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Lexcel v6 manual May 2015 © Enderley Consulting Limited 2015

6 Client care

6.1 client care policy

Oliver Fisher Solicitors is committed to providing a high quality professional service to clients. The firm strives to ensure that its advice is expert, accurate, cost effective, and communicated in a manner that is appropriate for each client.

dealing with new enquiries

A potential new client will normally approach the firm by telephone, in person, or by email.

by telephone

If enquiring by telephone, a client’s first impression of the Firm will be from the manner in which the call is answered. When answering the telephone, the Receptionist (or person taking the call) should state clearly the name of the For, for example. “Good morning, Oliver Fisher Solicitors” in a professional but friendly tone.

When a potential client calls, the Receptionist establishes the nature of the enquiry, then transfers the call to the relevant Head of Department:

Russell Conway for housing and litigation enquiries

Jo Shortland for matrimonial and children

Deborah Mantell for conveyancing and wills

The Receptionist never makes a decision on whether to accept or decline work.

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If the Head of Department is unavailable, the Receptionist transfers the call to the most senior fee earner available in the relevant Department. Property & Housing Fee Earner

Issue: RC DM AN AK GOC

House Purchase/Sale-Conveyancing * *

Re-mortgage *

Purchase of Business Lease *

Landlord & Tenant * * * *

Eviction * * * *

Homelessness *

* * *

Disrepair * * * *

Rent Arrears * * * *

Tenancy Agreements * * *

Mortgage Arrears * * *

Rent Officer; Rent Assessment Committee

* * *

Service Charges/Lease Dispute * * *

Wills & Probate *

Family & Matrimonial Fee Earners

Issue JS RG GD KB SK

Divorce 0

Relationship breakdown (cohabitees) 0

Financial issues on relationship breakdown 0

Child Support 0

Contact/Children 0

Paternity 0

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Injunctions 0

Domestic Violence 0

Other Fee Earner

Issue RC GOC AN DM JS SK KB RG KB

Wills * *

Probate * *

Power of Attorney * *

Employment problems; Industrial Tribunals

*

Redundancy; Discrimination

* *

Mental Health *

Immigration * *

Debt *

Simple Consumer Matters *

Partnership Disputes * *

Neighbour disputes/noise nuisance * *

Planning/Compulsory Purchase * *

Injunctions (other than matrimonial/family)

* * * *

Family/Matrimonial * * * *

by email

If a potential client emails [email protected], or completes the website enquiry form, their enquiry is routed directly to the Senior Partner, Russell Conway. Similarly, any

mailto:[email protected]

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emailed enquiries from the Citizens Advice Bureau or through Contact Law are also routed to Russell Conway’s inbox. Russell will either deal with the enquiry himself or forward the email immediately to the appropriate fee earner.

If however a client emails a fee earner through their link on the website, the email will go directly to that fee earner’s inbox.

in person

If a new client calls in person, the Receptionist will ascertain the nature of the enquiry and alert the relevant Head of Department, or the most senior fee earner available in that Department (see list above). Depending on the urgency of the matter and the availability of the fee earner, the Receptionist will either give the client an immediate appointment or arrange one.

If the fee earner is available, they should take the client into a meeting room rather than discuss possible services in the reception area (see below in relation to client confidentiality).

If the fee earner is unavailable, or if the client prefers to make an appointment, the Receptionist will record it in the appointments diary. He will tell the client what they need to bring to their appointment, such as their lease, tenancy agreement, or proof of eligibility for Legal Aid, following this up by emailing the client a standard letter confirming the date and time of the appointment and the papers they need to bring with them.

If the enquiry concerns one of the following issues, the client MUST be seen straight away:

Child snatch Domestic violence Expiry of a limitation period Illegal eviction

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resourcing and competence considerations

The firm will accept instructions only when it can provide an expert and professional service to clients. We will decline instructions that are beyond the expertise, capabilities or resources of the firm and the firm will not chase work for the sake of cash generation at the expense of other considerations. This is absolutely critical: see Principles 4 and 5, and O1.4 and Section 6.7 below. Section 5.5 of this manual contains a list of work that the firm will and will not undertake. The firm will not offer inducements to attract clients. If you are unsure whether the firm is able to act appropriately for a client, you should consult the Senior Partner, Russell Conway. For the procedure on accepting instructions generally, please refer to section 6.11 of this Manual.

confidentiality

All solicitors are bound by the professional rules requiring confidentiality in all dealings with clients. Please refer to Chapter 4, SRA Code of Conduct. You must not reveal to an outsider that the firm is acting for any named client, the nature of their instructions or the advice given, or indeed anything else including personal details, other than on the client’s written instructions. Nor must you disclose one client’s confidential information to another. See IB4.2. If you are unsure whether you should acknowledge that the firm acts for a given client, or give out a client’s contact details, check with your Head of Department or a Partner.

The duty of confidentiality must be reconciled with the duty of disclosure to clients. This duty of disclosure is limited to information of which you are aware which is material to your client's matter. Where you cannot reconcile these two duties, then the protection of confidential information is paramount. You should not continue to act for a client to whom you cannot disclose material information, except in very limited circumstances, where safeguards are in place. Such situations often also give rise to a conflict of interests, discussed in Section 5.8 above.

http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/part2/rule4/content.page

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response times

As part of the firm’s client-focused approach, fee earners must respond promptly to telephone calls, letters and emails from clients and others (eg estate agents and other solicitors). We aim to return telephone calls and reply to correspondence within the same working day. If you are unable to meet these timescales, you should arrange for an appropriate colleague to return the call or reply to the correspondence on your behalf.

referring clients to third parties

There may be situations where the firm will need or want to refer a client to a third party for advice or assistance. This may be because:

we have no expertise in the particular area of law we don’t have capacity there is a conflict of interest

the client requires a non-legal service, such as financial advice

Referrals should be made with regard to the client’s requirements and in the client’s best interests. Potential clients must never be referred to an outside firm until it is certain that Oliver Fisher cannot deal with the matter. The Receptionist is usually the first port of call and has a thorough knowledge of the work the firm will and won’t undertake. Nonetheless, all members of staff should familiarise themselves with the list of services the firm does and does not provide (see Appendix 5H). If there is any doubt, a senior Solicitor must be consulted.

to make a referral

Consider the needs of the client and the level of help they require

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Discuss the need for the referral and which agency to refer them to with the client – see selection criteria below when considering possible referral agency options

Obtain the client’s consent on the Referral Form (see Appendix 6A) to enable the transfer of information regarding the client’s case

Telephone the chosen agency and make an appointment for the client – ensure cost implications/access issues are clarified with the organisation if required

Inform the client of any cost implications – record this on the file

Complete the remainder of the Referral Form (see Appendix 6A)

Make 4 copies of the Referral Form, hand one to the client, retain the second in the central record of referrals, retain the third on the case file and the fourth is to be sent to the receiving organisation

Copy all relevant file notes and send to the receiving organisation with the fourth copy of the Referral form

Ensure the client is informed (verbally) that should they not receive the service they expect from the receiving organisation, they re-establish contact with this firm

to actively signpost a client

Consider the needs of the client and the level of help they require

Discuss the need for active signposting and which Agency to refer them to with the client – see selection criteria below when considering possible agency options

Ensure cost implications are discussed with the client

Ensure the client has a written copy of the address and contact number of the service to whom they were actively signposted

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We do not routinely keep records of active-signposting, but will sample the number and types of active signposting in December and June.

selection criteria

The following issues must be considered when selecting a service provider to refer/signpost the client:

Location of client

Category of law/nature of query

Funding options/cost implications

Availability of public transport

Disabled access

Please bear in mind that different clients may place more weight on different criteria – discussion with the client is essential.

Quality Marked services should be chosen from the CLS Directory where available (these are marked with the CLS Logo); failing that, choose an organization from the firm’s list of approved agencies.

where a client returns after unsatisfactory signposting/referral

Where a client returns to us, dissatisfied with the service they have received from the selected organisation, the reason for their dissatisfaction must be explored before a further course of action can be taken.

If we have inappropriately signposted/referred, consideration must be given to the reasons for this (eg. Directory information incorrect etc - if so complete the CLS complaints form giving details of entry and problems). The client should be re-signposted/re-referred

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If the accepting organisation is appropriate, but the client is unhappy with the service received, discuss the possibility of the client using the receiving organisation’s complaints procedure to resolve their difficulties. Where this causes difficulties or has been exhausted, re-sign/re-refer

Complete the ‘Supplier Feedback Form’ and file in the central record. Where the matter shows a significant potential problem, inform the Supervisor of the issues. The Supervisor will consider whether to stop referring/actively signposting to that organisation in the future

maintenance of central referral file

An information record will be completed for all organisations to whom we refer or actively signpost clients if that organisation does not appear in the CLS Directory.

Where feedback (positive or negative) is received from any source regarding suppliers listed in our own records, complete a feedback form and file with the organisation’s details in the central record

Where the feedback shows a significant problem with the organisation, inform the Supervisor – this may lead to the record being amended to ‘Do Not Use’ status- this can be done by the Supervisor at any time. If you wish to add a new supplier, discuss this with the Supervisor and justify the reasons for adding them. The Supervisor will make the final decision based on the evidence you present.

