TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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Our relationship Services:
We will perform the work designated in the Engagement Details with professional skill and diligence as your solicitors acting in your best interests. We will not perform work for you if factors such as conflict of interest or other laws prevent us from accepting your instructions or continuing to act. You may request, at any time, a report of the progress of the matter and statements of fees and costs (if applicable). -
Your obligations: You agree:
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to provide us with timely, accurate and proper instructions, and all documents and other records relevant to the services we are providing to you; and
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to check to the best of your ability that all facts we rely upon are correct and assumptions we make, are reasonable.
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Professional fees and other charges: Our Professional fees are calculated and charged in the manner set out in the Costs Estimate. Included in Professional fees: Fees will be charged (where agreed) for all professional time for solicitors, law clerks and paralegals including but not limited to drafting, reviewing and completing documents, correspondence, advices, conferences, reading materials, travelling (where related to the work), telephone calls, court appearances, research, travelling on matters for you and providing representation letters where requested by you.
Other Charges: Other charges are calculated in accordance with the Costs Estimate or otherwise at cost and will be charged in the manner set out in the Disclosure Notice. All disbursements and outlays we incur on your behalf and for which you may be liable as set out in the Disclosure Notice, will be shown in our bills and at the rates set out in our Disclosure Notice. We will provide you, on request, with invoices or other proof of disbursements and outlays we make on your behalf. Where you are liable for payment of other charges and we pay taxes, fees or charges on your behalf, you will reimburse us for those payments.
Goods and Services Tax (GST): Unless otherwise stated, the fees, other charges and disbursements are stated on a GST inclusive basis. We will treat you as the recipient of the supplies that we make. We will determine the GST payable on our supply of services to you based on your legal status and the nature of the work, and will add an amount to our bills on account of that GST. You agree that, you will pay us an additional amount on account of any GST that we are liable to pay as a result of any supply we make to you. -
External solicitors and other providers
External service providers: You authorise us as your agent to engage external service providers needed to perform the work (for example accountants, data management specialists, forensic experts, surveyors or others). You will be responsible only to the extent and as set out in our Disclosure Notice of such service providers.
Service provider GST: For the purposes of the Australian GST law, you will make an acquisition of the service provider's services. You will therefore be entitled to an input tax credit for GST included in amounts charged by the service provider, to the extent that you satisfy the requirements of the GST law. We will supply you with details of the amounts invoiced by the service provider and will retain the original tax invoices on your behalf. Whether or not the service provider should add GST on the amounts they charge for supplies they make to you is a matter between you and the service provider. Where a service provide includes an amount on account of GST that we pay on your behalf, you must repay us the whole amount paid by us, including any GST.
Service provider liability: Subject to any specific arrangements made by service providers for refraining from collection of fees, external service providers may contract with you on their own terms and conditions of business. Many service providers, including advocates, undertake work only on the basis that their liability for damages is limited.
Our liability in relation to service providers: To the extent permitted by law:
Specialist advocates: We will advise you in advance if we need to brief a specialist advocate (including any barrister) in any of your matters. If the advocate provides us with disclosure in accordance with the LPA or the basis of fee calculation, we will pass this information on to you. Such disclosure may also include arrangements for specialist advocates to refrain from collection of fees charged until such time as the amount can be recovered from another party or other source because of rights given under legislation, court orders or otherwise and in the event that they cannot be so recovered the advocates will waive those professional fees. As a matter of public policy, the law provides immunity from suit in relation to advocacy. Nothing in this agreement affects an advocate's immunity from suit in relation to any advocacy conducted on your behalf.-
​we accept liability for any error on our part in our instructions to those service providers, but take no responsibility for their work or how they carry out their instructions; and
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in suggesting or selecting any service provider, we shall rely on information we are given as to the qualifications of the person but take no responsibility for that selection and give no warranty as to the ability of the service provider to appropriately carry out the task or as to the quality of that service provider's work.
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Recovery of professional fees and other charges
In the event we have entered into this Client Agreement on the basis that we will refrain from collection of fees charged until such time as the amount can be recovered from another party or other source because of rights given under legislation, court orders or otherwise:-
you authorise us to recover costs from another party on your behalf;
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Understand and agree that any money awarded for costs, or recovered for costs, will not be held on trust for you;
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Understand and agree that any money awarded for costs, or recovered for costs from another party, will be used to pay counsel’s fees as taxed or as agreed to by the other party; and our fees as taxed or as agreed to by the other party; and outlays incurred during the course of proceedings as taxed or as agreed to by the other party.
In the event that costs are recovered, including disbursements that have been previously paid for by you, we will arrange for such amounts to be paid directly to you.
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Billing arrangements
External service providers’ payments: Where we receive funds to meet an obligation incurred on your behalf to an external service provider, we will pay the third party as soon as practicable after receipt.
Billing arrangements: If you are to be billed for anything by us, you are entitled to receive a signed bill. You are taken to have received our bill:-
if it is given personally – on the day it is given to you or to your agent;
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if it is sent by post – within 2 days of posting;
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if it is sent electronically – upon transmission.
