CLIENT CARE – TERMS OF OUR CLIENT/LAWYER RELATIONSHIP
The purpose of this letter
This letter sets out the terms and conditions governing our relationship. It explains what you can expect from us as your lawyer, and what you agree to when we work for you. It includes information that we need to tell you under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. It applies to any work we do for you. These terms can be varied by agreement, which will then be recorded in a new letter. If you have any questions about any of the terms, please contact the lawyer responsible for the services we provide you to discuss.
Our commitment to you is that we will:
(a) Act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made.
(b) Protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties.
(c) Discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved.
(d) Provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it and the way the services will be provided.
(e) Charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and let you know how and when you will be billed.
(f) Give you clear information and advice.
(g) Protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality.
(h) Treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination.
(i) Keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed.
(j) Let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
Lawyers’ obligations
Our obligations to you are described in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. These can be found on this website: www.lawsociety.org.nz, or if you do not have access to this website, we can provide this information to you on request. We also have a primary duty that I owe to the Court as an officer of the Court.
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
From July 1 2018 Lawyers must comply with the anti-money laundering laws. Consequently, we need to obtain, verify and store information that identifies you and your address. A passport is a primary form of identification, but other sources such as a driver licence or firearms licence may be sufficient. Recent utility bills are used to verify your address. We may need to obtain more detailed information about your financial situation in certain circumstances. If you are attending our offices in the near future, it will be helpful if you can bring your passport or other form of ID and a recent utility bill with you.
Fee Estimates
In some circumstances it will be relatively easy to give you an estimate of the likely cost of the work. This is especially the case if there is something in particular you are trying to achieve, such as obtain a limited licence or Orders under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. Sometimes estimating an overall cost will be more difficult, such as when you are defending a civil proceeding. In those more difficult cases, we may be able to give estimates for each step in the proceeding, and the total cost of the work will depend upon what steps are required. We will keep you informed as we go. Every estimate will be based on information you give us. The estimate will be based upon a reasonable expectation of the nature of the matter and the resources which will be required to be expended on the matter. If the matter becomes more time-consuming or involved than expected at the outset, or the nature of your instructions is varied in any manner, then we reserve the right to vary the estimate. This will be done in conjunction with you and by keeping you informed at each stage.
How we set fees
When setting fees, we consider:
our standard fees for carrying out certain transactions;
the time and work involved;
the skill, specialised knowledge and experience required on the file;
the project’s importance, complexity and the outcome;
how quickly you need us to carry out the work;
the estimate of fees we gave you, or our fee agreement;
the reasonable costs of running a practice; and
the market fee for similar services.
People responsible for your work
The names and status of the person in our firm who will have the general carriage of or overall responsibility for the services we provide for you is Asta Gold, Director.
Our charge out rate is $300 per hour plus GST for Asta Gold, $250.00 per hour plus GST for Sarah Kayll and $200.00 per hour plus GST for Pauline Drew. From time to time we may ask our Paralegals to work on your file, for example to carry out research or cover matters within their scope of work, when necessary. Our charge out rate for our Paralegals is $150 per hour plus GST.
Disbursements
We also charge for disbursements incurred on your behalf -- (for example, Court fees, document searches, tolls, registration fees and travel expenses). These disbursements will be itemised separately. Large disbursements, such as High Court filing fees, may need to be paid in advance. We will advise you when this is required.
Security and authority to deduct
We may ask you to pre-pay amounts to us, or to provide security for our fees and expenses. You authorise us to deduct fees, expenses and/or disbursements, for which we will provide an invoice, from funds held on your behalf in our trust account.
Paying your account
(a) You must pay our fees on receipt of the invoice, before your Court appearance.
(b) We will generally issue interim invoices at regular intervals. If you have a straight forward matter, such as a limited licence, we may ask for the agreed fee to be paid in advance.
(c) If you have any questions about your account, please contact us straight away.
(d) We may charge interest on unpaid accounts at the rate of 5% per annum. We may take action to recover unpaid fees and may add the cost of that recovery to your overdue account on a full indemnity basis. If we decide to waive any interest or not take action based upon any repayment agreement we have with you, we reserve the right to charge interest or take action at a later date if you do not adhere to the terms of the repayment agreement.
(e) At your request, or with your approval, we may send your account to a third party to pay on your behalf. You are still responsible for payment if the third party does not pay. If the third party has not paid within 14 days of the date the account was sent, we may give you an account for the outstanding amount, which you must pay.
(f) We accept payment by cash, cheque, Eftpos or electronic transfer. If you pay by cheque, we will require cleared funds before any amounts are paid out by us.
Investment advice
We are not qualified to give you investment advice. You should get that advice from a qualified financial adviser.
