Terms of engagement.
Meaning of words
Engagement Letter means the letter or email by which I outline the Services and my fees.
Law Society means the New Zealand Law Society.
Services means the services that I will provide for you, which are outlined in my Engagement Letter, along with any further instructions that you provide to me in writing or that I record in writing.
Rules means the Law Society’s Rules of Professional Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.
Terms means these Terms of Engagement.
I, me, and my mean Rhonda Powell, Barrister.
You or your mean the person or organisation to whom my Engagement Letter is addressed.
General
These Terms are to be read in conjunction with my Engagement Letter and apply to any current engagement and any future engagement, whether or not I send you another copy. If I change these Terms, I will send you my amended Terms.
Our relationship is governed by New Zealand law and New Zealand courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Conflicts of interest
Before I agree to complete any work for any person, I undertake a check of my records to determine whether that work will create a conflict of interest for me.
If a conflict of interest arises, I will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Rules. This may mean I cannot act for you further in a particular matter and I may terminate our engagement.
If you believe a conflict of interest has arisen please tell me immediately.
Communications
I will obtain from you your contact details, including email address, postal address and telephone numbers. You will advise me if any of your contact details change.
I will normally communicate with you electronically. Electronic communications are not secure. They may be read, copied or interfered with in transit. I will take reasonable care in communicating with you electronically. However, I am not responsible for any of the risks associated with electronic communications.
I will report to you periodically on the progress of any engagement and will inform you of any material delays, significant changes or complications in the work being undertaken. You may request a progress report at any time.
You agree that I may provide you from time to time with other information that may be relevant to you, such as newsletters and information. At any time, you may request that this not be sent to you.
Duty of care
The scope of my retainer is defined in my Engagement Letter. I do not owe you any duty of care in relation to matters that go beyond the scope of my retainer.
My duty of care is to you and not to any other person. I owe no liability to any other person who may be affected by my performance of the Services or who may rely on any advice I give, including, for example, any directors, shareholders, associated companies, employees or family members, unless we expressly agree in writing.
My advice is not to be referred to in connection with any prospectus, financial statement, or public document without my written consent.
My advice is opinion only, based on the facts known to me and on my professional judgement, and is subject to any changes in the law after the date on which the advice is given. I am not liable for errors in, or omissions from, any information provided by third parties.
My advice relates only to each particular matter in respect of which you engage me. Once that matter is at an end, I will not owe you any duty or liability in respect of any related or other matters unless you specifically engage me to do so.
Fees
The basis upon which I will charge fees is set out in my Engagement Letter.
When determining how much to charge, I consider a number of factors, including:
complexity, difficulty or novelty
the specialised skill or knowledge required
the time needed to complete the work
the amount of work involved
the urgency of the work
how predictable the level of work will be
how much contact you will need with me, and
and the overall result.
Where my fees are calculated on an hourly basis, my hourly rates are set out in my Engagement Letter.
If no price has been agreed before I start work, I will determine my fee according to these factors and the actual time spent doing the work.
If my Engagement Letter specifies a fixed fee, I will charge this for the agreed scope of the Services. Work which falls outside that scope will be charged at an hourly rate. I will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if, in my view, it becomes necessary for me to provide services outside of the agreed scope and, if requested, give you an estimate of the likely amount of the further costs.
In all cases, the fees I charge will be in accordance with the Rules, which require that fees be fair and reasonable for the services provided.
I will charge GST on my fees and on any disbursements or third-party expenses as required by law.
Disbursements and third-party expenses
I do not charge separately for office expenses such as phone or stationery. If your work requires significant resources, that will be a factor in my fee. I do use the services of an assistant and charge separately for her fees at the hourly rate specified in my Engagement Letter.
You authorise me to incur disbursements (which may include search fees, court filing fees, registration fees and travel and courier charges) which are reasonably necessary to provide the Services. You also authorise me to make payments to third parties on your behalf which are reasonably required to undertake the Services.
I will charge separately for all external disbursements and payments to third parties made on your behalf. These will be included in my invoice to you, shown as “disbursements” when the expenses are incurred (or in advance when I know I will be incurring them on your behalf).
Invoices
I will send interim invoices to you, usually monthly, and on completion of the matter, or termination of my engagement. I may send you invoices more frequently if I incur a significant expense or undertake a significant amount of work over a shorter period of time.
Payment may be made by direct deposit into my bank account.
Invoices are payable within 14 days of the date of the invoice unless alternative arrangements have been made. If you have difficulty paying any of my invoices, please contact me so that we may discuss an arrangement.
Although you may expect to be reimbursed by a third party for my fees and expenses, and although my invoices may, at your request or with your approval, be directed to a third party, you remain responsible for payment to me in accordance with these Terms if the third party fails to pay me.