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Liens and suspension of work
Suspension of work: We may at any time suspend all work for you until payment in full of all our bills that are then due and receivable by us for all matters in respect of which you have retained us.
Liens: Subject to the LPA:-
we have a lien on all documents, funds and records in any form whatsoever in our possession until payment in full of all our bills for all matters in respect of which you have retained us; and
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we are entitled to retain for our records, copies of all documents which we give you, whether owned by us or not and to deal with them in accordance with these Terms & Conditions.
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Apportionment of liability
If you claim compensation, damages or contribution from us for loss or damage arising from acts or defaults (including negligence) on our part and some or all of that loss or damage was due to or contributed to by:-
your own acts or defaults or by the acts or defaults of other persons for whose actions or defaults you are responsible; or
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the acts or defaults of one or more other persons, not being partners, employees or agents for whose conduct we are responsible,
then we will be liable only for that proportion of the loss or damage which our acts or defaults bear relative to the totality of the conduct of all persons causing or contributing to the loss or damage. Where any law relating to proportionate liability applies to a claim against us, this clause does not seek to exclude the operation of that law but will continue to operate to the extent that its operation is consistent with that law.
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Your rights under the LPA
Right to receive a bill: If we charge you for anything, you are entitled to receive a bill of costs (bill) from us complying with the requirements of the LPA. We cannot take action to recover any Professional fees and Other charges that we may have an immediate right or entitlement to until the period specified in the LPA after we have given you a bill has expired.
Details of work and charges: If we provide you with a bill which does not set out the details of the work, we have done and the charges to be paid for that work, you may request an itemised bill within the period specified in the LPA. -
Ending our appointment
Termination by you: You may terminate our engagement and change solicitors by giving us written notice at any time. If you do so, you will be obliged to pay or make arrangements to secure such Professional fees and other charges as have been or are billed consequent upon termination and to which we may have a right to receive payment.
Termination by us: We may terminate our engagement:-
by giving you reasonable notice, except where our engagement is for a set duration;
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if any payment (including payment of a bill or money in advance) due by you to us under this Client Agreement is not paid on the due date;
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if you do not provide timely, accurate and proper instructions; or
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if, by continuing to act for you, we would be required to act contrary to any legal, regulatory or professional conduct obligation or similar just cause.
Termination by us on any of those grounds does not prejudice or otherwise affect any lien created under these Terms & Conditions.
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Confidentiality
Restricted information from us: You understand and accept that our obligation to you with respect to giving you information is restricted by these provisions. Our law practice’s personnel working for you will have an obligation to give advice only to you. We will treat other clients' instructions to the law practice and their confidential information on the same basis.
Our obligations: We will keep confidential all confidential information received from you in the course of the work, and persons performing work for you:
Internal information use: We may transfer material to our internal databases for learning and knowledge purposes. Before doing so, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that confidential information is neither disclosed outside the law practice nor otherwise used inconsistently with the obligations referred to above.-
will treat confidential information you give as being given only to them;
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may disclose confidential information within our law practice as required in order to perform the work; and
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will not disclose to you any confidential information of third parties which may be known to them or any other personnel and may otherwise be information to which you are entitled.
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Privacy Personal information: The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and other privacy legislation applies when we collect, use and disclose information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion (personal information). In particular:
Information usage: We may use personal information in the course of acting for you and we may disclose personal information to our service providers or agents and to other organisations including other parties in the matter and government agencies responsible for processing transactions, but only to the extent necessary to perform the work and in accordance with our professional obligations, or as required by law. If we do not collect such personal information or if you or others do not consent to us conducting such further searches or enquiries we may not be able to carry out your instructions.-
we may collect personal information in the course of your instructions and while acting for you. This may include personal information about individuals who are employees, directors or principals of corporate clients. We ask you to assist us to make these individuals aware that our acting for you may involve collection of personal information about them;
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we may decide that it is necessary to conduct further searches and enquiries regarding the information you have provided us or more generally concerning you or your associates for our regulatory or prudential purposes. This may entail using some or all of the collected information to obtain additional information concerning you or your associates (including personal information in respect of individuals), from various other entities including, but not limited to, government agencies, law enforcement bodies, publicly available records, public registries, court or tribunal records, ratings agencies, search agencies and regulatory and licensing bodies.
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Jurisdiction and governing law Jurisdiction: Subject to your rights to select jurisdiction under the LPA, our Costs Agreement and all aspects of our retainer and the performance of our services for you are governed by and you agree to be bound by the laws of Queensland. You irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland.
LPA rights as to jurisdiction: Where the legal services are or will be completely or primarily provided in, or where the work has a substantial connection with another state or territory, you have the right to:-
enter into a costs agreement with us on the basis that a corresponding law of that other state or territory; or
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notify us in writing in accordance with the time limits of the corresponding law that you require the law of another jurisdiction to apply to our Costs Agreement.
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