Ending our engagement
(a) You may end our engagement by giving us reasonable notice. Before you take your records, you need to pay any outstanding fees for the work we have done for you.
(b) When you end our engagement, we may keep copies of your documents and records.
(c) We may decide to stop working for you, if you:
• do not provide us with instructions promptly; and/or
• are unable to, or do not, pay our fees as agreed.
(d) If we decide to stop working for you, we will give you reasonable notice.
Professional Indemnity Insurance and the Lawyer's Fidelity Fund
We hold current professional indemnity insurance that meets the minimum or exceeds the New Zealand Law Society’s minimum standards.
(b) The maximum amount that may be paid out of the Fidelity Fund to an individual claimant by way of compensation is $100,000.00. Neither the Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund nor the Conveyancing Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund is to be applied in paying compensation to any person for any loss relating to money that a practitioner or incorporated firm has been instructed to invest on behalf of that person.
Confidentiality
We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that I acquire during the course of acting for you.
We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:
to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions; or
to the extent required by law or by the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Confidential information concerning you will as far as practicable be made available only to those within our firm who are providing legal services for you.
We will of course, not disclose to you confidential information which we have in relation to any other client.
If you have a complaint, we want to know.
If we have failed to meet your expectations, please tell us. We take clients’ complaints seriously and want to do what we can to put the problem right.
If you are unhappy we encourage you to talk to us, to see whether the problem is simply a misunderstanding. If that does not solve the problem, talk to the instructing solicitor to see if the problem can be resolved to your satisfaction.
If you are still not satisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with, you can make a formal complaint to the New Zealand Law Society by email complaints@lawsociety.org.nz or phone 0800 261 801.
General
These Terms apply to any current engagement and also to any future engagement, whether or not we send you another copy of them.
We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will send you amended Terms.
Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand law and New Zealand courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction.
Conflicts of Interest
We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Law Society's Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Duty of Care
Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person. Before any other person may rely on our advice, we must expressly agree to this.
Completion
When we have finished the matter, you have asked us to undertake, we will send a report to you, and where appropriate we will also identify any necessary action that may be required in the future.
Retention of records
Files and documents concerning each matter will be retained at our expense for a period not less than seven years after that matter has been completed, at which time you authorise us to destroy them. However, we will not destroy any of your original documents, which will be returned to you on completion of your matter.
We value your instructions
We will do our very best to deal with your affairs promptly and efficiently. Please retain this letter which sets out our formal relationship. I look forward to working with you and assisting you in reaching your desired outcomes.
The purpose of this letter
This letter sets out the terms and conditions governing our relationship. It explains what you can expect from us as your lawyer, and what you agree to when we work for you. It includes information that we need to tell you under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. It applies to any work we do for you. These terms can be varied by agreement, which will then be recorded in a new letter. If you have any questions about any of the terms, please contact the lawyer responsible for the services we provide you to discuss.
Our commitment to you is that we will:
(a) Act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made.
(b) Protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties.
(c) Discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved.
(d) Provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it and the way the services will be provided.
(e) Charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and let you know how and when you will be billed.
(f) Give you clear information and advice.
(g) Protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality.
(h) Treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination.
(i) Keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed.
(j) Let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
Lawyers’ obligations
Our obligations to you are described in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. These can be found on this website: www.lawsociety.org.nz, or if you do not have access to this website, we can provide this information to you on request. We also have a primary duty that I owe to the Court as an officer of the Court.
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
From July 1 2018 Lawyers must comply with the anti-money laundering laws. Consequently, we need to obtain, verify and store information that identifies you and your address. A passport is a primary form of identification, but other sources such as a driver licence or firearms licence may be sufficient. Recent utility bills are used to verify your address. We may need to obtain more detailed information about your financial situation in certain circumstances. If you are attending our offices in the near future, it will be helpful if you can bring your passport or other form of ID and a recent utility bill with you.
Fee Estimates
In some circumstances it will be relatively easy to give you an estimate of the likely cost of the work. This is especially the case if there is something in particular you are trying to achieve, such as obtain a limited licence or Orders under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. Sometimes estimating an overall cost will be more difficult, such as when you are defending a civil proceeding. In those more difficult cases, we may be able to give estimates for each step in the proceeding, and the total cost of the work will depend upon what steps are required. We will keep you informed as we go. Every estimate will be based on information you give us. The estimate will be based upon a reasonable expectation of the nature of the matter and the resources which will be required to be expended on the matter. If the matter becomes more time-consuming or involved than expected at the outset, or the nature of your instructions is varied in any manner, then we reserve the right to vary the estimate. This will be done in conjunction with you and by keeping you informed at each stage.
