TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

The specific terms upon which we act for you will be discussed and agreed upon with you at our initial meeting. We will then supply you with written confirmation of the agreement we have reached so that there is certainty with regard to the services we will provide to you. Following are the various subjects that will be covered in the written agreement or Terms of Engagement. While it might seem lengthy and a bit pedantic, this is for your protection since, if you haven’t agreed all of these things with your solicitors, how can you really know where you stand in your dealings with them?

1. Scope of the Legal Work

It is vital to reach a clear understanding as to precisely what it is you require from your solicitor. While there can never be any guarantee as to the outcome of your case, it is important to set out the result that you are seeking. By including this in our written agreement we remove the potential for misunderstanding and ensure that our efforts are directed toward achieving that result.

2. Fees

Before engaging a solicitor you must have a very clear understanding of how you will be charged.

Generally our fees in respect of legal services are based upon a percentage of the Schedule of Fees contained in the Supreme Court Rules as amended from time to time. The specific rate will depend upon the nature of the matter and whether our agreement is to render interim invoices, to defer rendering an invoice until the conclusion of the case, or whether payment of your fees is dependant upon the outcome (such as in a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement).

The following link is to a copy of the most recent Schedule and any amendments made by the Supreme Court will be forwarded to you during the course of your case.

Supreme Court Scale of Fees

The specific exceptions to the rates under the Scale are:

  • Appearances on your behalf in any Court, Tribunal or other such forum will include travel and waiting time and incur a minimum fee of three quarters of the applicable solicitor’s hourly rate.
  • After hours attendances (those outside 9.00 am and 5.00 pm Monday to Friday other than public holidays) attract a surcharge of 25% above the agreed rate.
  • Where work is charged by reference to pages, part pages are treated as whole pages.
  • The standard rate for photocopying and printing will apply regardless of the number of pages.

3. Disbursements

Disbursements are expenses incurred on your behalf, which are charged in addition to the fees for our firm’s time, and by this agreement you authorise us to incur such disbursements as we deem appropriate. This is despite the fact that such disbursements might not be recoverable, wholly or in part, even if you are successful in the matter.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, disbursements would include postage, Court fees, expert’s fees, courier fees, barrister’s fees, agents’ fees, photocopying, facsimiles, STD and mobile telephone calls.

Where we request that you do so, funds to meet such expenses must be in our trust account prior to our obtaining these services, as we are liable for payment once we obtain them on your behalf. However, whilst our firm is the requestor of such services, such requests are made on your behalf and payment thereof is ultimately your responsibility.

If you have an accepted claim, most disbursements are generally paid directly by the relevant compensating authority, however, on occasion a service provider may at their discretion request pre-payment for the provision of their services or report fees. In the event that we agree to pay for a disbursement on your behalf and then to recover the cost from another party or from any settlement payment you receive, you agree that we may charge a processing fee of 5% (+ GST) of the cost of the disbursement  and an administration charge of 10% (+ GST) per annum which will accrue until such time as the amount of the disbursement has been reimbursed to our firm by the relevant insurer or from any settlement payment you may receive. These additional amounts may not be recoverable from the relevant insurer.

4. Estimate of Our Fees and Expenses

While we will do our best to provide you with a realistic estimate of what it will cost to handle your case, it most instances it is difficult to do so as the amount of work required will be affected by factors outside of our control, such as the need to wait until an injured client’s condition has stabilised, or the conduct of the other side to a dispute or claim. For that reason the estimate we will provide you can only be a guide and as the case proceeds and it becomes clearer how much work is likely to be needed, we will review our estimate.  You may at any time request details of your fees to date.

In the event that your case goes to Court and you are successful, you may be entitled to recover a percentage of your costs from the other party or parties. The scale of fees that applies in the Court in which your action is heard will also determine what can be recovered from the other party. It is only in the most exceptional circumstances that a Court will order the unsuccessful party to pay all of the costs that we have charged you. If you are unsuccessful in a Court action, you may be liable to pay the costs and disbursements of the other party along with our fees (subject to the terms upon which we are acting).

5. Trust Money

In certain circumstances we will ask a client for money in advance on account of fees for work yet to be undertaken and/or on account of disbursements yet to be incurred. Such funds are deposited into our trust account and are recorded as a credit balance against your name. Whether this will be necessary is something that will be agreed upon with you at the commencement of your case.

6. Storage of Records

At the conclusion of your matter you authorise us to maintain an electronic (scanned) copy only of your file and all hard copies of documents will be destroyed after the expiration of any applicable statutory appeal periods. If a hard copy of the file is to be held in storage this will incur an annual fee of $11.00 and an access fee of $55.00 to retrieve the file from storage if required.

7. Payment Terms

Our credit terms are that any accounts rendered must be paid within fourteen days of issue, and interest is charged after that period at 10% per annum from the due date. In addition, you will be liable to reimburse us for any expenses incurred in securing payment of your account, including collection agency fees and court costs. While it is anticipated that there will never be a need to do so, by our agreement we are entitled to cease acting for you in the event of non-payment of any account.

8. Termination of Instructions

This agreement is entered into on the understanding that you will continue to instruct us in your matter until finalisation. In addition, it is agreed that you will accept our reasonable advice as to the conduct of your claim and that the instructions you provide to us are bona fide and not misleading, otherwise we are entitled to cease acting for you.  If there is a need to confirm whether the advice we have given is reasonable then by our agreement an opinion will be obtained from an independent barrister nominated by us and the cost of obtaining that opinion will be paid by you unless it is determined that our advice was not reasonable.

Should you at any time terminate your instructions, or if we elect to cease acting for the reasons stated, you will be liable for all fees incurred up to the date of termination in accordance with the agreed these Terms of Engagement and such amount will be payable forthwith.  Any additional work required to be undertaken as a consequence of such termination (eg filing Court notices and advising other parties) will also be charged at the agreed rate and will be payable immediately upon the rendering of a tax invoice.