
complaint.”
In exceptional circumstances the Ombudsman may consider extending these time limits.
The time limit for a client to complain to the Legal Ombudsman remains six months from the end of our complaints process.
Please note that we are not obliged to follow the dispute resolution process (complaints process) if:
a) The firm seeks an order restraining the client from committing an act or compelling the client to do an act;
b) A judgment or award for a liquid sum where there is no arguable defence;
c) The enforcement of an agreement, order or award.
12.2 There may be a right to object to any of our invoices by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are set out above and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitor’s Act 1974 but you should be aware that the Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about our invoice if you have applied to the court for assessment of the invoice.
13 Termination of our Retainer – Lien
13.1 You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time.
13.2 We may decide to stop acting for you, but only with good reason, for example, if we believe that you are acting unreasonably, or if you fail to comply with your obligations to us, or if you unreasonably refuse to accept our advice, or if you do not pay an interim bill, or comply with our request for a payment on account, or the solicitor / client relationship breaks down. We must give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you.
13.3 If you or we decide that we will no longer act for you, all our costs, VAT, and disbursements up to that point will become payable by you following our submitting our account to you, and we will be entitled to keep all of your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our costs, VAT and disbursements.
14 Equality and Diversity
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, third parties and employees, and we have a written equality and diversity policy. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a copy of that equality and diversity policy.
15 Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Crime Legislation – Confidentiality
15.1 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 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, terrorist financing or proceeds of crime, the solicitor may be required to make a disclosure. If this happens, we may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it. We may have to stop working on your matter for a period of time and may not be able to tell you why.
15.2 We may need to ask you for confirmation of the source or destination of any funds involved in a matter. It is our policy not to accept funds on account of your matter, other than from yourself (or from a UK branch, building society or other financial institution which is funding you).
MONEY LAUNDERING PRECAUTIONS
1 Like all firm of solicitors, we are now required by law to apply procedures to guard against the risk of money laundering. It will help us to avoid any problems with your legal work if you bear in mind the following points.
2 We may need to obtain formal evidence of your identity. This may be necessary even though we have acted for you before, or even if you are known personally to a member of staff. We will tell you if such evidence is necessary, but it may help us if you are able to bring evidence to our first meeting. Normally the evidence we would ask for is your passport, plus two or more documents to establish your address, such as recent utility bills, council tax statements
or bank statements. Please forward us copies of your ID documents now but we need to see the original when you attend our office.
3 We are normally only able to accept cash up to a limit of £500.00 at any one time.
4 At the start of any matter we will normally ask you to tell us the source of any funds you will be using and request you to forward the last 6 months Bank/Building Society statements. It is simplest for us if the source is an account, in your name, in a UK bank or building society. If the source is an unusual one, such as an account in another country, or in the name of someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason.
5 Where we are to pay money out to you, we will normally do so by cheque in your favour, or into an account in your name. If instead you want us to pay surplus money out into the name of someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason.
6 We have always sought to keep our clients affairs confidential. However the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can oblige us to report information about financial offences to the National Criminal Intelligence Service. In particular, if it seems that any assets involved in your matter were derived from a crime we may have to report it. This can include even small amounts of money, and covers all offences, including for example tax evasion and benefit fraud. If we have to make a report we may not be able to tell you that we have done so. A report may result in an investigation by the Police, the Inland Revenue or other authorities. The law contains exceptions. If you are concerned about how this may affect you, please ask us to clarify.
7 Please note that amount to complete the transaction should come from your own savings if applicable. We do not accept money from third party. You need to show us the source of your funding to complete this matter.
16 Cash – Payments to You
16.1 Our firm’s policy is to normally accept cash only up to £500.00 in any 14 days. In the event of the client exceeding the firm’s cash limit, then any administration or banking fee incurred as a result thereof will be for the account of the client.
16.2 If cash is deposited direct with our bank or any other bank we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks we deem necessary regarding the source of funds.
16.3 Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer at
16.4 your risk, save for our negligence, and it will be remitted in £Sterling unless you advise us in writing to the contrary, in which case we will accept no liability for the rate of exchange to another currency or for fluctuation in that rate. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.
17 Hours of Business and Covid-19
Our normal hours of business are Monday to Friday 09.00 am to 05.00 pm (by appointment only): we close on Bank Holidays and we may also be closed on additional days over the Christmas and New Year period.
Should you require an appointment, please telephone our office Monday to Friday between 9.00am to 5.00pm. Please explain the nature of the emergency if any, so that we can arrange to see you straight away.
We are currently making appointments and having consultations by telephone or video call due to the current Covid-19 epidemic and in line with Government Guidance.
18 Deposit protection for client accounts
If we make a claim under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in respect of client money on your behalf, we will, subject to your consent, give certain client information to the FSCS to help them identify clients and any amounts to which they are entitled. Your money will be held in HSBC Bank in respect of which we confirm the following:
It is unlikely that we will be held liable for losses resulting from a banking failure;
An £85,000 FSCS limit applies to an individual client, and so if you hold other personal monies yourselves in the same deposit-taking institution as your client account, the limit remains £85,000 in total;
If a corporate body client is not considered a small company by FSCS, then they will not be eligible for compensation;
Some deposit-taking institutions have several brands, ie where the same institution is trading under different names. You should check either with your deposit-taking institution, the FSA or a financial adviser for more information;
We will seek consent for the disclosure to FSCS of client details in the event of a deposit-taking institution failure.
19 Unclaimed client funds
Any surplus funds where clients cannot be traced after closure of a matter may be accounted for at agreed intervals, or alternatively donated to charity.
20 Professional Indemnity Insurance
Awan Legal Associates Ltd’s liability for all damages other than those set forth above shall be 3 million per claim or series of related claims. Awan Legal Associates Ltd confirms that it holds professional indemnity insurance to cover the preceding liability in the amount of £3 million for any claim or series of related claims, as required by all firms of solicitors in England and Wales.
21 Payment of Commissions
If we receive any commissions in connection with the matter that we are dealing with for you we will account to you for the same unless you have agreed with us that we may keep it.
22 Bribery Act 2010
We aim to comply fully with the provisions of the Act and have a zero tolerance policy to any breach.
23 Acceptance of these Terms
These terms, coupled with the accompanying letter to you, set out the terms of our engagement with you. Your continuing instructions will amount to acceptance of our terms of engagement.
24 Severance
If any provision of these Terms (or part of any provision) is found by any court or other authority of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision shall, to the extent required, be deemed not to form part of these Terms, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of these Terms shall not be affected.
25 Variations of Terms of Engagement
We reserve the right to vary the terms of our engagement for any reasonable reason subject to giving you prior written notice of any such variation.
26 Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms of Engagement will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English Law. The Courts in England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning the engagement and any matter arising from it.
27 Direct Marketing
Please email us if you do not wish to receive direct marketing correspondence or contact from our firm.
28 Cyber Crime Alert
We will never tell you of changes to our bank details nor will we accept changes to your bank details by email. We will not accept any liability if you transfer money to an incorrect account.
If in doubt, please ring to the case handler about any messages which look suspicious
29 Consent for ID and GDPR
By signing the client care, you confirm that you are agreeable for our firm to retain your ID documents under the Anti-Laundering Regulation for 6 years in line with our retention of your file for this period.
Please see here for our GDPR data policy.