The Supervisor will review the feedback forms annually and amend any records and the status of the organisation as appropriate

annual review of active signposting and referral

The Partners will review the central records for active signposting (data from December and June) and referral and record the following statistics;

Top ten receiving Agencies (in terms of numbers)

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Number of clients actively signposted during the year (this figure will be extrapolated from the two months’ worth of data)

Total number of clients referred during the year

Top five types of cases referred/signposted on

The number of times where no suitable service provider is found

This information will feed into the review of the Strategic Plan and the following issues will be considered:

Do we need to build better links with the top ten receiving agencies?

Are we advertising our services correctly – do we attract an inappropriate client group – should we review the advertising material?

Do we need to pass on information to the LAA regarding clear ‘gaps’ in service provision?

The Supervisor will also review the central record of referrals and active sign postings to ensure all advisers are taking a consistent approach according to this procedure.

reasonable adjustments for disabled clients

The firm takes very seriously its legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled clients, ensuring (as far as possible) that disabled people can benefit from the firm’s services in the same way as able-bodied people. The Partners have assessed the firm’s premises and processes, with a view to removing any obstacles which might place a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage or create a barrier which would prevent them from accessing the firm’s services.

The steps taken include:

providing documents in large print to assist clients with sight difficulties allowing assistance dogs into the office

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making home visits to clients with mobility impairments or agoraphobia a lift is available to assist clients in accessing the firm’s offices

If any member of the firm has a suggestion for improving access to our services or the quality of our service to disabled people, they should email details to Russell Conway for consideration by the Partners.

vulnerable clients

Whatever the manner of initial introduction it is important to ensure that clients are not acting under duress or by other third party involvement. A client might wish to bring a relative or friend with them to a meeting: that is entirely acceptable, but fee-earners are to ensure that the client is acting of their own free will.

6.2 welfare benefits

This procedure covers the steps to be taken to meet the needs of clients for welfare benefits advice, both internally and by referral.

the need for welfare benefits advice

The firm recognises that clients, particularly those eligible for Legal Aid, may also be entitled to claim welfare benefits. Clients may not always be claiming all those benefits to which they are entitled, or there may be problems with the benefits they are receiving.

Fee earners will endeavour to assist clients with welfare benefits problems. Training and reference materials are provided to ensure that all fee earners have an awareness of the benefit system, and keep that knowledge up-to-date.

Fee earners should initially raise queries about welfare benefits with Jo Shortland.

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external referral procedure

If a client needs welfare benefits advice which is beyond the skills or abilities available within the firm, he or she should be referred to one of the organisations below: -

Chelsea Citizens Advice Bureau Old Town Hall, Kings Road London SW3 5EE Tel: 0207 351 2114 Clients seen by appointment: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10.00-12.30 Kensington Citizens Advice Bureau Westway Advice and Information Centre Ladbroke Grove London W10 5ND Tel: 0208 960 3322 Clients seen at drop-in sessions and by appointment. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10.00-12.30 If neither of CABs is convenient for the client: NACAB London Region, Tel: 0207 251 2000 will be able to provide details and opening times of the nearest CAB.

6.3 pro bono work

This will only be undertaken in limited circumstances. Obviously, the availability of public funding will first need to be fully explored with individual clients.

employees of the firm:

(a) conveyancing: one free purchase or sale of their own home per year, otherwise 25% of our minimum conveyancing fee

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(b) litigation: free oral advice on problems as they arise, otherwise at the discretion of the fee earner, although of course we aim to help our own employees

close family members of employees: reduced fees of 25%, subject to Partners’ approval. Contingency fee basis may be applicable

existing clients: free advice should be limited to face to face oral advice, and is sometimes desirable as it can lead to instructions being given on a new matter by an existing client

new clients: trainees may give fixed fee interviews for thirty minutes for a set fee, including VAT

charities: the firm, at present, has no specific policy on pro-bono work for charities – and it should be at the discretion of individual Partners – although if the matter is substantive, it should be referred to the two Partners

N.B. No free telephone advice should ever be given to unknown clients.

6.4 taking instructions

All new clients must be given a Client Questionnaire to complete – this may be done in reception, or must otherwise be posted to the client with the initial pack (see Appendix 6B).

The fee earner must record the client’s requirements on an attendance note, and enter a summary on the file summary sheet.

Fee earners must discuss the following points with the client to ensure that they understand the client’s requirements and that the client understands the services that Oliver Fisher can provide:

Who will be handling the client’s case and how the client should contact the firm (especially in the event of a problem)

The fee earner’s advice on the basis of the information available

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What action the fee earner will be taking to deal with the case; in particular, what the next step is and what action (if any) the client has to take

The timescales involved in the case, in particular when the fee earner is next likely to contact the client

Whether the client qualifies advice and assistance under the ‘Legal Help at Court Scheme’, or public funding

If the client is paying privately, the fee earner should give them the Oliver Fisher ‘Guidance on Fees’

Legal Help clients

It’s the fee earner’s responsibility to check the client’s eligibility for Legal Help assistance. This means proof of benefits within the last month. The minimum we require is a letter confirming receipt of benefits and a bank statement dated within 1 month of the client’s first appointment.

In the case of employed persons, 3 pay slips are required.

In the case of self-employed persons or cases of greater complexity (i.e. no obvious means of support) please consult the LAA Guidance. If proof of eligibility is not forthcoming a file should NOT be opened.

limitation in acting for a client

If it becomes apparent that there will be limitations on the work which can be done for the client, for example because Legal Aid is not available for the step the client wishes to take, or because the client has a claim in contract under £3,000, they must be advised as soon as possible.

6.5 new matter opening

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When the client instructs Oliver Fisher, a member of support staff will open a new client matter file on the Quill system, paying particular attention to the following fields:

CLIENT DETAILS

Make a new client file

Source of introduction: eg advertising/client referral

Ethnicity: see initial client questionnaire

NEW MATTERS

Description, eg for a conveyancing matter - address of sale or purchase

New number

Dates, eg when file is next to be reviewed

Fee earner and Supervisor: eg R. Conway – Partner: R. Conway

Public funding (Legal Aid) Code: Franchise. See initial client questionnaire. When Public Funding Certificate is returned, go to edit and edit and enter details Span 1 Span 2. End Point.

Type of case eg Landlord and Tenant, Probate

The above information is vital to time recording and must be entered.

ADDRESS

Fill in all relevant boxes

6.6 clarity of instructions – the initial letter

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No member of the firm is to give ‘ad hoc’ advice. It is plain that such advice will nonetheless bind the firm, possibly with grave consequences. You must always insist on a full and proper review of a client’s matter. If the client is unwilling to agree, then you must decline to act and you must not offer any advice at all. You must be aware of the very serious risks in advising on what are in essence complex transactions without a detailed understanding of the matter and without recording a file note: see Padden -v- Bevan Ashford [2013] EWCA Civ 824.

At or near the outset of every matter, in accordance with Chapter 1 of the SRA Code of Conduct, the fee earner must send the client an initial letter accompanied by the firm’s standard terms of business (see Appendix 6B) and an estimate of costs, setting out:

the client’s requirements and objectives. This should be based on a detailed file note of the fee earner’s first meeting or telephone conversation with the client, or on the client’s emailed instructions. It is the firm’s policy to meet clients wherever possible. The purpose of this is to ensure that what the firm intends to do for the client matches their understanding and expectations. You must be specific. You must not offer any advice without a full understanding of the issues. If necessary you must write a holding letter to explain that you cannot advise until the full facts are known

a clear explanation of the issues involved and the options available to the client. You must not offer advice which involves wholly unmeritorious applications to the Court: the clear dangers in such an approach are set out in R -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department ex p Butt and others [2014] EWHC 264 (Admin)

what the firm will and will not do. See IB1.5, and see Butt above. In estate administration cases, set out whether the retainer is for obtaining the grant and dealing with the entire administration of the estate, or whether it is limited to particular aspects of the process, and, if limited, exactly which elements are included and excluded

the next steps taken – the fee earner should seek the client’s agreement

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2014/264.html







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a commitment to keep the client informed of progress. Frequency and manner of communication are to be determined in consultation with the client in accordance with IB1.1

the timescale in which the firm will deal with the matter. See IB1.1

the method of funding. See IB1.5. If public funding, explain the statutory charge as well as the importance of paying contributions and the effect of not paying them. The client should be given a copy of the Legal Aid Agency’s leaflets ‘What Happens Next- Your Civil Public Funding Application’ and ‘Paying back the Legal Aid Agency – The Statutory Charge’

a consideration of whether the intended action would be merited on a cost-benefit analysis, including any risk of having to pay someone else’s legal fees. See IB1.13, and Butt above

the level of service the client can expect. See IB1.1

the firm’s responsibilities and the client’s responsibilities. See IB1.2

the name and status of the person acting, with the details of the person responsible for overall supervision. The client must be informed if the fee earner changes. See IB1.3

the options available and the main steps to be taken and by whom

specific advice on the costs implications of the instructions received and the advice provided, with particular explanation of the Statutory Charge (if relevant). See IB1.5, and 1.13 – 1.19

agreed objectives of legal action, with details of any limitations or conditions, for example arising out of the way in which the matter is funded

in disputes, whether mediation or some form of ADR would be more appropriate options

details of the appropriate contact in the event that the client is concerned with the progress or some element of the handling of the matter, with details of the firm’s complaints policy

the general terms of business under which the firm acts


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as well as providing information about the firm’s complaints process under O1.9, 1.10 and IB1.22, O1.14 requires the letter to clarify that a complaint can also be about the firm’s bill, that there may also be a right to object to the bill by applying to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974, and that if all or part of a bill remains unpaid the firm may be entitled to charge interest

On rare occasions it may not be appropriate to send out normal terms of business, such as:

where the client has reading or learning difficulties

where the client has sight or language difficulties

certain instances of mental health work where the client might be distressed to receive such correspondence

instances of limited and ‘one-off’ advice – you must bear in mind the warnings above

In these circumstances you must make a full file note for the matter file setting out the reasons why a client care letter has not been sent out and detailing any alternative action you have taken including how the information has been communicated. See Padden –v- Bevan Ashford Solicitors, above.

