Home Who we are Practice areas Industry sectors Where we work Our people Careers News Seminars Contact us You are here: Home » Terms of business Privacy and Cookies Terms of use Terms of business Sitemap Staff login Clientspace Terms of business The terms of business – and any engagement letter we give you at the start of the matter, state the terms on which we, Burges Salmon LLP, accept instructions and charge for our services. If there is any conflict between these terms and the engagement letter, the engagement letter will take precedence. Any reference in these terms to the "firm" or "us" means Burges Salmon LLP. RIGHT TO WITHDRAW INSTRUCTIONS FEES AND EXPENSES BILLING AND PAYMENT PAYMENTS ON ACCOUNT OF FEES AND EXPENSES INTEREST RATE POLICY ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING CLIENTS' ACCOUNT THIRD PARTIES COMMISSIONS PAPERS HELD BY US LIABILITY OF BURGES SALMON LLP CONFLICTS ENDING OF INSTRUCTIONS CONFIDENTIALITY PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION MONEY LAUNDERING INSIDER LIST FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INSURANCE MEDIATION ACTIVITIES INSURANCE MEDIATION ACTIVITIES RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES APPLICABLE LAW RIGHT TO WITHDRAW INSTRUCTIONS You have the right to withdraw, without charge, any new matter on which you instruct us, within seven working days of the date you first instructed us. However, this right will cease if we start work with your consent within that time. FEES AND EXPENSES At the outset of a matter we will agree the basis on which we will charge you, and the engagement letter will set out arrangements concerning our fees and expenses. Our fees are calculated mainly by the time spent on the matter. We keep a detailed record of this time. Hourly rates are revised every 1st May, and may be revised at other times. We will tell you of any changes to our hourly rates. BILLING AND PAYMENT We will add VAT to bills at the rate applicable unless zero rating or an exemption applies. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, you must pay all bills in sterling within 14 days from the taxable date of the invoice. We reserve the right to charge interest for late payment at the higher of 2 per cent over the then current Lloyds TSB Bank plc base rate, the rate then currently payable on judgement debts, or the rate payable under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. If you have made payments on dates and in amounts different from those we agreed, and we have suffered exchange-rate losses of over 5 per cent of the sums due, then we reserve the right to charge additional amounts to cover our costs. At our discretion, we may accept payment by credit card. If we do, this will be on the basis that we will charge you a handling fee of 2% of the value of the invoice (including VAT). However, if the invoice is more than 30 days old, the handling fee will be 3.75%. PAYMENTS ON ACCOUNT OF FEES AND EXPENSES We may require payments in advance for our fees and expenses. We will put them in a Clients' Account and set them, with interest earned, against future bills. If we are holding any of your monies at the end of a matter we will send them to you. This will generally be in the form of a cheque. If you do not present the cheque for clearing within six months of the date we sent it to you, we will cancel it for security reasons. We will advise you of this. If another six months pass and we do not receive instructions from you on what to do with the monies, we will give them to a registered charity of our choice if the amount if £50 or less. If it is more than this, we will take instructions from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority on what to do with the monies. INTEREST RATE POLICY We have adopted an interest rate policy which ensures you are treated fairly and which complies with the Solicitors Regulation Authority Accounts Rules. A copy of the policy is available on request. It is also on our website www.burges-salmon.com. ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING You should consider whether you have an alternative way of paying our costs where you are or might be involved in a dispute. Another body (such as your employer or trade union) could be responsible for your costs. It is also possible that you hold a legal expenses insurance policy that covers our costs (sometimes household contents, car or other insurance policies cover legal expenses). This is important because if you do have such an alternative, it may affect the recovery of costs from your opponent. You should tell the lawyer supervising the matter if you think you may have such an alternative. If another body does pay your costs then, with your consent, we may have to tell that body about your dispute. CLIENTS' ACCOUNT We hold monies on your behalf as trustee. We deposit these monies with such banks as we may from time to time decide in accordance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority Accounts Rules. It follows that we have no immediate control over these monies while they are held on deposit. It follows that in the unlikely event of the failure of a bank which holds client monies we will not be liable to you for any monies lost. You may in these circumstances be entitled to compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. You should check with the Financial Conduct Authority to find out whether or not you would be entitled to compensation. If you want to know the identity of the bank where your funds are held then we will provide you with details following receipt of your request. If when you receive a response you want us to change the bank where your funds are held you are again entitled to make a written request to us to do this. We will endeavour to move your funds in accordance with your wishes. However, depending on the circumstances, we cannot guarantee that your funds will be moved as and when requested. THIRD PARTIES If we have to engage other professionals on your behalf (such as counsel, overseas lawyers, accountants, expert witnesses or costs draftsmen), whether in the UK or abroad, we will do so as your agent. We cannot be responsible for any act or omission of such a professional unless otherwise agreed in writing. COMMISSIONS We will credit your account with any commission we receive from a third party relating to a matter we are handling for you. PAPERS