1. Our Service to you
We will:
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Act
competently, in a timely way, and in
accordance with instructions received and
arrangements made. |
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Protect and promote your
interests and act for you free of comprising
influences or loyalties. |
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Discuss with you your
objectives and how they should best be
achieved. |
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Provide you with information
about the work to be done, who will do it
and the way the services will be provided.
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Charge you a fee that is
fair and reasonable and let you know how and
when you will be billed. |
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Give you clear information
and advice. |
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Protect your privacy and
ensure appropriate confidentiality. |
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Treat you fairly,
respectfully and without discrimination. |
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Keep you informed about the
work being done and advise you when it is
completed. |
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Let you know how to make a
complaint and deal with any complaint
promptly and fairly. |
Those obligations are subject to other
overriding duties, including duties to the
courts and to the justice system. If you have
any questions, please visit
www.lawyers.org.nz .
2. Professional Indemnity Insurance
We hold professional indemnity insurance that
meets or exceeds the minimum standards specified
by the Law Society. We will provide you with
particulars of the minimum standards upon
request.
3. Lawyers Fidelity Fund
The Law Society maintains the Lawyers Fidelity
Fund for the purposes of providing clients of
lawyers with protection against pecuniary loss
arising from theft by lawyers. The maximum
amount payable by the Fidelity Fund by way of
compensation to an individual claimant is
limited to $100,000.00. Except in certain
circumstances specified in the Lawyers &
Conveyancers Act 2006 the Fidelity Fund does not
cover a client for any loss relating to money
that a lawyer is instructed to invest on behalf
of the client.
4. Our Fees
4.1 The fees we will charge you are calculated
on the amount of time spent attending to your
instructions by our staff and the other factors
set out in paragraph 4.3, plus expenses incurred
on your behalf in the course of that work. The
rates at which principal and staff time is
charged is available on request.
4.2 The fees we charge you will be fair and
reasonable for the services provided. 4.3 In addition to a charge for the time spent,
we are also entitled, in appropriate
circumstances to charge additional fees based on
a number of factors including:
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The skill, specialised knowledge and
responsibility required to perform the services
properly. |
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The importance of the matter to you and the
results achieved |
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The urgency and circumstances in which the
matter is undertaken and any time limitations
imposed, including those imposed by you. |
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The degree of risk assumed by us in
undertaking the services including the amount or
value of the property involved.
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The complexity of the matter and the
difficulty or novelty of the questions involved.
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4.4 We may deduct from any funds held on your
behalf in our trust account any fees, expenses
or disbursements for which we have provided an
invoice. 4.5 We may ask you to pay fees and/or expenses
in advance, but in those instances your payment
will be held in our trust account and only paid
to us by deduction when an invoice is issued.
4.6 Interest will accrue on unpaid accounts at
the rate of 1.5% per month as from the due date
until payment. Other action to recover unpaid
fees may also be taken and the cost of such
recovery will be added to the account due by
you.
4.7 Unless otherwise stated all fees and
disbursements are plus GST.
4.8 If we provide you with a fee estimate for
property transactions we will only charge a
higher fee if the transaction has involved more
time and attendances than would reasonably be
anticipated. For most other legal work it is
rarely possible to give fixed quotes.
4.9 We do not undertake work paid for by legal
aid. If you are eligible for legal aid we can
assist you to find a lawyer who is prepared to
work on that basis.
5. Files and Documents
When your instructions have been completed we
shall keep your file for a period of seven years
from completion and then destroy it. You may
uplift your file and documents provided that all
fees and expenses have been paid. We may wish to
photocopy your file before releasing the
original to you. If so the photocopy charges
will be payable by you. 6. Rights to Terminate your Retainer
You are entitled to terminate your instructions
to us upon giving us reasonable notice. We may
terminate your retainer if there is good cause,
such as you not providing us with instructions
in a sufficiently timely way, your inability or
failure to pay our fee or expenses on the agreed
basis, your adopting against our advice a course
of action which we believe is imprudent, or if
we find we are in a position of conflict of
interest, or being asked to act in a manner that
may be inconsistent with our fundamental
obligations as lawyers. If we terminate the
retainer we shall give you reasonable assistance
if you require it to find another lawyer. Our
fees for services reasonably and properly
provided to you prior to the termination of
retainer shall be paid by you prior to uplifting
your records and we may retain copies of your
documents and records.
7. If you have a Complaint
If you have a complaint about our services or
charges, you should talk with us so that we can
resolve the matter. You should communicate that
complaint
The Law Society also maintains a complaints
service and you are able to make a complaint to
that service. To do so you should contact the
Law Society.
Street address: 26 Waring Taylor Street
Postal address: PO Box 5041, Lambton Quay,
Wellington 6145
(DX SP 20202)
Telephone: (+64) (4) 472 7837
Fax: (+64) (4) 473 7909
General inquiries:
inquiries@lawyers.org.nz
8. Persons responsible for your Work
The names and status of the person or persons
who will have the general care of or overall
responsibility for the services we provide are
set out in our Letter of Engagement.
9. Limitations on extent of our Obligations or
Liability
Any limitations on the extent of our obligations
to you or any limitation or exclusion of
liability are set out in our Letter of
Engagement.
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TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT AND INFORMATION FOR CLIENTS