Your letter defines the contractual relationship between the Firm and the client. The Court has addressed what happens where there is no letter or where there is confusion over the scope of the retainer, see Tom Hoskins Plc v EMW Law (a firm) [2010] EWHC 479 (Ch) (11 March 2010) especially at para 99 – 105.

public funding and the Legal Help Scheme

The following points are covered by the firm’s standard letters (Appendices 7C (ii) and (iii)):

the scope of the Legal Help Scheme

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/479.html&query=title+(+Tom+)+and+title+(+Hoskins+)+and+title+(+PLC+)+and+title+(+v+)+and+title+(+EMW+)+and+title+(+Law+)&method=boolean

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/479.html&query=title+(+Tom+)+and+title+(+Hoskins+)+and+title+(+PLC+)+and+title+(+v+)+and+title+(+EMW+)+and+title+(+Law+)&method=boolean

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the operation of the Statutory Charge in cases where it could apply

the duty to pay any Legal Aid contributions assessed, and that the certificate may be discharged if they fail to do so. The client must also be informed that if his or her circumstances change, for better or worse, the Legal Aid Agency must be informed

the possibility that if the client wins the case the opponent may not be ordered to pay the full amount of the client’s legal costs, or may be unable to pay what has been ordered; and that there are circumstances in which a publicly funded client may be ordered to pay the other side’s costs

the possibility that if the client loses the case, they may be ordered to contribute to the other side’s costs, even though the client’s own costs are covered by public funding

an Emergency Public Funding Certificate may be revoked if the client is found not to qualify financially

an indication of the likely cost of the matter, unless the case falls into one of the following categories: - non-means/non-merit tested public law child care – Child Abduction & Custody Act cases, and registration of foreign orders under regs. 14 & 15 Civil Legal Aid regs 1989

Fee earners should also dictate an introductory paragraph covering the client’s instructions, objectives and likely timescale.

6.7 standing terms of business (regular clients)

The firm has repeat business from satisfied clients, but it is not the firm’s policy to have standing terms of business with regular clients. Every new instruction is dealt with in the same way, by sending out an initial letters, with an estimate of costs and the firm’s terms of business. Money laundering checks are carried out on all but the most long-standing clients, regardless of whether the firm has acted for the client before or not.

6.8 estimate of costs and payment procedures

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At the start of a matter and, when appropriate as the matter progresses, all fee earners must give the client the best possible information about the likely overall cost of the matter. This is dealt with at O1.13 and IB1.14 – 1.18. See also Law Society Practice Note on publicising solicitors' charges. Fee earners in all departments should send out a separate estimate of costs at the start of the matter, setting out clearly the firm’s fees and any anticipated expenses (see IB1.15). IB1.21 requires disbursements included in the bill to reflect the actual amount spent or to be spent.

In particular, fee earners must remember that they are obliged to:

advise the client on the basis of the firm’s charges, whether it is fixed fee or hourly rate. If the firm is charging on an hourly rate, you must also supply additional information, for example an estimate of total cost, an agreed costs ceiling, or the date of a costs review. The firm favours, where possible, a costs ceiling, beyond which we will not proceed without the client’s written consent

advise the client if charging rates are to be increased or the method of funding has changed

inform the client immediately if it becomes evident during the course of their matter that the costs are likely to exceed the initial estimate, giving a breakdown of costs and explaining why they have increased

advise the client on any payments which you or they may need to make to others, such as disbursements, referral fees, Court fees, or barristers fees

discuss with the client how they will pay, for example money on account and the firm’s requirement for the client to provide top-up funding as the matter progresses. You must advise the client where other sources of funding are available, particularly in litigation matters, for example public funding or legal expenses insurance

advise the client that there are circumstances where the firm may be entitled to exercise a lien for unpaid costs

advise the client of their potential liability for the other party’s costs with an assessment of whether the case is worthwhile in the light of this risk

publicly funded clients – updates on costs

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/publicising-solicitors-charges/

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/publicising-solicitors-charges/

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Publicly funded clients, advised about the likely cost of the matter at the outset, must be updated as to the actual profit costs and disbursements to date when there is any substantial change in the likely cost of the matter (for example when a Limitation is raised).

Where there is no such substantial change, the client must be so advised at least every six months, using the letter at Appendix 6D. The initial estimate given to the client must also be revised if necessary. Fee earners must write to update all publicly funded clients with ongoing matters in February and September each year.

Legal Help Scheme clients – updates on costs

Legal Help clients must also be advised when the likely cost of the matter is increased, i.e. at each Legal Help Scheme extension.

When a fee earner applies for a Legal Help Scheme extension, or when one is granted using devolved powers, he or she must make a diary entry five months ahead. He or she must then write to the client giving the information on costs indicated above.

6.9 complaints handling procedure

The firm is committed to providing a quality service to clients. As part of this, members of staff need to identify and acknowledge client dissatisfaction when it arises and address any client complaints promptly, fairly, openly and effectively - see O1.11.

A complaint is not always a letter headed “complaint”. It can be a letter expressing dissatisfaction. It can be a phone call, a visit to reception or an angry email. Anything that appears to express dissatisfaction with the firm’s work should be referred to Russell Conway the Complaints Partner, and he will take a view on how best to deal with it. He will decide whether the matter might be resolved informally, or whether it should be formally

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recorded as a complaint and dealt with under the firm’s written complaints procedure (see Appendix 6E).

The firm’s written complaints procedure complies with O1.9-1.11 and IB.22-24. It is designed for ease of client use and understanding, to be responsive to the needs of individual clients, especially the vulnerable, and to ensures that the Partners:

know about client dissatisfaction if and when it does arise

take all reasonable steps to ensure that the dissatisfaction is addressed and resolved wherever possible and in the shortest possible time

reassure all clients who do complain that the firm will address their concerns without delay and that it takes all complaints seriously

learn from experience to lessen the risk of complaints in the future

In accordance with O1.9 and IB1.22, the firm advises the client at the start of the matter, in the terms of business, that if there is a problem:

the client is entitled to complain, including about a bill

the firm will supply a copy of its written complaints procedure if asked

the client should address their complaint to the Senior Partner, Russell Conway

When a client makes a complaint, the Senior Partner will write to them explaining:

how the firm will handle the complaint

in what timescale the firm will give an initial and/or substantive response

if the client is not satisfied with the Senior Partner’s response, the Partners will review the outcome

if the client is still not satisfied, the Senior Partner will refer them to the Legal Ombudsman, providing the following contact details: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ; telephone 0300 555 0333; [email protected]; www.legalombudsman.org.uk


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Russell Conway will complete the complaints report form at Appendix 6D, and place it on the central complaints register. He will investigate the complaint according to the firm’s written procedure, identifying the cause of any problems, and offering appropriate redress if he considers the compliant to be justified.

Client complaints will usually involve no risk of loss to the firm or the client, but if there is any risk that the complaint could amount to circumstances that should be reported to our insurers, we must err on the side of caution by reporting it as such. If there is any risk that the complaint could amount to circumstances that should be reported to the firm’s insurers, the Senior Partner will report it immediately.

The Partners will use complaints positively as a learning experience. The firm will identify the cause of the complaint, considering whether an individual or a team would benefit from targeted learning, and correcting any unsatisfactory procedures.

The Partners will also include an analysis of the complaints record in the annual risk and client care reviews, to help us learn from our experiences and to address any underlying problems. In this way the firm can use its complaints data to help to prevent future difficulties.

complaints about bills

The Solicitors Remuneration Order 1994 has been repealed. This removes the remuneration certificate procedure and clients' statutory rights to information about challenging a bill. Instead O1.14 of the Code of Conduct 2011 requires the firm, as part of its complaints-handling duties, to inform the client at the outset and in writing of the following points:

they are entitled to challenge or complain about their bill

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there may also be a right to object to the bill by complaining to the Legal Ombudsman, and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974

if all or part of the bill remains unpaid, the firm may be entitled to charge interest

complaints referred by the Legal Ombudsman (LO)

It is possible that a client may complain direct to the Legal Ombudsman without first following the procedures stated above. In such circumstances the Legal Ombudsman will immediately refer the complaint to COLP who is the appointed liaison. The normal complaints procedures will then be followed.

The Legal Ombudsman contact details are as follows:

telephone 0300 555 0333

[email protected]

PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ

www.legalombudsman.org.uk

making complaints

There may be occasions when the firm may make a complaint, either against another solicitor through the Legal Ombudsman or through other procedures. Any complaint of this nature must be authorised by a Partner to avoid damaging the firm’s professional and commercial standing.

6.10 client satisfaction surveys


http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

25


The firm has a client satisfaction survey (see Appendix 6G) covering all aspects of the firm’s service from dealing with the initial enquiry, to the approach of the fee earner and support staff, and whether the firm offers value for money.

The survey is sent to every client on completion of their matter, unless there is good reason not to do so, for example the client has reading or cognitive difficulties or is mentally ill.