HELD BY US When a matter has been completed and all fees paid, we will return to you, at your request, any documents you have provided in connection with that matter and any other papers to which you are entitled. We cannot promise to retain files for a specific period of time, but will generally keep them for at least six years, and reserve the right to dispose of them after that time. It might be necessary for us to pass information and papers relating to your matter to our insurers as part of our insurance arrangements. You accept that by appointing us to act for you we are able to do this. We will comply if for any reason (whether during or after a case) we are compelled to disclose documents or to give information orally or in writing about a matter or your affairs, under a court order, notice or demand served by a body or person with the authority to make us do so. You must pay us the costs of such compliance at our then hourly rates. If any documents or information are subject to legal professional privilege (and thus confidential), we will let you know and tell you that you have the opportunity to waive privilege. If you decide not to waive privilege and this is challenged, you must pay us the costs we incur in preserving privilege for you. Unless you tell us otherwise, if a third party has prepared documents for you on our instructions, and you own the copyright in or have a licence to use these documents, we may store the documents on our database in any format for future reference by our lawyers. LIABILITY OF BURGES SALMON LLP The instructions you have given us create a contract for our provision of services to you. We have a duty to work for you with reasonable care and skill. Our advice and services are for your benefit only and may not be used or relied on by anyone else. Burges Salmon LLP is a limited liability partnership. A limited liability partnership is a body corporate that has "members". It is more usual for senior professionals to be referred to as "partners". Our members have decided to retain the traditional title of "partner". There is, however, no partnership between the members or between the members and the firm. A reference in these terms of business or in the course of your dealings with the firm to a person being a "partner" is a reference to that person as a member of the firm. There is no contract between you and any member, employee or consultant of the firm. Any advice given to you, or any other work done for you, by one of our partners, employees or consultants is given or done by that person on our behalf and not in his or her individual capacity. No such person assumes any personal responsibility to you for the advice or work. You agree that if, as a matter of law, any of our partners, employees or consultants would otherwise owe you a duty of care that duty is excluded from our contract with you. You agree that you will not bring any claim against any of our members, employees or consultants for any matter arising in any way out of providing the services to you. Accordingly, any claim you wish to make can only be made against the firm and not against a partner, employee or consultant of the firm. You also agree that in the services we will provide to you, including in particular those described in any engagement letter we send you at the start of a matter, our total liability at law to you for losses will not exceed any amount stated in the engagement letter. Also excluded is any consequential or indirect loss, whether or not it might have been foreseeable at the start of the matter. If we are acting for more than one person, the limit of liability will have to be allocated among you. If the engagement letter does not expressly set out each person's share, that allocation will be a matter entirely for you. If for whatever reason you do not agree on an allocation, then you agree not to dispute the limit of liability on the grounds that no such allocation was agreed. Our liability to you will also be limited to that proportion of the loss or damage (including interest and costs) that you have suffered and that a court has ordered against us after taking account of how far any other person responsible or liable to you for the loss or damage has contributed to it. In assessing anyone else's contribution, we will ignore any limit imposed on their liability by any agreement made before the loss or damage occurred. The limitations and exclusions on liability in this section will not apply to any liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. CONFLICTS Under legal and professional rules we may have to stop acting for you if there is a conflict between your interests and those of another client, or between our interests and your interests. Subject to compliance with the professional rules that regulate our conduct as lawyers, we cannot be prevented or restricted by reason of our relationship with you from advising other clients, including clients whose interests might now or in the future be contrary to your own. ENDING OF INSTRUCTIONS Once instructed, we will normally continue to act for you in the matter until its conclusion. If circumstances arise where it is appropriate for you or us to end the instruction, you will be responsible for our fees and expenses up to the date your instruction ends. You will also be responsible for any fees and expenses arising from our ceasing to act for you or the transfer of the work to another adviser of your choice. We may keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for fees and expenses. CONFIDENTIALITY We keep information passed to us confidential and will not disclose it to third parties except as authorised by you or required by law. In certain circumstances the law requires us to disclose information relating to you (for example, payments of interest earned on a clients' account may have to be disclosed under the EU Savings Directive). If on your authority we are working with other professional advisers, we will assume that we may disclose any relevant aspect of your affairs to them. Sometimes we employ other companies to undertake routine administrative work on our files, such as photocopying. