TandonHildebrand | Terms of Engagement

TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

These terms are accompanied by a Letter of Engagement which includes the detailed terms of our engagement with you and expands on some of the terms which follow. These documents set out the basis on which TandonHildebrand Law Limited will provide you with legal services. In the event of any conflict between the Terms of Engagement and the letter of engagement, the provisions of the letter of engagement will take priority.

TandonHildebrand Law Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales (registered number 11118101) and its registered office is at 222 Kensal Road, London, W10 5BN

TandoHildebrand Law Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to provide legal services (authorisation number 8011048. This means that we are subject to regulatory oversight and we must comply with professional rules and regulations which you can access on the SRA’s website (www.sra.org.uk) or by contacting the SRA on 0370 606 2555.

In order to avoid repeating your name and ours in this document, we have used the expressions “we”, “us” and “our” to refer to TandonHildebrand Law Limited and “you” and “your” to refer to you, our client. We have also used the expression “charges” to avoid repeating the expression “fees, disbursements and expenses” all of which are referred to on each occasion this word is used. Further, where we use the word “Director” we are referring to a Director of TandonHildebrand Law Limited .

2. PERSONAL CLIENTS AND CONSUMER CONTRACTS REGULATIONS 2013

Your instructions to us will involve the creation of a contract which for personal clients is subject to The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. As such, you have the right to cancel your agreement with us within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract. You may cancel this contract by e-mail to info@tandonhildebrand.com or by post addressed to Labs Triangle, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8AB.

Effects of cancellation

If you cancel this contract within 14 days, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.

Commencement of work within 14 days

Should you require us to commence work on your matter within the 14 day cancellation period because, for example, of the urgency of the case, you will need to confirm your agreement for us to proceed with your matter by signing and returning a copy of the Letter of Engagement. By signing and

returning a copy of the Letter of Engagement you are providing your agreement in writing to enable us to commence work within the 14 calendar day cancellation period.

Where you have provided your consent in accordance with this Condition for work to commence within the 14 calendar day cancellation period and you later exercise your right to cancel, you will be liable for any charges and VAT incurred up to the point of cancellation.

3. CLIENT

It is important that you are kept fully informed of progress and that in handling your work we always act in accordance with your instructions. We shall report to you at such intervals and by such means as you may reasonably require.

Where we are instructed jointly by more than one person or other entity on any matter, we will be entitled to act on the instructions of any one of such persons or other entities and to presume that such person or entity is duly authorised on behalf of all of them, unless you advise us otherwise.

We will only act on instructions given by you unless you provide us with written authority to accept instructions from a third party.

4. INSTRUCTIONS AND SERVICE STANDARDS

We have set out the agreed scope of your instructions in the Letter of Engagement. Any subsequent change will be discussed with you and, where appropriate, a new Letter of Engagement will be issued.

We shall proceed on the basis of the instructions we have received from you and rely upon you to tell us as soon as possible if anything occurs which renders any information previously given to us incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete.

We shall not be responsible for any failure to advise or comment on any matter which falls outside the scope of your instructions. We cannot accept any responsibility for any event, loss or situation unless it is one against which it is the express purpose of those instructions to provide protection.

Advice given by us is provided in light of the instructions to which it relates and for your benefit only. It may not be used or relied upon for any other purpose or by any person other than you without our prior written consent.

We shall proceed on the basis of the following service standards:

We will update you (orally (e.g. by telephone or in a meeting), email or in writing) with progress on your matter regularly;
We will communicate with you in plain language;
We will explain to you (orally (e.g. by telephone or in a meeting), email or in writing) the legal work required as your matter progresses;
We will update you on the cost of your matter as deemed reasonably appropriate by us but in any event, no less than every six months;
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; and
We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.

Conversely, we would ask that you provide us with timely, accurate and clear instructions, notify us if your contact details change, and provide all documentation required to complete your matter in a timely manner.

5. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LEGISLATION

Our policy is one of strict compliance with the statutory regulations and therefore we shall not be able to act upon your instructions until we have completed those procedures we deem necessary to satisfy the legislation and regulations to which we are subject. We will verify your identity and validate your address solely for the purposes of fulfilling our Anti-Money Laundering obligations. You give us permission to obtain information about you for these purposes only. We will not charge you for our time arising from our obligation to comply with anti-money laundering regulations unless we request and obtain your approval in advance.

We shall communicate with you separately in respect of the procedures referred to.

6. STANDARD FEE BASIS

Our fees are calculated by taking into account a series of factors. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, these include the complexity of the matter, urgency involved and the level of skill and specialised knowledge involved. In addition, we take into account the value of the matter and its importance to you.

7. ESTIMATES OF FEES

Any estimate provided as to fees is only a guide and must not be taken as a firm quotation, unless we have confirmed in writing that we shall charge a fixed fee.

Our estimate will aim to give you a breakdown between likely charges and VAT. Our estimate may be expressed as a range.

Our estimate will include, where possible, details of any third parties to whom you will need to make payments and when those payments are likely to be needed.

Where, in our judgment, it is not possible to provide you with a fixed or realistic estimate of charges, we shall, at your request, give you the best information about the total cost of the next stage of the matter.

We shall review the original estimate regularly and provide you with revised estimates, where applicable, giving the reasons for any changes made.

8. CAP ON FEES

If a cap or limit is agreed on the level of our fees then our fees will not exceed the amount specified in the Letter of Engagement.

However, the application of the cap or limit is agreed on the basis of the instructions and information supplied to us and on any assumption set out in the Letter of Engagement.

Unless the Letter of Engagement states otherwise, third party disbursements shall be payable in addition to any cap or other limit on fees.

9. FIXED FEES

If we have agreed a fixed fee with you, then the Letter of Engagement includes a description of what we have agreed to do for that fee and is based on the information about the work which you want us to do.

Third party disbursements shall be payable in addition to any fixed fee.

Provided:

The scope of your instructions does not change; and
The information provided is accurate; and
There is no material delay in progressing or completing the matter beyond our control

we will complete your instructions for the fixed fee. If any one of the three provisos is not satisfied, we shall advise you that in our view the fixed fee agreement should cease to have effect. If you agree with our view, we shall seek a new agreement with you for a new/revised fixed fee or agree a different method of charging fees.

If you do not agree with our view, then the Complaints Handling Procedure referred to in Condition 19 will operate.

9.1 THIRD PARTY DISBURSEMENTS

Your instructions authorise us, unless you instruct us to the contrary, to incur such third party disbursements as we consider necessary to comply with your instructions. You will be required to reimburse them to us on request either by payment on account or against submission of a bill.

Examples of common disbursements are expert’s fees, court fees, counsel’s fees and other domestic or international law firms required to fulfil your instructions. Third party disbursements are charged at cost.

10. PAYMENT ON ACCOUNT

Our standard policy is to ask clients to provide sums in advance to cover charges.

If we do, any payment will be held generally on account of charges which we are likely to incur on your behalf.

We will discuss with you the amount which is appropriate at the outset of any new matter. It will be helpful if you could please meet any requests for payment promptly. However, if there is any difficulty in this respect please contact the person who is dealing with your matter.

Save for any advance payments for third party disbursements which may be applied when the disbursements are incurred, the money will be retained until completion of the matter although, at our discretion, some or all of it may be applied towards any bill which has remained unpaid for more than 28 days. If part or all of the money is used in this way or if for any reason it is reasonable to review the amount held by us, we may ask you to provide a further sum to cover future charges.

All client money is placed in a client account with our bank NatWest PLC. NatWest PLC is covered by the FSCS or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of financial services companies. The FSCS can pay compensation if a bank is unable (or likely to be unable) to pay claims against it. The compensation limit for eligible claimants is £85,000 with effect from 30 January 2017.

In the event of NatWest PLC being unable to meet any claim (i.e. its collapse), it is unlikely that we will be held liable for any losses resulting from the bank’s collapse but we can make disclosure on your behalf to the FSCS to assist in any claim you may wish to make against the fund of last resort.