If your account is overdue I may:
charge interest at the rate of 5% per annum on any amount which is more than 14 days overdue
stop work on any matters in respect of which I am providing Services to you, and/or
recover from you in full any costs I incur in seeking to recover the amounts from you, including my own fees and the fees of any collection agency.
Confidentiality
I will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that I acquire during the course of acting for you. I will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:
to the extent necessary or desirable to enable me to carry out your instructions
as agreed by you expressly or impliedly
as necessary to protect my interests in respect of any complaint or dispute, or
to the extent required or permitted by law.
Personal information and privacy
I will collect and hold personal information about you. I will use that information to carry out the Services and to contact you about issues I believe may be of interest to you. Provision of personal information is voluntary but if you do not provide full information this may impact on my ability to provide the Services.
Subject to the paragraph above, you authorise me to disclose your personal information to third parties for the purpose of providing the Services and any other purposes set out in these Terms.
I may disclose your name and address to third parties such as credit agencies to perform a credit reference or to undertake credit management or collection processes if it is reasonable to do so.
The information I collect and hold about you will be kept in a secure electronic file storage site. If you are an individual, you have the right to access and correct this information. If you require access, please contact me.
Documents, records and information
I will keep a record of documents which I receive or create on your behalf on the following basis:
I may keep a record electronically and destroy originals (except where the existence of an original is legally important such as in the case of wills and deeds, which I will return to you).
At any time, I may dispose of documents which are duplicates, or which are trivial (such as emails which do not contain substantive information), or documents which belong to me.
I am not obliged to retain documents or copies when you have requested that I provide them to you or to another person and I have done so, although I am entitled to retain copies for my own records.
I will provide to you on request copies or originals (at my option) of all documents to which you are entitled under the Privacy Act 1993 or any other law. I may charge you my reasonable costs for doing this.
Where I hold documents that belong to a third party you will need to provide me with that party’s written authority to uplift or obtain a copy of that document.
Unless you instruct me in writing otherwise, you authorise me and consent to me (without further reference to you) to destroy (or delete in the case of electronic records) all files and documents in respect of the Services seven years after my engagement ends (other than any documents that I am obliged by law to retain for longer). I may retain documents for longer at my option.
I may, at my option, return documents (either in hard or electronic form) to you rather than retain them. If I choose to do this, I will do so at my expense.
I own copyright in all documents or work I create in the course of performing the Services but grant you a non-exclusive licence to use and copy the documents as you see fit for your own personal or commercial use. However, you may not permit any third party to copy, adapt or use the documents without my written permission.
Trust accounting
I do not operate a trust account. I am not permitted to receive money or valuables from you or on your behalf.
Indemnity insurance
I hold professional indemnity insurance that meets or exceeds the minimum standards specified by the Law Society. I will provide you with particulars of the minimum standards upon request.
The Law Society maintains the Lawyers' Fidelity Fund for the purpose of providing clients of lawyers with protection against loss arising from theft by lawyers. The Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund does not provide any cover in relation to a barrister sole and therefore does not provide protection against loss relating to my services.
Limitations on my obligations or liability
To the extent allowed by law, my aggregate liability to you (whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise) is limited to the amount payable under my professional indemnity insurance policy.
Termination
You may terminate my retainer at any time. I may terminate my retainer in any of the circumstances set out in the Rules, including the existence of a conflict of interest, non-payment of fees, and failure to provide instructions. If my retainer is terminated, you must pay me all fees, disbursements and expenses already incurred.
Feedback and complaints
Client satisfaction is important to me. Please contact me with any comments you would like to make on any aspect of my service, including how I can improve my service.
If you have any concerns or complaints about my services, please raise them as soon as possible with me. I will endeavour in good faith to resolve the matter with you in a way that is fair to all concerned.
If you are still not satisfied, the Law Society has a complaints service. You can call the 0800 number for guidance, lodge a concern or make a formal complaint. Matters may be directed to:
Lawyers Complaints Service, PO Box 5041, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
phone: 0800 261 801
email: complaints@lawsociety.org.nz
website: www.lawsociety.org.nz/for-the-community/lawyers-complaints-service
The Law Society’s client care and service information
Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, he or she must:
act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made
protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties
discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved
provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it, and the way in which the services will be provided
charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable, and let you know how and when you will be billed
give you clear information and advice
protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality
treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination
keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed, and
let you know how to make a complaint, and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
The obligations lawyers owe to clients are described in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. Those obligations are subject to other overriding duties, including duties to the courts and to the justice system.
If you have any questions, please visit www.lawsociety.org.nz or call 0800 261 801.