The Partners take client care and client satisfaction very seriously. The Senior Partner considers data generated by client satisfaction surveys on a quarterly basis, analysing trends in overall levels of satisfaction, satisfaction levels for individual fee earners and areas of work, views on service levels, support staff, and value for money. He also includes review and analysis of the year’s client satisfaction survey data in the annual client care and risk reviews, making changes based upon the feedback following the reviews.

The results of the survey will be published internally annually and staff will be asked to respond with suggestions for improvement.

6.11 procedure to accept or decline instructions

The firm is not obliged to act in all cases. Fee earners should consider all new instructions carefully, particularly those from new clients.

In every case, before accepting instructions fee earners should:

1. check the client’s identity in accordance with Section 5.13 above

2. check for conflicts of interest in accordance with Section 5.8 above

3. assess the risk involved in accordance with Section 5.4 above

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The firm may not decline to act on grounds contrary to its equality and diversity policy (see section 4.2 above). It could (or should) decline to act, however, on any of the following grounds:

the firm cannot meet any of the Principles

there is an own conflict or a client conflict of interest unless the circumstances in Os3.6 or 3.7 apply and you have followed the procedure set out in Section 5.8 of this manual. For further guidance on this complex area, see IBs 3.1 - 3.14 inclusive

the client refuses to company with anti-money laundering checks

the firm does not have that specialisation, or wishes to restrict that area of work

the firm lacks resources and so cannot provide a proper level of service: the individual lawyer or department is working at full capacity. This is a continuing obligation and the firm must ensure that it will have sufficient resource to complete the matter. See O1.4

the instructions will lead to a breach of the law or Code of Conduct

the work would not be sufficiently profitable

the client has a track record of not paying the firm’s bills or has threatened or assaulted people within the firm

the client is engaged in business activities that the firm would not wish to be associated with

the firm has reasonable grounds to believe that the instructions are affected by duress or undue influence and do not represent the client’s wishes. See IBs1.25 and 1.28

When the firm needs to decline work because it falls outside acceptable risk levels, or because it is beyond the experience or competence of the practice (and therefore mistakes are more likely to happen) fee earners should

consult a Partner, as only they have the authority to decline work

notify the client promptly, explaining the reasons and advise the client to seek separate advice on the matter. In conjunction with the Partner you must consider whether the best interests of the client may require the whole of the client’s affairs to be dealt with in the context of that advice and if this is the case suggest that the firm ceases to act. If done by telephone, follow up in writing

http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/handbookprinciples/content.page






27


suggest an alternative firm to the client and follow the procedure in Section 6.1 above

If the client refuses to take separate advice then you must provide the client with a written record of:

all the general advice given, and in particular any risks identified;

any offer of detailed advice and whether the offer was accepted or refused;

the client’s refusal to follow any advice given

and you must preserve a copy of the record as part of the file.

ceasing to act for an existing client

Situations may arise, or certain factors change, during the course of a matter, which mean that the firm should cease acting, particularly if:

the risk level becomes unacceptably high

the client relationship breaks down, for example on repeated refusal to follow advice

a conflict of interest develops

In such a situation, the fee earner should:

consider IB1.7 notify the Senior Partner to check that he supports this assessment beware tipping off a client suspected of financial crime notify the client immediately, explaining the reasons, if done so by phone, follow up in writing suggest an alternative firm to the client

The firm will cease acting only for good reason and will give the client reasonable notice. Note that it might be difficult to come off the Court record as acting. An application to the Court might be required.

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29


APPENDIX 6A

REFERRAL FORM

CLIENT’S NAME ADDRESS FILE NO

TYPE OF MATTER (A) CRIMINAL (B) IMMIGRATION (C) WELFARE BENEFITS (D) CONSUMER (E) OTHER

REFERRED TO Address and telephone No:

NOTES

Client’s signature

Date

Fee earner’s signature

Date

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APPENDIX 6B

Initial Client Questionnaire

We would be most grateful if you could complete all the questions below giving the information requested and ticking the relevant boxes, this will assist us in providing an even better service to all our clients.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

Tel. No.

Mobile (if applicable):

Email (if applicable):

Fax No. (if applicable):

Date of birth:

Place of birth:

Nationality:

National Insurance number:

1. How did you hear of us? Please tick appropriate box below

Yellow Pages ☐ Through one of our clients ☐

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Website ☐ Law Society ☐

Local Agency ☐ Other (please specify) ☐

2. Please specify below type of legal problem by ticking appropriate box

Housing ☐ Conveyancing/Probate ☐

Family/Matrimonial ☐ Other (please specify) ☐

3. Are you a new or an existing client? Please indicate below

Existing client ☐ New client ☐

4. Are you a private paying client or would you like to be receiving assistance under the Public Funding Scheme, if your income and capital will allow you to do so? Please indicate preferred funding below:

Private ☐ Legal Aid ☐

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER

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APPENDIX 6C(i)

Terms of Business

OLIVER FISHER TERMS OF BUSINESS

1 Introduction

1.1 We are Oliver Fisher a partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors

Regulation Authority, number 00048312. Our VAT registration number is 239

0964 41. We practise under the name of Oliver Fisher.

1.2 A list of our Partners, who are all solicitors, may be inspected at our registered

office, which is 2nd Floor, Astley House, 33 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ.

We use the word “Partner” to refer to a Partner of Oliver Fisher. We use the word

“partner” to refer to a partner of Oliver Fisher or to an employee or consultant with

equivalent standing and qualifications.

1.3 These Terms of Business (as amended from time to time) will apply to all future

instructions you give to us. We may take your continuing instructions in any matter

as your acceptance.

1.4 These Terms of Business may not be varied, except in writing. Any amendment

must be signed by a member or partner of Oliver Fisher.

1.5 These Terms of Business, together with any engagement letter which we may send

to you in connection with any particular matter, set out the terms on which we agree

to act for you. These terms are collectively referred to as “the Retainer”.

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1.6 We provide our services under the Retainer for the benefit of the person, firm,

company, association or organisation who is recorded as our client and not for the

benefit of any other person. No third party has the right under the Contracts (Rights

of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of the terms of the Retainer.

2 Responsibility for the Work

2.1 Any engagement letter which we may send to you will tell you the name of the

lawyer who will be working on the matter on which you have instructed us. It will

also tell you who the supervising solicitor is.

2.2 Your lawyer has overall responsibility for all matters on which you instruct us and

for ensuring the quality of our service.

2.3 The supervising solicitor will be responsible for supervising the work we do on any

particular matter on which you have instructed us. He or she will ensure that the

varied skills and expertise in the firm are most appropriately applied by making sure

that the right individual or team deals with the work you have asked us to do.

2.4 Your lawyer will also be your first point of contact if you are dissatisfied with any

element of our service. See paragraph 17 below.

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3 How we work

3.1 We aim to provide you with sound practical and prompt legal advice and assistance.

We will do our best to keep you informed of progress and will do so as and when

we deem it necessary.

3.2 The government provides funding for legal services for clients through legal aid for

certain cases but this funding is very limited and the service we are able to provide

to a client with legal aid funding will necessarily be limited by the funding provided

through legal aid. This is what we call a “limited retainer”.

3.3 We will at all times comply with your instructions, even where these are contrary

to our recommendations, unless we feel it would be improper or unethical to do so

or inconsistent with maintaining a proper working relationship between solicitor

and client. If you want to act contrary to our advice we may ask you to sign a

disclaimer as to our liability.

3.4 Please note that all solicitors are officers of the court. They are not permitted to

do anything inconsistent with their duties to the court. We will not act in a manner

contrary to our responsibilities as solicitors.

3.5 We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all our dealings with

clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of

our equality and diversity policy.

4 Communication between you and us and others

4.1 We aim to communicate with you by such methods as you may reasonably request.

You may need to virus check electronic media and emails as, although we take

reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee that all electronic data is virus free.

We will communicate with you and others when appropriate by email or fax, but

we cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent by

email or fax. By accepting these Terms of Business, you give informed consent to

enable us to communicate with you on confidential matters by email and fax, unless

you have asked us not to do so.

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4.2 We need to know how good a service we are providing to our clients and may from

time to time ask you to fill out a short feedback questionnaire either in hard copy or

online so that we can assess the quality of our performance.

4.3 Sometimes we ask other companies or people to undertake word processing,

copying or other work on our files to ensure that this is done promptly. We always

seek confidentiality agreements with these outsourced providers. By accepting

these terms you give consent to enable us to use these outsourced services to assist

in this way.

4.4 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 regulatory compliance

4.5 Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act

1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and a duty of

confidentiality to you. 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 we hold about you.

4.6 We may from time to time send you, electronically or by hard copy, information

which we think might be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that

information, please notify us in writing either, on receipt of these Terms of Business

or when you receive such a communication of this type from us.

5 Your responsibilities

5.1 We rely upon you to provide us in good time with accurate and complete

information about the work you have asked us to do to enable us to carry out that

work and to let us know of any significant changes to that information or to your

circumstances generally.

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5.2 You must provide us with any relevant documents and deeds and do your best to

answer our questions or requests for further instructions as fully and promptly as

possible.

5.3 You must tell us if you change your email or postal address or phone numbers and

provide us with your new details promptly.

5.4 You must give us as much notice as you can of any deadline or time limit of which

you are aware that may affect the work that you have asked us to do.

6 Basis of our Fees

6.1 Unless otherwise agreed, our fees will be based on the factors set out in this section,

regardless of whether a particular matter proves abortive or proceeds to a

conclusion.

