TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS
The following terms of engagement apply to all work carried out by Instant Legal except as otherwise agreed. The expression "we", "us", and "our" refer to Instant Legal and "you" and "your" refer to you as the client.
These terms and conditions will apply to any services which we provide to you. A fixed fee is payable before a service is provided by Instant Legal.
These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. Every time you use our service, we will ask you to check and confirm that you are happy with these terms.
1. Our Services
Scope of our Services
The scope of the services we have agreed to provide relate to a single fixed fee. We have agreed that for a specific payment, we will answer your question. We have agreed that the answer will be provided by a qualified and practising solicitor or barrister registered with the Bar Standards Board. On receipt of the response to your question, the agreement between us is concluded. There are no further services available for that specific fixed fee, other than a response to the question that you have asked.
You are able to pay additional fixed fees to enhance your service by way of a zoom conference or additional questions. These are separate agreements.
Level of service
Our response to your query will be via the email that you provide. No checks are undertaken at the firm to confirm the email address is correct. This responsibility falls upon the client to ensure the correct information has been provided in order to receive the response to the question asked. There will be no further correspondence unless you have agreed to receive marketing emails.
We will always endeavour to communicate with you in plain language.
The relationship between the firm and the client will be short lived and only last until the response to the question has been sent by the firm, to the client.
If we are unable to answer your question, no funds will be taken from you and the documents you provided will be immediately destroyed. Any subsequent requests will require the documents to be uploaded again as each transaction/ fee is seen as a separate case.
Provision of Information
To assist us in carrying out the work as efficiently as possible, you will need to ensure that all information provided is to the best of your knowledge complete, accurate and up to date. It is your responsibility to ensure you provide us with accurate information as each answer is individually tailored to the question asked.
2. Responsibility for Work
Ultimate responsibility for your matter falls upon the directors of Nicholls Legal Group Ltd. The head office is 1 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DD.
The name of the person who will respond to your question will be a qualified practising solicitor or barrister registered with the Law Society or Bar Council and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Bar Standards Board respectively.
3. Complaints
We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and aim to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service. However, if you would like to discuss how the service to you could be improved, or should there be any aspect of our service with which you are not satisfied, please contact the firm addressing your concerns to the Managing Partner, Lucinda Nicholls on 0207 842 1995, info@nicholls- nicholls.com or by post to Nicholls Legal Group Ltd, 1 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DD. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints. This can be found on the website.
Please refer to the website where the complaints policy is stored.
4. Regulation
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our SRA number is 665887.
We operate in accordance with a code of conduct and other regulations contained with the SRA's Handbook. For further information or to see a copy of the Handbook, please visit www.sra.org.uk.
5. Contacting Us
Our office is located at 1 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DD. The normal hours of opening are between 09.30 and 17.30 on weekdays.
Should you require emergency assistance relating to a legal crisis outside of these hours you may contact our emergency service by telephoning 0207 842 1995. If Nicholls Legal Group Ltd is unable to assist as the area of law is not within their remit, we will immediately advise the client.
6. Professional Indemnity
In the interests of our clients, we maintain compulsory professional indemnity insurance to a total level of three million pounds for any one claim.
Our insurer is Travelers Professional Risks Ltd and their contact details are as follows: 61-63 London Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1NA.
A full hard copy of our insurance is available to view at our offices.
7. Our Charges
Professional Fees
The service provided is a fixed fee for a legally qualified person to respond to your question in line with the laws of England and Wales. There are no additional fees or services provided. Although the answer may not be ideal to the client's hopes or anticipations, the answer is legally based and therefore only takes into consideration the information that is given.
All fees are quoted exclusive of VAT, which will be added where appropriate. Currently, the VAT rate is 20%.
Matter not concluded
The fee paid is non-negotiable. It is possible that the advice received is not what the client may wish to receive. The service provided is based on the law in England and Wales. The website is designed to provide legal advice. Legal advice obtained may not be in line with the client's view. Despite receiving unfavourable advice, the fee is non-refundable.
The fixed fee is payable whether or not the advice is in line with the view or feelings of the client.
If an answer to the question is sent to the client, none of the fee will be waived in any circumstance.
8. Billing arrangements
Payment details are requested at the initial stages when a question is asked to the firm.
Payment is not completed until money laundering checks are undertaken and an answer to the question can be provided.
A receipt will be sent via the third party processor.
Payment is due at the time of making a request for legal advice via the website.
Payment will only be authorised once a legally qualified solicitor or barrister confirms they are able to answer the question placed and the money laundering checks are complete.
We do not accept payment on account or send an invoice after advice received. Payment must be received prior to legal advice being provided.
Your bill
This service is provided by way of fixed fee. If you are unhappy with the charge, then you should not accept these terms and conditions and should not complete the transaction. The fee is non- refundable.
9. Limitation of Liability
Reliance by third parties
Advice rendered by us is provided for the purpose of the instructions to which it relates and for your benefit. It may not be used or relied on for any other purpose or by any person other than you without our prior agreement.
Liability in respect of other parties
We will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that all information provided by us is accurate, but we cannot account for the accuracy of information provided by or obtained from third parties. We shall not be liable for any decision made or action taken by you or others based upon reliance on or use of information or advice provided by or obtained from third parties.
10. Confidentiality
We owe you a duty of confidentiality in respect of information relating to you which we obtain during the course of our services. All such information will be regarded as and kept confidential at all times.