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with any providers of such service. If you do not want us to do this with your file, please tell us as soon as possible. It might be necessary for us to pass information and papers relating to your matter to our insurers as part of our insurance arrangements. You accept that by appointing us to act for you we are able to do this. Where you provide us with fax or computer network addresses for sending material to, we will assume, unless you tell us otherwise, that your arrangements are sufficiently secure and confidential to protect your interests. The Internet is not secure and there are risks if you send sensitive information in this manner or you ask us to do so. Data we send by email is not routinely encrypted, so please tell us if you do not want us to use email as a form of communication with you or if you require data to be encrypted. We will use our best endeavours to protect the integrity of our computer systems by screening for viruses on email sent or received. We expect you to do the same for your computer systems. PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION We promise to respect the data we hold on you. We will keep your details on our database for administration and accounting purposes, so that we can make credit searches and send you relevant information on our services and on events that may interest you. Your details will be processed and kept securely in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. We will not disclose the data to third parties except for the purposes mentioned above. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of your data, please contact the Managing Partner. MONEY LAUNDERING The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Regulations made under the Act, which aim to prevent money laundering, require us to obtain proof of identity from clients for whom we act in connection with relevant financial business. Accordingly we may ask you to give us the necessary details. In certain circumstances, we must by law report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency any evidence or suspicion of money laundering. The law prohibits us from notifying you that a report has been made. INSIDER LIST If you are an issuer to whom the Disclosure and Transparency Rules issued by the Financial Conduct Authority ("Disclosure and Transparency Rules") apply then, unless you notify us to the contrary, we will assume that any matter and any information to which we have access during that matter or otherwise does not constitute inside information (as defined in the Disclosure and Transparency Rules) relating directly or indirectly to you. If you are such an issuer and notify us in writing that a matter or any information to which we have access, during that matter or otherwise, constitutes inside information relating directly or indirectly to you, then: we will tell you, within a reasonable time, who is the main contact within our firm for the purposes of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules in respect of that matter or inside information. We will let you know any changes to the main contact within a reasonable period of such change; we will maintain, and update as and when required, a list of all our employees who have access to such inside information, whether regularly or occasionally (the "Insider List"); the Insider List will record the date it was created, each date it was updated, the identity of each person with access to the inside information and why each person whose name appears on the list is included; the Insider List will be kept for at least five years from the date on which it is drawn up or updated (whichever is the latest); we will send you a copy of the Insider List as soon as possible if you write and ask for one; and we will take the necessary measures to ensure that everyone named on the Insider List has acknowledged their legal and regulatory duties entailed in having access to inside information and is aware of the sanctions attaching to the misuse or improper circulation of such information. FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INSURANCE MEDIATION ACTIVITIES We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct 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. However, in certain circumstances, we may provide a limited range of 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 purpose of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can 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 Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk/register. As we are an "exempt professional firm" you will need to click on the "EPM Search" tab to locate our details on the Financial Conduct Authority's register. The Solicitors Regulations Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against lawyers. If you are unhappy with any investment advice you have received from us or with any investment mediation activities that we have carried out for you then please let us know in accordance with our client care and complaint procedures. If we are unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies. We provide these services only if they are on an incidental part of the professional services that we have been engaged to provide. RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES For the purpose of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, we agree that no term of this agreement with you is enforceable by a third party, except that the partners, consultants and employees of the firm may enforce the limitations and exclusions in the section above headed "Liability of Burges Salmon LLP". APPLICABLE LAW Our relationship with you will be governed by English law and will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. However, we may bring legal proceedings in any other jurisdiction, including the jurisdiction where you are domiciled or based, to recover fees or other sums payable to us. Burges Salmon LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (LLP number OC307212) and is authorised and regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. A list of members, all of whom are solicitors, may be inspected at our registered office, One Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0ZX, England. 01 May 2013 We use cookies to help improve our website content. If you do not indicate your preference the Site will assume consent. For information on how this affects you, please read our privacy and cookies policy. Decline Accept Privacy and Cookies | Terms of use | Terms of business | Sitemap | Staff login | Clientspace