6.2 In most instances our charges are calculated by reference to the time spent dealing

with the matter. This includes time spent on analysis, research, drafting, advising,

attending meetings with you and others, attending court, tribunal, enquiry or other

hearings, dealing with papers, enquiries, correspondence (including fax and

electronic communications), dealing with costs and phone calls and travelling and

waiting time.

6.3 Time spent is charged to you in units of a minimum of six minutes, at the applicable

hourly rate. We charge for routine letters, emails and time spent on making and

taking phone calls in units of six minutes and for reading incoming letters in units

of three minutes per page. Please note that our hourly rates are periodically

reviewed, generally twice a year. You will be advised in writing of any changes to

the rates.

6.4 In addition to the time spent, we may, in accordance with the Law Society and

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) guidelines from time to time, take into

account a number of other factors such as:-

6.4.1 The complexity or novelty of the issues involved;

6.4.2 The speed at which action must be taken;

6.4.3 The expertise or specialist knowledge required;

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6.4.4. The value of the property or subject matter involve; and

6.4.5 The importance of the matter to you.

6.5 If we are acting for you in relation to County Court proceedings, please read this

section carefully. Section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 places a cap on the cost

of solicitors acting for clients in County Court proceedings. It states that these costs

must not exceed the amount that the client could have recovered from another party

to the proceedings if an order for costs has been in the client’s favour. Section

74(3) applies unless the solicitors and the clients have agreed to the contrary. By

accepting these Terms of Business, you agree that Section 74(3) will not apply in

relation to our costs and that our costs will not be subject to the cap described above.

We will charge you on the basis set out in these Terms of Business, not by reference

to what you may or may not recover from another party to the proceedings in which

you are involved. If you are in doubt as to the effect of this section, you should

discuss it with us before instructing us to act (or continue to act) in County Court

proceedings.

6.6 You should be aware that the amount of costs recovered from the losing party by a

winning party in litigation is typically less than the cost actually incurred by the

winning party.

7 Expenses and disbursements

7.1 If, while carrying out the work you have asked us to do, we incur on your behalf the

expense of services such as postage, phones, faxes, copying, printing, couriers and

travelling, these costs will generally be charged to you in addition to our fees.

7.2 In addition, we may incur expenses or liabilities to third parties on your behalf and

at your expense (for example, the cost of instructing a barrister or expert, court fees,

tribunal fees, registration fees, search fees or stamp duty) often referred to as

“disbursements”. We will discuss with you the likely amount and timing of any

reasonably foreseeable payments you may have to make in respect of any third party

instructed by us on your behalf.

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7.3 We also charge you each time we transmit funds for you by telegraphic transfer.

Our current charge is £12 plus VAT but this is subject to change

8 VAT

8.1 Our fees and expenses are, where applicable, subject to VAT at the prevailing rate

from time to time.

9 Money on Account

9.1 We reserve the right at any time to require money on account of our anticipated fees,

expenses, disbursements and/or VAT. This is particularly important where we are

required to carry out substantial work over a short period or to incur liabilities to

third parties, such as experts or barristers, on your behalf. If we request money on

account you must pay this to us within the time specified by us for payment, as we

may terminate the Retainer in accordance with paragraph 15.1 if you fail to do so.

9.2 While any sum is held on client account, we will (depending upon the amount and

the period involved) account to you for interest in accordance with the Law

Society’s and the SRA’s rules. If you pay us money on account, it will be held by

us on our client account until we deliver a bill to you. Please note that our Client

Account exists to facilitate client transactions; it is not a private banking facility.

Because of this and because it is an on demand account, you are unlikely to receive

as much (if anything) as if you had invested the funds yourself. We will not pay

interest if the amount otherwise due is less than £20.00.

10 Billing Arrangements

10.1 The timing of bills often depends upon the nature of the matter. We reserve the

right to bill you on an interim basis and will, where applicable, endeavour to send

you bills on a monthly basis or any other regular basis agreed with you. Bills may

be delivered more or less frequently depending upon the nature of the matter and

the time spent on it. On some transactional matters (such as the sale or purchase of

39


property) a bill may not be delivered until shortly before the conclusion of the

transaction.

10.2 There are two kinds of bills we may deliver “statute bills” and “on account interim

bills”. These are explained more fully in the following paragraphs. If we deliver

an interim bill it will be on an on account interim bill unless we expressly state

otherwise.

10.3 An interim statute bill is a complete and final charge for our costs for the period

covered by the bill. At the conclusion of the matter we are working on or, if earlier,

upon termination of our Retainer, we will deliver a final statute bill. The final bill

will cover our costs for work done since the end of the period covered by the last

interim statute bill. Please note that, although a statute bill covers all our costs for

work done during the period covered, it may not (even it is a final bill) include all

our expenses, disbursements and VAT for that period, since third parties may not

have sent their invoice demand to us in time to be included in the bill. In that event

the relevant expenses and disbursements and VAT will be invoiced after we have

received the relevant third party invoice or demand.

10.4 An on account interim bill is a bill on account of our total costs for the matter on

which we are working. It does not necessarily represent a complete and final charge

for our costs in the period to which it relates. At the conclusion of the matter we

are working on or, if earlier, upon termination of our Retainer, we will deliver a

final bill for the matter. This may include previously unbilled charges for work

done and expenses, disbursements and VAT incurred during the period covered by

an earlier on account interim bill. When we calculate the amount due to us, you will

be given credit for all payments you have already made.

10.5 If we are acting for you in relation to a transaction, we may at the appropriate stage

send you a statement showing what sums are required from you in order to complete

the transaction, which may include a sum relating to our fees, expenses,

disbursements and VAT. If you fail to pay us the relevant sums in cleared funds

by the completion date or the planned completion date, we reserve the right to

decline to complete the transaction until we have received such sums in full. We

may need you to pay the required cleared funds on the last working day prior to

completion date.

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10.6 If you are applying for or have obtained public funding (legal aid) for your legal

costs, you will receive separate information from us about related matters such as

the effect of the statutory charge. Please note that legal aid cannot be backdated

and there are certain circumstances where it has to be paid back. We reserve our

right to suspend acting for you or cease to act where a public funding certificate has

been withdrawn or is at issue or where you are deemed ineligible for legal aid.

10.7 Certain types of legal aid are dependent upon the production of satisfactory evidence

of means. If we or the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) ask you for this evidence and you

fail to provide it in a timely fashion this potentially jeopardises our right to be paid

for legally aided work we undertake for you.

10.8 If we act for you in a legally aided matter and it transpires that we are not permitted

to claim payment from the LAA for providing this service we are entitled to require

payment from you for the services we have rendered to you at the appropriate

private hourly rate.

11 Settlement of Bills

11.1 All our bills are payable forthwith upon receipt by you, unless otherwise agreed by

us in writing.

11.2 If you wish a third party to be responsible for paying our bills on your behalf, you

should inform us immediately of the name and contact details of that third party and

any other relevant details reasonably required by us. You will remain responsible

for paying our bills. They will still be addressed to you but we will, if you wish,

mark them as being payable by your nominated third party. If the third party fails

to pay any bill in accordance with these Terms of Business, we will be entitled to

seek payment directly from you. You will be obliged to reimburse us for any costs,

expenses, disbursements and VAT we incur in recovering overdue payments from

you and/or such third party and we may charge you in accordance with these Terms

of Business for the time spent by us or third party credit management agents in

recovering such payment.

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11.3 If you are a partnership or more than one individual or legal entity, each partner or

individual legal entity, as the case may be, shall be jointly and severally liable for

our costs, expenses and disbursements.

11.4 When accepting instructions to act on behalf of a limited company, we may require

a director and/or controlling shareholder to sign a form of personal guarantee in

respect of the charges and expenses of this firm. If this request is refused, we will

be entitled to cease to act and will require immediate payment of our costs, charges,

disbursements, expenses and VAT.

12 Legal Expenses Insurance

12.1 You may be able to cover your legal costs through a legal expenses insurance policy.

You should check your policy wording. We may decline to act for you or continue

to act for you if you do decide to fund the matter by way of insurance or we may

impose conditions on our acting, which will include your funding personally any

difference between our actual fees and the amount that we receive from the insurers.

You must therefore advise us if you wish to rely for funding upon a legal expenses

insurance policy.

13 Money Laundering – Regulatory Obligations

13.1 Money laundering is a process by which the proceeds of any type of crime and

the true ownership of these proceeds appear to come from a legitimate source.

Tax evasion can be a crime for these purposes. Solicitors, like other

professions or businesses, have to comply with strict rules aimed at tackling

money laundering. Our compliance with these rules is a legal obligation.

13.2 The law now requires solicitors, as well as banks and building societies and

others, to obtain and keep satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients.

This is because solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their

clients can be used by criminals wishing to launder money. In order to

comply with the law on money laundering, we need to obtain evidence of your

identity as soon as practicable. We will therefore require you to provide us

42


with documents to verify your identity and address. We will need to take

copies of personal documents (e.g. your passport and/or driving licence and a

recent bank statement or utility bill showing your address) so these should be

brought with you at your first meeting with us. If you do not have these

personal documents for any reason, there may be alternative ways in which

we can fulfil the requirements. For certain types of matter we may ask for

more documentation.

13.3 We may need to undertake searches to obtain evidence of your identity. In

the event that we do so, a charge for these searches will be payable by you.

13.4 If you cannot see a member of staff in person at the outset to give instructions,

it is likely to be necessary for you to attend at the offices of a third party such

as a local bank or firm of accountants so that relevant documents can be

checked for us.

