Terms and conditions
Terms and conditions for small matters
Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (‘The Act’), a formal costs disclosure statement is not required for legal services that cost less than $750 and an abridged costs agreement is available for a matter that costs less than $3,000 (not including GST).
These terms and conditions apply to any matter for which a formal costs agreement and disclosure statement has not been provided (‘small matters’).
Scope of work
We only advise the person who has sought our assistance (‘you’). To the extent permitted by law, we owe no duty to any other person other than you.
The services are limited to the legal issue or question raised by you in your enquiry or the scope as defined in the costs estimate.
We do not provide financial, commercial, insurance, or taxation advice or representation. We do not provide legal advice outside of Australia. We are not responsible for any adverse taxation outcome as a result of our Services.
Payment
For legal services, the service imay be provided on a fixed-fee basis or time-based basis as agreed with you. By making the appointment or requesting the service, you agree that the fee is fair and reasonable.
You will be invoiced shortly following the provision of the services.
Where we have enabled online payment, an additional transactional surcharge may apply.
You agree to pay all legal costs on time. Failure to pay may result in action being taken against you, and will also mean that we may not act for you in future matters.
Initial consultations
Initial consultations are a discussion about your issue and our services. The main purpose of the initial consultation is to ascertain whether you have a legal issue that we can assist you with.
At the initial consultation, you are not yet a client. We will provide general information only based on the information available. We are not required to read any document nor provide any written advice following an initial consultation.
There is no obligation on you to retain us following an initial consultation, and there is no obligation on us to represent you.
You are not permitted to record the meeting.
Consultation cancellations
If we cannot attend a scheduled consultation, we will cancel the appointment and offer another within a reasonable period.
You may cancel an appointment without penalty.
Contract and deed reviews
Contract and deed reviews may be conducted entirely in writing and without verbal contact.
The advice is provided to you only. The fixed fee for contract and deed reviews does not include direct engagement with any other party. If you instruct us to engage directly with the other party to the contract or deed, we may do this in addition to the agreed fixed fee rate.
The fixed fee for contract or deed review is for one document only. If your contract or deed contains more than one document or is complex, we may offer the Service for an alternative fixed fee.
Documents
We ask that you please provide the required documents by email.
You authorise us to store, draft, send and receive documents electronically. We use cloud-based third-party providers, such as Microsoft and Adobe to manage documents.
You consent and authorise us to:
- maintain a totally electronic file, or a mix of hard copy and electronic documents
- communicate by electronic means
- scan and electronically store some or all documents received by us
- scan hard copies of documents that we have received from third parties, and then discard the hard copies
- retain original documents received from you until completion of the matter.
Upon completion of the service, provided all payments have been received, any original documents will be returned to you.
You authorise us to keep an electronic copy of your documents.
You authorise us to destroy any document seven (7) years after completion of the Services
You are responsible for the storage of any document that is required to be kept for more than seven years, including deeds of release or release agreements.
We retain any applicable copyright and intellectual property rights over any material, invention or process created by us in the delivery of our Services. You are not permitted to use any material created by us for any other purpose.
All matters: Privacy and confidentiality
We are required to collect the full name and address of our clients. If you do not provide us with your full name and address, we cannot act for you.
We will keep confidential information about you confidential and will not disclose identifying information about you to any third party, except if necessary for the provision of our legal services.
You agree that we may collect personal information about you, and that we will use this information in the course of providing the services in accordance with our privacy policy, which is available on our website.
You agree that your personal information may be disclosed to other parties in connection with the provision of legal services.
You agree that we may use your personal information to maintain ongoing contact with you, or to inform you about legal services or updates that may be of interest to you.
You acknowledge that we use cloud-based third-party service providers over whom we have limited control.
Acceptance of our terms and conditions
By proceeding with the appointment, service, or purchase, you accept these terms and conditions.