Introduction
At Tollers Solicitors we are proud of the expertise, integrity and quality of work carried out by our solicitors and legal specialists at all levels. We also seek to ensure that the relationship with our clients is clear, open and well maintained at all times. At the centre of this are the Client Care letter and our Terms of Business. These documents set out the basis on which you instruct us to act for you and our commitments to you. They replace any arrangement we have had with you in the past and can only be varied by a Partner of Tollers Solicitors and must be in writing.
Client Care Letter
When you instruct us to act for you on a particular legal matter, we will send you a new Client Care letter on each occasion. It will set out the basis of how we will work, your obligations to us and any specific requirements pertaining to that matter. You will be asked to sign and return a copy of the letter together with any advance payments required for us to conduct your work and what is needed to fulfill your obligations under the anti-money laundering legislation. Each Client Care letter is tailored to the specific requirements of the work for which you are instructing us but will always cover the following main areas.
- Who will be responsible for carrying out your work and the partner who is head of that business unit and be supervising your work.
- The scope of the work we are to do and to note anything to you that it will not cover.
- It will also tell you how we will charge for that work and where possible, an estimate of likely total charges.
- It will also provide information about how to contact us whilst your work is proceeding.
Terms of Business
Typically called, 'the small print' our Terms of Business accompany every Client Care letter and provide you with a detailed statement of the basis upon which we will carry out your work. We endeavour to make this readable and understandable and it is important that you read it and query anything you are not sure about at the onset.
It will cover all the important issues that deal with Charge Rates, Payment on Account of Fees and Disbusements, Invoicing and Payment terms, Identification requirements,Joint Retainers ( where we act for more than one person), Quality, Service Issues, Liability, Deeds storage and Data Protection. It will also set out our obligations to you and yours to us.
All of this is designed to safeguard and protect our clients interests when we act for you and an overarching theme is our absolute respect of Client Confidentiality.