13.5 We may need to ask you how you intend to finance a transaction or matter.

This will help us to plan with you how to meet the likely total costs of the

matter as it proceeds and ensure that there is no inadvertent contravention of

the money laundering regulations.

13.6 Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of

their clients confidential. This obligation is subject to a statutory exception.

Recent legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing has placed

solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information

to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Where a solicitor knows or suspects

that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, the solicitor

may be required to make a money laundering disclosure. If this happens, we

may not be able to inform you that a disclosure is being made or of the reasons

for it.

14 Methods of Payment

14.1 We accept payment of our fees and expenses in the following ways: -

Cheque or bankers draft made payable to Oliver Fisher

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Payment by debit or credit card by telephoning 0203 219 0145. A member

of our Finance Team will take one.

14.2 We reserve our right to make a handling charge should you wish to make payments

by credit card. We do not accept American Express credit cards.

14.3 We may ask you to sign a mandate permitting us to effect payment of agreed sums

on account, interim on account bills, interim statute bills or final bills by debit or

credit card or to make payment by standing order or direct debit.

14.4 Please note that (save in exceptional circumstances) we do not accept payment of

our fees and expenses on account or invoices by cash from clients or third parties.

Please also note that funds may be returned only to you, not to third parties. If you

deposit money directly with our bank, we reserve the right to charge for any

additional enquiries we deem necessary regarding the source of funds.

15 Late Payment

15.1 If we do not receive payment of our bill to you by cleared funds within

seven days (or any other specified agreed time) or if we have requested

money on account and we do not receive such monies within seven days

(or any other specified agreed time), then in addition to any other rights

and remedies available to us, we may:

15.1.2 Charge you interest on any amount due to us at the rate of 4% above

Lloyds Bank’s base rate prevailing from time to time or 8% per year,

whichever is the higher, interest will be calculated on a daily basis

from the date payment was due until the date until we receive full

payment; and/or

15.1.3 Retain any or all documents and papers in our possession until we

have received payment of all amounts due to us.

15.2 By accepting these conditions you give consent to our using third

party credit management agents to collect unpaid fees from you and

44


you agree to reimburse to us any fees charged by them in collecting

unpaid fees from you.

16 If you dispute the amount of the bill

16.1 If you do not agree the amount of any bill we send you, you may raise the issue with

us directly within 28 days and we would hope to be able to resolve the matter to our

mutual satisfaction. You may have the right to object to the bill by making a

complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (as to which, please see paragraph 17.5 below)

or by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the

Solicitors Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about

the bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of the bill.

16.2 We will remain entitled to interest on unpaid bills as explained above, except to the

extent that we agree to reduce the bill or the court or the Legal Ombudsman

determines that we should reduce it.

17 Concerns and complaints

17.1 We aim to provide a high quality service in all respects and are confident of doing

so. However, should you have any concerns or complaints about the way in which

we have handled or are handling your matter, whether in relation to a specific matter

or generally, or about any bill you have received from us, please raise this issue with

your lawyer. If you still have queries or concerns, please contact the supervising

solicitor and provide them with details of your concerns or complaints.

17.2 We aim to handle complaints promptly, fairly and effectively and have a written

complaints procedure. A copy of our Complaints Handling Policy, which sets out

our complaints procedure, will be provided upon request. We regard a “complaint”

as a “statement of dissatisfaction, about our service to you which the person to

whom it is addressed cannot immediately resolve”.

17.3 We hope that, by following our complaints procedure, we should be able to resolve

any problem or complaint that may arise.

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If you are not happy with our response we will refer you to the Legal Ombudsman

who can be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ Telephone 0300

555 0333 or [email protected] In the unlikely event that we have

not resolved your complaint to your satisfaction within eight weeks of you raising

the matter you may refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman regardless. Similarly

if there is an irretrievable breakdown in our relationship you may complain to the

Legal Ombudsman without our final response.

You must refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than six years

from the matter you wish to complain about or within three years from the time you

should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. Please note that the

matter you wish to complain about must have taken place after 5 October 2010. If

you are outside these time limits you may nonetheless ask the Legal Ombudsman

to waive them, but there must be exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness.

17.5 If you wish to contact the Legal Ombudsman you should do so within six months

after our final written response to your complaint.

18 Storage of papers and documents

18.1 After completing any case or matter for you we will keep our file of papers and

documents (except subject to paragraph 15.1.3 above, any papers which you have

asked to be returned to you) for a reasonable period after the file has been closed.

Unless we have agreed otherwise in writing, we may destroy the file (without

notifying you) after a period of six years from the end of the relevant matter.

18.2 We reserve the right to destroy original papers at any time provided we have

retained copies in an appropriate electronic form.

18.3 We do not charge for the administrative cost of retrieving papers from storage, but

we reserve the right to charge you for the time spent producing stored papers that

are requested and considering them, for the correspondence and/or other work

necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved papers and


46


the cost of sending them to you or to another person at your request. Any such

charge will be at the hourly rate in force at that time.

19 Termination of the Retainer

19.1 You have the right to terminate the Retainer at any time on written notice to us. You

will remain liable to pay all of our fees, expenses, disbursements and VAT which

have been incurred up to the date of termination.

19.2 We are entitled to terminate the Retainer on written notice to you:

19.2.1 In the circumstances set out in paragraph 15.1 above; or

19.2.2 If any guarantee on your behalf is withdrawn by the giving of notice or if

any event occurs which vitiates the guarantee or otherwise renders it void

or unenforceable; or

19.2.3 If you fail to give us timely and adequate instructions to enable us to

conduct your matter properly and expeditiously; or

19.2.4 If you insist upon a course of action which requires us to act contrary to

our responsibilities as solicitors or which would lead to a breakdown of

trust; or

19.2.5 If you instruct us to put arguments to a court which are not properly

arguable; or

19.2.6 If there is a breakdown of trust and/or confidence between you and us; or

19.2.7 If your behaviour towards our staff or partners is threatening, coercive or

intimidatory or substantially inappropriate in a relationship between

solicitor and client.

20 Law Society Practice Management Standard (Lexcel) and client confidentiality

20.1 We have Lexcel quality mark. Assessors from the Law Society will need from time

to time to inspect selected client files in order to confirm that we continue to meet

their practice management standard. By accepting these Terms of Business, you

give consent for such inspection. If you wish to withdraw your consent, you may

47


do so in writing to the Managing Partner at our registered office. We will in any

event at all times consider whether it is appropriate that your files should be

protected from inspection.

21 Waiver of Duty of confidentiality

21.1 We are bound by a duty of confidentiality to our current and former clients. If we

are acting on behalf of clients in a property purchase transaction where they are

acquiring the property with the benefit of a mortgage then the solicitor owes a duty

to his lender client to disclose any information material to the lending decision. This

duty is overridden by the duty of confidentiality to the borrower client except where

we have the consent of our borrower client to a waiver of our duty of confidentiality

owed to them. By accepting these Terms of Business you agree, as a borrower

client, to waive this duty.

22 Financial Services – Insurance

22.1 This firm is not authorised by the Financial Service Authority (FSA). We are,

however, included on the register maintained by the FSA so that we can carry on

insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and

administration of insurance contracts which are incidental to our business, i.e.

providing legal advice and representation. This part of our business, including

arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the

SRA. The register can be accessed via the FSA website at www.fsa.gov.uk

23 Jurisdiction and liability

23.1 The Retainer is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any claim or dispute

between us arising out of or in connection with the Retainer may be brought only in

the courts of England and Wales, irrespective of the subject of the dispute or matter

or where the work is carried out.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/

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23.2 No member of Oliver Fisher or solicitor or member of staff will be personally liable

to you in respect of any matter arising out of the Retainer, whether in contract or

tort or otherwise.

23.3 Our liability to you for a breach of your instructions is limited to a maximum of

Three million pounds per claim or in aggregate unless we expressly state a higher

amount in the letter accompanying these Terms of Business. We will not be liable

for any consequential, special, indirect or exemplary damages, costs or losses or any

damages, costs or losses attributable to lost profits or opportunities. We can only

limit our liability to the extent the law allows. In particular we cannot limit our

liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence. Please ask if you

would like us to explain any of these terms.

23.4 We will provide details of our professional indemnity insurance provider and the

territorial coverage of that insurance to our clients upon written application to the

Managing Partner at our registered office. Details may also be provided upon

personal enquiry at our registered office.

24 Abortive Matters

Unless we have been retained by you on a conditional or contingency fee basis,

when our fees will be governed by a separate fee agreement, abortive matters and

transactions will be charged on a time cost basis up to but not exceeding the level

of any estimate or fixed price quotation given. We may however in our absolute

discretion agree to accept less than such costs.

This is an important document. Please sign it and keep a copy, with any covering letter, any engagement letter (and any schedule to such letter), in a

safe place for future reference.

Please note that we may not be able to start work for you unless and until you have provided us with a signed copy of these Terms of Business.

I have read, understood and accept these Terms of Business

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Signed……………………………… Full Name …………………………………. Dated ……………………………………….