You should however be aware of the following in relation to the £85,000 FSCS limit:

The limit is applicable to each individual and so if you hold other personal monies in the same bank, the limit remains £85,000 in total; and
a corporate body client may not be eligible for compensation from the FSCS if it is not considered a small company. In order to satisfy the “small company” test, a company must satisfy two of three thresholds which currently are: (i) annual turnover must not be more than £6.5m; (ii) the balance sheet total is less than £3.26m; (iii) the average number of employees must be not more than 50; and
the limit applies per banking licence. Some deposit taking institutions have several brands i.e. where the same institution is trading under different names but under one licence. Therefore it may be possible to have money deposited with several deposit taking institution brands but for them to be covered by only one licence. In these circumstances only the first £85,000 is protected for each individual. You should therefore check with your bank, the FSA or a financial adviser for more information.

Money held in our client account will earn interest at the prevailing rate offered NatWest PLC, and in circumstances where it fair and reasonable to do so and subject to our de minimus proviisons, and unless agreed otherwise in writing, this will normally be passed to you as a payment in lieu of interest without any tax deduction at source. You should therefore declare any such payment received on your tax return.

We are required to hold the money in an account which facilitates transactions and our client account is therefore an instant access account. For this reason, any interest that will be earned on the funds is likely to be less than the interest you could earn by depositing the funds elsewhere.

Payments in lieu of interest will only be made to you if the calculated interest exceeds the firm’s de minimis limit of £50. The firm believes that any amount up to £50 is reasonably retained to cover the costs of administration.

Unless otherwise agreed, where we are conducting more than one matter for you, client account balances will not be aggregated and each of your matters will be treated separately for the calculation of interest earned and payment in lieu of interest if any.

11. INTERIM BILLING

We will bill charges on the basis set out in the Letter of Engagement. Payment of interim bills helps us to spread our charges fairly between clients for whom we are working over different periods of time.

12. GENERAL PROVISIONS ABOUT BILLS

Bills will contain a brief description of the work performed during each billable period but not a detailed narrative. If you require such a narrative or need any additional explanation, please let the person dealing with your matter know. Bills may be sent by post or by email.

Bills are due for payment within 14 days of delivery unless that period is extended, in writing,. Our bills will also, where appropriate, add a sum for VAT at the current rate.

If you wish to make payment by way of bank transfer, we will provide you with our bank details with each bill or at your request.

We reserve the right to charge interest (both before and after judgment) on any sum which remains outstanding for more than 28 days after delivery of the bill at the rate then payable in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013, together with fixed sums and recovery costs as permitted by the Regulations, whether or not those Regulations would otherwise apply.

We may, in order to secure payment of our charges, have first call upon any money or other property recovered or preserved for you by our efforts pursuant to Section 73 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

If a third party undertakes responsibility for payment of some or all of our charges on your behalf, and payment is not made as set out above then you will be responsible for settling any outstanding amount.

If a bill remains unpaid for more than 14 days or if you decline or fail to meet a request for a payment on account of our charges, we may decline to act any further.

If our instructions are given by or on behalf of more than one person or company each person or company for whom we are acting will be responsible for the payment of the full amount of our charges regardless of whether our bills are addressed only to one or some of such parties.

13. TERMINATION OF INSTRUCTIONS

You may terminate our instructions at any time by giving us written notice.

In some circumstances, and if we have good reason, we may decide to cease acting for you. Examples of circumstances where we might so decide include a failure on your part to provide us with adequate instructions or when we find ourselves unable to comply with your instructions or when our bill remains unpaid outside an agreed payment timetable or when a payment on account is not made in accordance with these Standard Terms and Conditions and our Letter of Engagement.

We will give you reasonable prior written notice if we decide for whatever reason that we are no longer willing or able to act for you. If we are on the court record on your behalf you must, if we have given such notice, arrange for other solicitors to file a Notice of Acting on your behalf or file a Notice of Acting in Person. If you fail to do so we shall rely upon this Condition in applying to be removed from the record as acting for you and we reserve the right to claim from you the applicable court fee incurred.