Our duty of confidentiality to you is subject to any disclosures we are required to make in good faith to the police, governmental, regulatory or supervisory authorities in relation to any statutory or regulatory obligations. In particular, we are required, without your knowledge or consent, to report any awareness or suspicion of money laundering in relation to the proceeds of any crime. We can also be ordered by the Government Agencies to disclose information and answer questions about your private affairs, again without your knowledge and consent.
Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing, software management, or other work on our files to ensure this is done promptly and to ensure the file is stored in line with SRA guidelines. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.
Occasionally, our files may need to be examined by external auditors (for quality purposes) and/or our external advisers who assist the firm in maintaining quality and risk. In particular, our files may need to be assessed for quality purposes by the SRA, by a Specialist Quality Mark assessor, and your file may be one of a sample which is to be assessed. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files and any examination will be strictly controlled. Your acceptance of these terms and conditions is deemed to include consent to such disclosure. Please let us know if you have any concerns about this or do not want your files to be examined.
Our duty of confidentiality does not apply to a disclosure we make to our insurers pursuant to the terms of our professional indemnity insurance policy. In the event of a claim, complaint or the notification of a circumstance which may give rise to a loss or claim, we are obliged to make a notification to our insurers and this may necessarily result in your file being disclosed to our brokers or insurers. By entering into this agreement with us you are expressly consenting to such disclosure.
11. Conflict
An actual or potential conflict between your interests and the interests of another client of the firm may arise during the course of your query. If this situation arises during our dealings with you, we will not accept your query and will not charge you for our services. An explanation for the refusal will not be provided.
12. Equality & 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.
13. Data Protection
We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and will deal with data held in accordance with our obligations under the Act.
We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including:
updating and enhancing client records
analysis to help us manage our practice
statutory returns
legal and regulatory compliance
Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1998 and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
We may from time to time send you information which we think might be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information, please notify us in writing.
14. Money Laundering
The fee will not be processed until the money laundering checks are passed. If there is any query regarding the documents provided, then the agreement will not commence and the request for legal advice will not be authorised. The agreement will therefore not be enforceable.
The agreement only begins once a solicitor accepts the identification provided, and confirms that the question is within the scope of the solicitors/barristers that work with Instant Legal. It is at this stage that payment is taken and the legal advice provided.
Notification
Solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their client can be used by criminals wanting to launder money.
Under the provisions of our statutory obligations (in particular with regard to our obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and other relevant legislation including the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000), we are under a strict duty to report any circumstances where we know or suspect that a client or matter is involved in money laundering or terrorist financing, to the National Crime Agency. Under these circumstances, we may be precluded from informing you of the disclosure or seeking your consent. If we make a disclosure, we may also have to stop working on your matter and may not be able to tell you why. You will not be charged unless we provide you with an answer to your question.
Identification
In view of the above, the law requires solicitors to get satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients and sometimes people related to them. We may also be required to carry out background checks on our clients and to make detailed enquiries as to the source of funds being used in relation to transactions on which we are instructed to advise. We may, randomly, add additional checks to clients who use the services of Instant Legal. If this occurs and you do not wish to provide further information prior to the answer to your question, you will not be charged, however we can not confirm or deny that a referral has been made to an external authority in line with our legal obligations.
We will always require proof of your identity and proof of address. We will also need clarification as to where any funds are being received.
We are required to retain records of the identification obtained. We will decline and cease to act for you if we have requested to see proof of your identity, but it is not satisfactory to the lawyer checking the documentation provided.
16. E-mail Communications
This service is only provided via the account associated to the email entered at the first instance, and provided by the client. This is for security and confidentiality. If you do not enter an email address that can receive the advice, then we can not provide the service. As above, it is the client's responsibility to ensure that the email address provided is live, accessible by them and able to receive emails. The answer to their question will be supplied to the account linked to the email address provided. Failure to provide an accurate email address is at the fault of the client and can not be reversed. The service has been provided and the client will have to initiate the service again if the email address entered by them, is incorrect.
Viruses or other harmful devices may be spread over the Internet. We take reasonable precautions to prevent these problems by use of a firewall and virus checking software. The communication by email, is on the basis that you will do likewise.
17. Termination
Termination by you
Our service is based on a fixed fee. Once you accept these terms and conditions, the fee charged is non- refundable. You may withdraw your instructions at any time by written notice to us however the fee paid is non-refundable. If the firm has accepted your question, it is payable whether or not the work is completed as a result of your withdrawal.
Payment is made in advance of work done and is non refundable whether or not you wish to terminate the service if you have passed the registration stage and accepted these terms and conditions.
Termination by us
In some circumstances, we may not be able to answer your question or accept the documents/information that you have provided us before accepting your instructions. If this is the case, no payment will be taken.
18. Storage of files
We will keep your details on file for 6 years. As this is an online transaction, no documents would have been received from you and no documents are agreed to be received by the firm.
We keep files/information on the understanding that we can destroy them no later than 6 years after the date of payment.
All files are stored on an online cloud system.
19. Enforcement
In the event that any of these terms and conditions are held to be invalid, the remainder of the terms and conditions will remain in full force and effect.
20. Governing law
These terms and conditions shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of England & Wales.
The Courts of England & Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this agreement and any matter arising from it.
As this is an important document, please keep your copy in a safe place for future reference.