HOURLY RATES OF SOLICITORS, EXECUTIVES AND LEGAL CLERKS

AT OLIVER FISHER 2015

Russell Conway £350

Jo Shortland

Santosh Kumar

£275

£275

Stephen West £300

Alice Pickering £175

Arman Khosravi £175

Ron Gilfillan £250

Deborah Mantell £275

Gabrielle O’Connor £250

Kimberley Butler £175

Alireza Nurbakhsh £250

Legal Clerk/Exec £175

Trainee Solicitors £125 - £150

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Trainee Legal Exec £125

Support Workers £75

APPENDIX 6C (ii)

Legal Help Client Care Letter

Dear Client

1. LEGAL HELP We are advising you under the Legal Help Scheme. This permits us to advise and assist you in relation to your case. Please note that the work we are allowed to do is limited and it does not allow us to commence court proceedings or represent you in relation to such proceedings. To do so we need to obtain a public legal aid certificate. Please note that although the advice and assistance we can provide is covered by the Legal Help Scheme and our costs will be paid by the Legal Aid Agency there are circumstances whereby you may have to pay back all or some of your legal costs. This generally applies to cases which involve money and/or property. It is important to note that if, as a result of the advice and assistance we provide and whether or not court proceedings are actually commenced, you preserve or recover any money or property in whole or in part which has been in dispute then the Legal Aid Agency will take a first charge over that money or property to cover your legal costs. This is known as the statutory charge and I enclose booklet produced by the Legal Aid Agency entitled “Paying for your Legal Aid” which explains how this works. Two situations can usually arise:-

1. If it is money that you preserve or recover then all of that money must first be paid to this firm to be passed to the Legal Aid Agency who will retain the money pending payment of the costs incurred in your case. Once actual payment has been

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made the Legal Aid Agency will release the money (together with any accrued interest) but less the amount of your legal costs.

2. If property is preserved or recovered then, unless and until your legal costs are paid in full, the Legal Aid Agency will take a

legal mortgage over that property and will charge interest until such time as your costs are repaid in full. You will then have to pay the principal amount of your legal costs and any accumulated interest when you sell the property. The Legal Aid Agency can sometimes agree to postpone the sale of the property particularly where the property consists of a home for yourself and/or your dependents.

It should also be said at this stage that if you do successfully preserve or recover money there is often a delay of some weeks or months before the Legal Aid Agency actually releases the money to you. COSTS/TIME ESTIMATE It is a requirement of the Legal Aid Agency to give you an estimate of costs under your public funding certificate if this matter goes all the way to a full hearing. It is of course very difficult to give an accurate estimate at such an early stage. However, given the available information, I would estimate at present that the likely costs would be in the region of £XXX plus VAT. I am also obliged to give you an estimate of the likely timescale for completing your case and, assuming that the case can be settled and resolved under the Legal Help Scheme, I estimate it will take between [x months and x months]. PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR WORK I will be mainly responsible for the work done in this matter. If for any reason I am unavailable, please ask for my assistant or secretary who will be happy to take any message for you. We try hard to avoid changing the people who are handling your work but if this cannot be avoided, we will notify you promptly who will be handling your matter (and why the change was necessary). SETTING OURSELVES STANDARDS We operate a system throughout our office of insisting our staff meet with certain standards with regard to client care. Such standards include:

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a) Clients should receive copies of all substantive correspondence; b) Telephone calls from clients wherever possible are to be returned within 24 hours if at all possible; c) Correspondence of any sort is generally to be dealt with on the same day that it is received; d) Letters to clients or other solicitors are to be written in plain succinct English; e) Appointments are to be given to clients without any undue delay.

There are other standards but these are the main ones that affect your dealing with us. Please remind us if you feel we are not keeping to these standards. In return, we ask the client to respond to our requests promptly and to pay our fees and disbursements (where applicable) without delay and in the case of completed sales and purchases this means on or before completion.

CHARGES AND EXPENSES Our charges are based on the time we spend in dealing with a case. Time spent on your affairs will include meetings with you and perhaps others; any time spent travelling; considering, preparing and working on papers; correspondence; and making and receiving telephone calls. Routine letters that we write and routine telephone calls that we make and receive will be charged as units of 1/10th of an hour. Other letters and calls will be charged on a time basis. We will charge per hour for each hour engaged on your matter until and unless we notify you of any change in writing. Please note that the current hourly rates of our solicitors and executives applicable to your case are those set by the Legal Aid Agency. In addition to the time spent, we may take into account a number of factors which include the complexity of the issues, the speed at which action must be taken, the expertise or specialist knowledge which the case requires and, if appropriate, the value of the property or subject matter involved. We will add VAT to our charge at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present, VAT is 20%. There may be certain other expenses, including payments we make on your behalf, such as court fees, fees for medical reports and barristers’ fees, which you will have to pay. VAT is payable on certain expenses. OTHER PARTY’S CHARGES AND EXPENSES We will discuss with you whether your charges and expenses might be paid by another person. Even if you are successful, the other party may not be ordered to pay all your charges and expenses or these may not be recovered from them in full and you are

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always responsible in the first instance for our charges and expenses subject of course to the terms of your public funding certificate. If the other party is legally aided, you may not get back any of your charges and expenses even if you win the case. If you are successful and the court orders the other party to pay some or all of your charges and expenses, interest can be claimed on them from the other party from the date of the court order. We will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid our charges or expenses on account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest. In some circumstances, the court may order you to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses; for example, if you lose the case. The money would be payable in addition to our charges and expenses. We will discuss with you whether our charges and expenses and your liability for another party’s charges and expenses may be covered by insurance, and, if not, whether it would be advisable for you to have insurance to meet the other party’s charges and expenses. STORAGE OF PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. We will keep our file of papers (except for any of your papers which you ask to be returned to you) for a minimum of eight years. We need the file on the understanding that we have the authority to destroy it eight years after the date of the final bill we send you for this matter. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody. If we retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, we may charge for such retrieval. We may make a charge based on time spent producing stored papers or documents to you or another at your request. We may also charge for reading, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with the instructions given by you or on your behalf. TERMINATION You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. In some circumstances, you may consider we ought to stop acting for you, for example, if you cannot give clear or proper instructions on how we are to proceed, or if it is clear that you have lost confidence in how we are carrying out your work. We may decide to stop acting for you only with good reason. We must give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you. If you have a public funding certificate which is discharged, cancelled or revoked then this too will require us to stop acting for you.

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COMPLAINTS If you are dissatisfied with my work then you should make further complaint in writing to [Name] at this office. Oliver Fisher is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, please contact Russell Conway on 0203 219 0145 or e-mail [email protected] or by post to our offices. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints which is available at www.oliverfisher.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ Telephone 0300 555 0333 or [email protected] (Website www.legalombudsman.org.uk Tel : 0300 555 0333) to consider the complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.

AGREEMENT Unless otherwise agreed, these terms of business apply to any future instructions you give us. Your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to your acceptance of these terms and conditions of business. Even so, we ask you to please sign and date the enclosed copy of this letter and return it to us immediately. We can then be confident that you understand the basis of which we will act for you. This is an important document: please keep it in a safe place for future reference. MONEY LAUNDERING AND ID Like all firms of solicitors we are now required by law to apply procedures to guard against the risk of money laundering. It will help us to avoid any problems with your legal work if you bear in mind the following points: Identification checks: We may need to obtain formal evidence of your identity. This may be necessary even though we have acted for you before, or even if you are known personally to a member of staff. We will tell you if such evidence is necessary, but it may help us if you are


http://www.oliverfisher.co.uk/



55


able to bring evidence to our first meeting. Normally the evidence we would ask for is your passport plus two or more documents to establish your address, such as recent utility bills, council tax statement, or bank statement. Source of funds: At the start of any matter we will normally ask you to tell us the source of any funds you will be using. It is simplest for us if the source is an account, in your name, in a UK bank or building society. If the source is an unusual one, such as an account in another country, or in the name or someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason. Destination of funds: Where we are to pay money out to you, we will normally do so by cheque in your favour, or into an account in your name. If instead you want us to pay surplus money out into the name of someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason. Confidentiality: We have always sought to keep our clients’ affairs confidential. However the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can oblige us to report information about financial offences to the National Criminal Intelligence Service. In particular if it seems that any assets involved in your matter were derived from a crime we may have to report it. This can include even small amounts of money and covers all offences including tax evasion and benefit fraud. If we have to make a report we may not be able to tell you that we have done so. A report may result in an investigation by the police or other authorities. I recommend that you retain this letter as it sets out the basis upon which we act for you in your matter and in particular the operation of the statutory charge which may affect anything you receive or preserve in your case. I trust this letter satisfactorily explains the general position, but should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely

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APPENDIX 6C (iii)

Client Care Letter – Emergency Devolved Powers

I write to advise that you have now been granted a public funding certificate on an emergency basis by this firm. This is on the basis of the financial information you have given us. We have applied to the Legal Aid Agency for a substantive certificate to cover the work required on your behalf. You should note that if for any reason this certificate is not granted by the Legal Aid Agency, you may be liable for your costs to this firm. An emergency certificate is presently in force and will be amended to a substantive certificate once the Legal Aid Agency have considered and approved your claim for public funding. Once this is granted, you should note the following. If you are paying a contribution to the Legal Aid Agency, you must continue to make these contributions, even if the case finishes, until your Public Funding Certificate is discharged and whether you are successful or not. It is a requirement that you notify the Legal Aid Agency of any change in your financial circumstances. This includes an increase or decrease in earnings and an increase or decrease in savings. You must also notify the Legal Aid Agency of any change of address. If you win the case, then a Court will usually order that my firm’s costs and disbursements such as barrister’s fees be paid by the other side. If you have paid a contribution and the Legal Aid Agency recovers all my firm’s costs from the other side, then your contribution will be returned to you. If, however, the Legal Aid Agency does not recover its costs from the other side, then you will not be refunded your contribution. An order for costs made by the Court against the other side usually means that your opponent usually has to pay most of the costs but not always 100% of the costs. The other important point to note is that if, as a result of these proceedings, you are paid any money (or retain or recover in whole or in part any property which may be in issue in these proceedings) then the Legal Aid Agency will take what is, in effect, a first charge over that money or property. Two situations can usually arise:-

1. If it is money that you are paid, then all of that money must first be paid to this firm to be passed to the Legal Aid

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Agency. It will retain these monies on deposit pending payment of the costs incurred in your case. Once actual payment has been made then the Legal Aid Agency will release any monies due to you (together with any accrued interest) but less any monies incurred by the Legal Aid Agency and which is not recovered from the other side.