In circumstances where our instructions are terminated or we cease to act for you, we will be entitled to receive payment for our reasonable charges. In the case of a fixed fee, please refer to the Letter of Engagement.

14. THIRD PARTIES

Except as expressly provided in the Letter of Engagement , no person other than a party to the agreement established by the Letter of Engagement may enforce any terms of such agreement by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (“the Act”). Notwithstanding any benefits or rights conferred by such agreement on any third party by virtue of the Act, the parties to such agreement may agree to vary or rescind any of its terms without any third party’s consent.

15. DATA PROTECTION AND GDPR

Your privacy is important to us and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights. The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation require us to inform you that we hold personal data which you provide on our database.

The term “Personal Data” means any information relating to an individual and allows us to identify an individual, either directly or in combination with other information we hold. This may include for example your name, your contact details and information relating to the legal services we provide to you. We may hold information from the communications you exchange with us (such as your e-mails, letters or calls).

The Data Controller is TandonHildebrand Law Limited and we are registered as such with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Our registration number is ZB879313.

Further information on how we collect, manage, store and dispose of data relating to individuals is contained in our Privacy Notice which forms part of these Terms and Conditions. We may update our Privacy Notice from time to time and changes will apply immediately. The following is a summary of the key provisions applicable to these Terms and Conditions but reference should be made to our Privacy Notice for its full terms.

We use the data primarily for the provision of legal services for the performance of a contract and for related purposes including:

Satisfying ourselves as to your identity and authority to instruct us;
Communicating with you in connection with our advice;
Updating and enhancing our client records;
Analysis to help us manage our practice;
Statutory returns; and
Legal and regulatory compliance, including the obtaining of professional indemnity insurance and compliance with the requirements of our insurers.

Where you are an individual instructing us on behalf of an organisation, we process personal data in accordance with our legitimate interests in entering into and performing a contract with the organisation with which you are connected.

We may also from time to time send you information which we consider might be of interest to you. In doing so, we process personal data on the basis that it is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interest in developing our business. We will note the rights of individuals to unsubscribe from mailings and/or manage their preferences in our mailings and requests to unsubscribe may be made by using a link in the e-mail or by contacting our Privacy Officer.

We may also instruct third parties to process personal data on our behalf but will only do so subject to contractual arrangements required by law. We may share your personal data where permitted by law and if required to do so by regulators, law enforcement or tax authorities.

We are committed to taking appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage. The information that you provide to us will be held in our systems, which may be located on our premises or those of an appointed third party. We may also allow access to your information by other third parties who act for us for the purposes described in our Privacy Notice or for other purposes approved by you.

We will usually retain your data for seven (7) years from the conclusion of the engagement. However, we will review the data we hold on a regular basis in order to determine the appropriate retention period subject to our regulatory, legal and risk management obligations.

You have a right of access under the data protection legislation to the personal data which we hold about you. If you wish to make a subject access request please contact us by email at XXXX or by post to Labs Triangle, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8AB.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner. The relevant contact details are:

Phone: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

16. STORAGE OF PAPER DEEDS

Upon completion of any matter for you or earlier termination of our instructions we are entitled to retain your papers, documents or other property held by us if there is any money owing to us in respect of our charges until you have paid any outstanding amount, including interest.

We shall keep our files of papers (except for any of your papers which you ask to be returned to you) in storage but in the understanding that we have your authority to destroy the file seven (7) years from the date of delivery of our final bill in respect of the matter.

We shall not however, destroy documents which you specifically ask us to deposit in safe custody.

We do not normally make a charge for retrieving stored papers or deeds in respect of continuing or new instructions to act for you.

