Terms of EngagementDownload and View Terms of Engagement 
The Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006:
how it will affect you
Clients who have requested services from our legal professionals on and after 1 August 2008 will have noticed a change in our approach to acting on their instructions. The Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (the Act), created a new statutory framework for the legal profession.
The Act has now taken full effect for both lawyers and consumers of legal services, in terms of compulsory process.
In essence it means that we (and all lawyers) must now, on each instruction from you, present you with more formal documentation to allow the commencement of action on your instructions. Two documents will be presented to you;
- The Terms of Engagement and Client Information, and
- The Letter of Engagement.
The Terms of Engagement and Client Information incorporates our standard terms of trade and information we are required to disclose to you in relation to fees, our insurance arrangement, the Lawyer Fidelity Fund and other specific matters. These are likely to be amended very rarely.
The Letter of Engagement will list the specific services that will be provided to you in response to your request, the basis on which our fees will be charged, and finally the name and status of the people in our firm who will have overall responsibility for the services. It will be important for clients to question details on that letter if they are not understood or agreed upon, and otherwise sign the letter for return to your lawyer at their earliest convenience. It is important to understand that should the original request change or evolve to more services, an updated Letter of Engagement will need to be produced
We have worked to effect the process in a streamlined way, but we would welcome comment and questions to assist with any fine tuning for the future.
Download and View Terms of Engagement
|