2. If property is retained or recovered as a result of these proceedings, then and unless and until my firm’s costs are paid, the Legal Aid Agency will take a legal mortgage over that property and they will charge interest on the extent of their charge. You will then have to pay the principal amount and accumulated interest when you sell the property.

Both of the aforementioned points are commonly known as the “Statutory Charge”. It should also be said at this stage, that if you do successfully recover monies there is often a delay of some weeks or months before the Legal Aid Agency actually releases the monies to you. As your Solicitors, we have no control over the length of time that the Legal Aid Agency takes to send any monies due to you and it is often the case that your lawyers suffer a similar delay before they are paid. Other matters to be noted are:- 1. The Public Funding Certificate states what aspect of your case it covers. It may well have a specific limitation or condition

upon it and any legal work carried out for you has to comply with any limitation or condition. It is not unusual to have a limitation or condition and provided it is justified it is possible to apply in order to extend the Certificate to cover more legal work.

2. The effect of being granted a Public Funding Certificate is that from the date of its issue the Legal Aid Agency (and not you, unless, as above, the Statutory Charge applies) pays for legal work on your case. The Certificate is not retrospective and does not cover any work done before the date upon which it was issued.

3. If the Legal Aid Agency decides at any time that your case does not have sufficient prospects of success or that you have not co-operated with the Agency, it can discharge your Certificate. This would mean that from the date of the discharge your legal costs will no longer be paid for you. In extreme circumstances, the Legal Aid Agency may revoke your Certificate which means that it is treated as never having existed and you become personally liable for all the legal costs since the Certificate started. An example of this where someone applies for Emergency Public Funding and it is granted before the Benefits Agency has carried out a financial assessment. If it later transpires that you were not financially eligible for public funding at all, your Certificate will be revoked. These examples are merely possibilities, but I have to advise you about them.

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It is now a requirement of the Legal Aid Agency to give you an estimate of costs under your Public Funding Certificate if this matter goes all the way to a full hearing. It is of course very difficult to given an accurate estimate at such an early stage. However, given the available information, I would estimate at present that the costs would be in the region of £5,000 if the case goes all the way. Most cases do settle in which case the costs would be lower. I trust this letter satisfactorily explains the general position, but should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Oliver Fisher is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, please contact Jo Shortland on 0203 219 0145 e-mail [email protected] or by post to our offices. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints which is available at www.oliverfisher.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ Telephone 0300 555 0333 or [email protected] (Website www.legalombudsman.org.uk Tel : 0300 555 0333) to consider the complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. Like all firms of solicitors we are now required by law to apply procedures to guard against the risk of money laundering. It will help us to avoid any problems with your legal work if you bear in mind the following points. Identification checks: We may need to obtain formal evidence of your identity. This may be necessary even though we have acted for you before, or even if you are known personally to a member of staff. We will tell you if such evidence is necessary, but it may help us if you are able to bring evidence to our first meeting. Normally the evidence we would ask for is [your passports, plus two or more documents to establish your address, such as recent utility bills, council tax statements, or bank statements]. Cash: We are normally only able to accept cash up to a limit of £500 in any 28 day period. Source of funds: At the start of any matter we will normally ask you to tell us the source of any funds you will be using. It is simplest for us if the source is an account, in your name, in a UK bank or building society. If the source is an unusual one, such as an account in another country, or in the name or someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason.


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59


Destination of funds. Where we are to pay money out to you, we will normally do so by cheque in your favour, or into an account in your name. If instead you want us to pay surplus money out into the name of someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason. Confidentiality: We have always sought to keep our clients’ affairs confidential. However the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can oblige us to report information about financial offences to the National Criminal Intelligence Service. In particular if it seems that any assets involved in your matter were derived from a crime we may have to report it. This can include even small amounts of money and covers all offences, including the example tax evasion and benefit fraud. If we have to make a report we may not be able to tell you that we have done so. A report may result in an investigation by the police, the Inland Revenue or other authorities. The law contains exceptions. If you are concerned about how this may affect you, please ask us to clarify. I recommend that you retain this letter as it sets out the basis upon which we act for you in your matter and in particular the operation of the Statutory Charge, which may affect anything you receive or preserve in your case. Yours sincerely, Russell Conway

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APPENDIX 6D Half yearly costs update letter for publicly funded clients Dear Re. Your Case/Costs

This is a standard letter which I am required to write, as part of the terms of my firm’s Community Legal Service Franchise, about the costs of your case.

I am required to inform you regularly of the amount of costs incurred in your case. Please note that you will not be required to pay these costs unless the statutory charge applies in your case. I am only sending you this information to comply with the requirements under this firm’s Community Legal Service Franchise.

I estimate the current costs incurred under your public funding certificate to be in the region of £ plus VAT. This includes all disbursements, expenses and barristers’ fees.

The current costs limitation on your public funding certificate is £ . As this limit is about to be reached I am required to seek an increase to cover the further work that needs to be done. I am asking for the costs limitation to be increased to £ . Please note that I may not be able to carry out any substantial non-urgent work on your case until the costs limitation has been increased by the Legal Aid Agency.

I now estimate that, if your case proceeds to a final hearing, your total costs are likely to be £[ ] plus VAT. Needless to say, I hope it will be possible to resolve your case before the final hearing takes place. Most cases do not go to a final court hearing. Please note that this is only a rough estimate based on approximate times and my present understanding of your case. It is not a detailed breakdown of all costs incurred and/or likely to be incurred in your case. At the conclusion of your case, your costs will be assessed, normally by the court, and the court will only allow my firm those costs that it regards as reasonable.

If there is anything in this letter which you do not understand, then do please discuss it with me when we next speak about your case.

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Yours sincerely OLIVER FISHER

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APPENDIX 6E

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

The firm is committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to maintain and improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact the Senior Partner, Russell Conway, with the details.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint, where necessary asking you to confirm or explain the details. We will tell you who will be dealing with your complaint and also provide you with the contact details for the Legal Ombudsman with the postal and web address of that organisation. You can expect to receive our letter within 3 working days of receiving your complaint.

2. We will open a file for your complaint and record it in our central register. We will do this within 2 working days of receiving your complaint.

3. Our Senior Partner, Russell Conway will start to investigate your complaint and send you his detailed reply, or invite you to a meeting to discuss the matter. He will do this within 10 working days. The complaint investigation will normally involve Mr Conway examining your file and speaking with the person within the Firm who acted for you. If Mr Conway was acting for you, the investigation will be carried out by his partner Ms Jo Shortland.

4. If you would like to have a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint, we will arrange this within 3 working days of your request. Within 3 working days of the meeting Mr Conway will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.

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5. If you do not want a meeting, or if it is not possible for any reason, Mr Conway will send you a detailed response to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter. You will receive this within 21 days of the firm acknowledging your complaint.

6. At this stage, if you remain dissatisfied, you can let us know. We will arrange to review the decision. This may happen in one of the following ways:

Mr Conway, as Investigating Officer, will review the decision personally within 5 working days

OR

We will arrange for Mr Conway’s Partner, Ms Shortland, or someone who is not connected with the complaint, to review the decision

7. We will let you know the result of the review within 14 working days of receiving your request for a review. At this time Mr Conway will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

8. If you are still not satisfied with the firm’s decision at the conclusion of the complaints procedure you may refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ; telephone 0300 555 0333; [email protected];

www.legalombudsman.org.uk. There is a time limit for referring the matter to the Legal Ombudsman which is generally 6 months from the end of our firm’s complaint procedure and no later than 12 months from when the matter first occurred.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.



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APPENDIX 6F

COMPLAINT REPORT FORM

Client name: Matter number:

Fee earner: Matter type:

Could a claim be made for losses? Yes/No

Details of complaint:

Action already taken:

Action proposed, including possible redress:

Action agreed with client (if any)

Partner’s notes

Matter Resolved? Date:

Referred to LO? Date:

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APPENDIX 6G

Client Survey Form

1. How satisfied were you with the overall serviced received from us?

Extremely satisfied

Satisfied

Not satisfied

Unsure

Please state reasons why:

2. Do you think your objectives were understood?

Yes No

If no, please give reasons why:

3. Were you given clear advice as to your options before, during and after the matter?

Yes No


4. Did we meet your objectives?

Yes No


5. In general, how satisfied were you with the service you received from Oliver Fisher in relation to:

Extremely satisfied

Satisfied Not satisfied Unsure

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Timeliness in responding to telephone, emails and letters

The turn-around time on your matter

Clarity of written communication

Quality of legal advice

6. Having received your bill for legal fees and costs, do you think the service we offer is value for money?

Yes No

Please give reasons why:

7. What could we do to improve the service you received from us?

8. What other services could we offer that would improve our service?

9. Would you recommend the practice to a colleague, friend or family member?

Yes No

Please give reasons why:

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10.

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