If we retrieve your file from storage for another reason, we may charge you for:

time spent retrieving the file and producing it to you
reading, correspondence, or other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved file
providing additional copies of any documents

17. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

We are able to communicate electronically with our clients and other parties using electronic mail (both direct and via the internet) and using computer disks. If we communicate electronically with or for you, you acknowledge and agree as follows:

There are some delivery risks in using electronic mail and you accept the risk of interception by third parties or of non-receipt or delayed receipt of the message;
Computer viruses and similar damaging items can be transmitted through e-mails and by introducing computer disks into your system; we use virus scanning software to reduce these risks and ask that you do the same; however, it is not possible to completely eliminate the risk of introducing viruses;
You release us from all claims, losses, expenses and liabilities caused by any of the risks referred to above and arising directly or indirectly out of that communication.

18. SRA CODE OF CONDUCT & COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulates solicitors in England and Wales and authorises law firms.. The SRA issues the principles, rules and regulations against which all solicitors and authorised law firms in England and Wales must conduct themselves. These are known as the SRA Standards and Regulations, and a copy can be found at SRA | SRA Standards and Regulations | Solicitors Regulation Authority

As a valued client, you should know that we take every care in providing the service that you are entitled to expect. We recognise however, that occasionally things can go wrong and you may wish to complain about the service you have received and/or about a bill. We have a formal Complaints Handling Procedure and we want you to understand how it works. The procedure will ensure that:

Complaints are taken seriously and get a prompt response; and
Any complainant knows as soon as possible whether or not we agree that the complaint is justified.

If you wish to make a complaint please see our Complaints Procedure.

Although we would always hope to deal with and resolve any complaints satisfactorily, you should understand that if you are not satisfied with our handling of the matter, you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint if you are eligible under the Legal Ombudsman scheme. The address of the Legal Ombudsman is PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

19. LITIGATION

We will always endeavour to resolve a dispute without reverting to litigation unless there are clear commercial or personal reasons for doing so. However, litigation is a risky and uncertain course of action.

Should litigation prove necessary, we shall discuss with you and keep under review, whether the likely outcome in the matter justifies the expense and risk involved including, where relevant, the potential liability for an opponent’s costs.

We shall explain to you in writing the cost consequences of pursuing litigation in the various courts, tribunal and arbitration proceedings.

We shall explain to you in writing the various approaches the court takes in assessing costs.
In any event, unless we have entered into a separate Conditional Fee Arrangement with you, you will be liable to pay our bill(s) in full regardless of any costs award made against another party. Similarly, you will be liable for any costs of enforcing any order for costs against another party if enforcement measures prove necessary.

19.1 DOCUMENTS

It is likely that, as the matter progresses, we will need to review all of the documents which are relevant to it (please note “documents” includes electronic generated documents) as well as audio and video tapes and computer records. In any event, in the normal course of proceedings, the parties are obliged to disclose to each other all documents which they have or have had at any time, relating in any way to the issues between them. For those reasons, it is extremely important that any documents which you may already have are carefully preserved. This entails keeping them safe and ensuring they are not marked, altered or otherwise tampered with.

You should also note that some documents are “privileged” from production to the other party in an action. Broadly, this includes all documents created in anticipation of litigation or otherwise for the purposes of seeking legal advice. You should not assume that all documents created in connection with this matter will be privileged. We recommend that you seek advice from us before any document is created which might fall into this category. This will be particularly important if you are corresponding directly with the other party or parties on a “without prejudice” basis.

19.2 DISCLOSURE

Every party to litigation is under a duty to give disclosure. Disclosure is the process whereby documents which are, or have been, in a party’s “control” are disclosed to other parties in the litigation. We shall explain to you, in writing, your rights and obligations under “disclosure” including:

What you will have to disclose;
What is a “document” and when is it in your “control”;
When your duty to disclose arises;
What is the extent of your duties to search for documents;
The meaning and status of “privileged” documents;
The need to retain potentially disclosable documents;
Your rights to inspect the other parties’ documents.

19.3 COSTS IN LITIGATION CASES

Should court or arbitration proceedings prove necessary then, at the conclusion of those proceedings, costs will normally be awarded to the successful party. The amount of payment will be assessed by the court or arbitrator. Even if you are successful in your claim it is unlikely that you will recover all of the costs you have paid or become liable to pay.