How we set fees
When setting fees, we consider:
our standard fees for carrying out certain transactions;
the time and work involved;
the skill, specialised knowledge and experience required on the file;
the project’s importance, complexity and the outcome;
how quickly you need us to carry out the work;
the estimate of fees we gave you, or our fee agreement;
the reasonable costs of running a practice; and
the market fee for similar services.
People responsible for your work
The names and status of the person in our firm who will have the general carriage of or overall responsibility for the services we provide for you is Asta Gold, Director.
Our charge out rate is $300 per hour plus GST for Asta Gold, $250.00 per hour plus GST for Sarah Kayll and $200.00 per hour plus GST for Pauline Drew. From time to time we may ask our Paralegals to work on your file, for example to carry out research or cover matters within their scope of work, when necessary. Our charge out rate for our Paralegals is $150 per hour plus GST.
Disbursements
We also charge for disbursements incurred on your behalf -- (for example, Court fees, document searches, tolls, registration fees and travel expenses). These disbursements will be itemised separately. Large disbursements, such as High Court filing fees, may need to be paid in advance. We will advise you when this is required.
Security and authority to deduct
We may ask you to pre-pay amounts to us, or to provide security for our fees and expenses. You authorise us to deduct fees, expenses and/or disbursements, for which we will provide an invoice, from funds held on your behalf in our trust account.
Paying your account
(a) You must pay our fees on receipt of the invoice, before your Court appearance.
(b) We will generally issue interim invoices at regular intervals. If you have a straight forward matter, such as a limited licence, we may ask for the agreed fee to be paid in advance.
(c) If you have any questions about your account, please contact us straight away.
(d) We may charge interest on unpaid accounts at the rate of 5% per annum. We may take action to recover unpaid fees and may add the cost of that recovery to your overdue account on a full indemnity basis. If we decide to waive any interest or not take action based upon any repayment agreement we have with you, we reserve the right to charge interest or take action at a later date if you do not adhere to the terms of the repayment agreement.
(e) At your request, or with your approval, we may send your account to a third party to pay on your behalf. You are still responsible for payment if the third party does not pay. If the third party has not paid within 14 days of the date the account was sent, we may give you an account for the outstanding amount, which you must pay.
(f) We accept payment by cash, cheque, Eftpos or electronic transfer. If you pay by cheque, we will require cleared funds before any amounts are paid out by us.
Investment advice
We are not qualified to give you investment advice. You should get that advice from a qualified financial adviser.
Ending our engagement
(a) You may end our engagement by giving us reasonable notice. Before you take your records, you need to pay any outstanding fees for the work we have done for you.
(b) When you end our engagement, we may keep copies of your documents and records.
(c) We may decide to stop working for you, if you:
• do not provide us with instructions promptly; and/or
• are unable to, or do not, pay our fees as agreed.
(d) If we decide to stop working for you, we will give you reasonable notice.
Professional Indemnity Insurance and the Lawyer's Fidelity Fund
We hold current professional indemnity insurance that meets the minimum or exceeds the New Zealand Law Society’s minimum standards.
(b) The maximum amount that may be paid out of the Fidelity Fund to an individual claimant by way of compensation is $100,000.00. Neither the Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund nor the Conveyancing Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund is to be applied in paying compensation to any person for any loss relating to money that a practitioner or incorporated firm has been instructed to invest on behalf of that person.
Confidentiality
We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that I acquire during the course of acting for you.
We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:
to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions; or
to the extent required by law or by the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Confidential information concerning you will as far as practicable be made available only to those within our firm who are providing legal services for you.
We will of course, not disclose to you confidential information which we have in relation to any other client.
If you have a complaint, we want to know.
If we have failed to meet your expectations, please tell us. We take clients’ complaints seriously and want to do what we can to put the problem right.
If you are unhappy we encourage you to talk to us, to see whether the problem is simply a misunderstanding. If that does not solve the problem, talk to the instructing solicitor to see if the problem can be resolved to your satisfaction.
If you are still not satisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with, you can make a formal complaint to the New Zealand Law Society by email complaints@lawsociety.org.nz or phone 0800 261 801.
General
These Terms apply to any current engagement and also to any future engagement, whether or not we send you another copy of them.
We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will send you amended Terms.
Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand law and New Zealand courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction.
Conflicts of Interest
We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Law Society's Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Duty of Care
Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person. Before any other person may rely on our advice, we must expressly agree to this.
Completion
When we have finished the matter, you have asked us to undertake, we will send a report to you, and where appropriate we will also identify any necessary action that may be required in the future.
Retention of records
Files and documents concerning each matter will be retained at our expense for a period not less than seven years after that matter has been completed, at which time you authorise us to destroy them. However, we will not destroy any of your original documents, which will be returned to you on completion of your matter.
We value your instructions
We will do our very best to deal with your affairs promptly and efficiently. Please retain this letter which sets out our formal relationship. I look forward to working with you and assisting you in reaching your desired outcomes.