Legal

We aim to offer all our clients an efficient and cost effective service and the highest standards of client care and we are confident we will do so in this case. We value your business.

We will agree with you at the outset the scope of the work required. This will include identifying your objectives, giving you a clear explanation of the issues involved and the options available to you.

We will explain to you the issues that arise in your matter and will keep you informed of progress. We will also advise you whether the likely outcome of your case will justify the likely charges and expenses and risks involved, from time to time as necessary. We will give you the best estimate we can of the timescales involved in each step and update this as more information becomes available.

We will agree with you the next steps to be taken from time to time and keep you advised of progress.

Any further progress information beyond that contained here will be provided in subsequent letters that relate to the work that you have requested us to undertake.

We are legally qualified Solicitors and authorised and regulated to provide legal services by our regulators, The Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk) and are registered with them as Practice 070079. Our business relationship with you is governed by the obligations set down by the SRA and by English Law.

This framework tells the public that we are both qualified to conduct legal business and we are appropriately regulated. This is an increasingly important reassurance to our clients with the wide choice of legal services suppliers entering the market.

We offer our relevant legal services within the jurisdiction of England & Wales and agree with you that we each submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. We hold professional indemnity insurance. Our professional indemnity insurer is International General Insurance Company (UK) Limited underwritten by Pen Underwriting Limited authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 314493) Registered office The Walbrook Building 25 Wal rook London EC4N 8AW

We take our compliance seriously and adhere to our legislative and regulatory responsibilities in relation to equality and diversity anti money laundering and bribery and data protection. Should you wish to view our equality and diversity policy please advice.

We will tell you when we consider that you need other types of professional advice to pursue your case that we are not qualified to provide. Please note that Conway & Co. does not ever provide tax, property or goods valuations or financial advice to clients. We also advise clients to strongly consider obtaining independent tax, valuation or financial advice as needed. If you wish to extend our retainer to give you specialist advice in relation to Wills Landlord and Tenant issues then separate fees will apply and different specialist members of staff will need to become involved on your behalf.

If we are to outsource any work relating to the conduct of this matter we will make this clear to you in advance and only proceed if we have your informed consent to do so.

You will always be informed who will be responsible for handling the work on your file and (if different) who is the partner with overall responsibility. You should feel free to contact the person dealing with your work at any time on any aspect of the work. If for any reason he or she is unavailable you can speak to his/her secretary who will either be familiar with the latest developments or will, at least, take and pass on a message. Appointments can also be made.

Like most solicitors our charges for work are based on the time spent dealing with the matter charged out at the charging rates of the personnel involved. These rates are based on the level of experience of the person carrying out the work as reflected in their status. Time spent will include meetings with you (and others) as well as considering, preparing and working on papers, correspondence (letter, fax or email) and making and receiving telephone calls. Routine letters, e-mails, faxes and routine telephone calls made and received will be charged in units of 1/10th of an hour but longer communications will be charged for on a time basis. Our time is recorded in units of 1/10th of an hour i.e. 6 minutes per unit. We will provide details of our applicable charging rates at the outset of any matter. We will add VAT to our charges at the prevalent rate. Charge out rates are reviewed annually, and we will notify you in writing of any increased rate.

In addition to the time spent, our charges may take into account a number of additional factors which include the complexity of the issues, the speed at which action must be taken, work done outside normal working hours, the expertise or specialist knowledge that the case requires and, if appropriate, the value of the property or subject matter involved.

In all matters, there may also be other expenses which we pay on your behalf (called disbursements) and for which you will be responsible, for example court fees, Barristers’ fees, search fees and Land Registry fees. VAT is payable on some of these expenses.

Wherever possible, where non-contentious work of any substance is involved, we will try to give an estimate in advance of likely costs and in some cases it may be possible to agree a fixed fee. Where ad hoc advice is concerned or litigation is involved it is not usually possible to agree a fixed fee and our charges will be by reference to time spent. Where an estimate is given it is given in good faith and in the light of our experience. However, costs can sometimes be increased for reasons outside our control including unforeseen complications or delays by other parties to a transaction or case. We will inform you if it becomes apparent that an estimate is likely to be exceeded.

We will normally require payment on account of future costs or expenses as a condition of our commencing or continuing to act on your behalf. In particular, we will ask you for funds in advance. In some cases where we are doing work for corporate or business clients , it may become necessary to request directors or others to guarantee our fees and disbursements. We will normally send you an interim statute bill for our charges and expenses at appropriate intervals (usually monthly) while the work is in progress. This enables you to budget for costs as the matter progresses. We will send a final bill after completion of the work. We do accept payment by credit card or you may wish to set up a standing order at an early stage in order to spread the cost. All invoices are due for payment on delivery. . We will charge interest on the amount of any unpaid invoice from one month after its delivery at the rate payable on judgment debts, currently 8%. We reserve the right to suspend work or to cease to act where an invoice is overdue for payment or in the event of a request for payment on account not being met. We send monthly statements which detail all invoices which have been raised. If you have any query about your bill you should contact the person dealing with your case or the partner in charge of the department straightaway. You may have the right to object to a bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.