The court differentiates between costs which have been incurred simply to progress the case (which will generally be payable by the losing party to its opponent) and those costs which are incurred entirely for your benefit (for example regular updates, including telephone advice). You will be liable for any shortfall due to us. You are liable for our charges and expenses whether you win or lose the case and whether or not your opponent is ordered to pay your costs.

It is equally important for you to note that, if you are ultimately unsuccessful, you may be responsible for the costs incurred by the other party to the action in addition to our costs.

19.4 ABILITY TO PAY

We shall, where appropriate, discuss with you whether you may be eligible and therefore should apply for public funding. Please note however, that we do not operate a legal aid practice.

You will advise us if you know of any arrangements available to you for the payment of our charges or to pay any costs which you might be ordered to pay to an opponent. You may, for example, have legal expenses insurance by virtue of your own personal or household insurance or membership of a trade or professional association.

20. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

In order to practice as an authorised law firm, we are required to hold Professional Indemnity Insurance. Our primary insurers are Pen Underwriting Limited. We do not in any circumstances seek to limit our liability below the minimum level of insurance cover required from time to time by the Solicitors Indemnity Insurance Rules. Subject to such minimum our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses (“Losses”) caused by our negligence or wilful default. We will not be liable if such losses are due to the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision of incomplete, misleading or false information.

Please note carefully the exclusion of liability (contained in Condition 4) in circumstances where matters fall outside our instructions. We will not be liable for any consequential, special, indirect or exemplary damages, costs or losses or any damages, costs or losses attributable to lost profits or opportunities. We will also not be liable for (i) any advice or document subject to the law of the jurisdiction outside England and Wales or (ii) any advice or opinion given to you by any third- party (whether or not nominated or recommended by us). Further, we are not qualified to advise you on the tax implications of transactions or matters you instruct us on or the likelihood of them arising. Nothing in these Standard Terms and Conditions shall be construed as purporting to exclude or restrict any liability arising from fraud or dishonesty or reckless disregard of our professional obligations or liabilities which cannot be limited or excluded by law or excludes, as opposed to limits, our liability for negligence. In particular, we cannot limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

You acknowledge that we are a limited liability company and that there is no contract between you and any of our individual solicitors or Directors. Any advice given to you by a solicitor or employee is given by that person on behalf of us and that person does not assume any personal responsibility to you for that advice. Accordingly you will not bring any claim against any individual solicitor or a Director or other employee in respect of any losses which you suffer or incur, directly or indirectly, in connection with our services. None of the provisions of this Condition 20 will limit or exclude our liability for the acts or omissions of our solicitors.

Our maximum liability to you (or any other party we have agreed may rely on our services) in relation to any single matter or any group of connected matters which may be aggregated by our insurers will be £3,000,000, unless we expressly state a different figure in your client care letter.

21. FINANCIAL SERVICES

We are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to you because we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide.

The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society.

Complaints and redress mechanisms are provided through the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman.

22. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our equality and diversity policy.

23. VARIATIONS TO THESE TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

These Terms and Conditions shall apply to any instructions which you give us. We may change these Standard Terms and Conditions from time to time but if we do so we will notify you of any changes in writing. Together with the Letter of Engagement, they comprise the whole contract between you and us and no variation shall be binding on us unless in writing. In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of these Standard Terms and Conditions and the Letter of Engagement the latter shall prevail.

24. SURVIVORSHIP AND SEVERABILITY OF CONDITIONS

Any of these Conditions which expressly or impliedly have effect after termination or expiration will continue to be enforceable notwithstanding termination or expiration.

If any part of any of these Conditions is held by the court to be illegal or unenforceable, then the remainder of such Condition and the other Conditions of this contract shall be enforceable notwithstanding such illegality or unenforceability.

25. JURISDICTION AND APPLICABLE LAW

These Standard Terms and Conditions shall be construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.