These terms set out the basis on which legal services are provided to you by Amanda Doyle Law Services Ltd and should be read in conjunction with the relevant letter of appointment. Amanda Doyle, solicitor, director and founder of Amanda Doyle Law Services Ltd, will provide all services to you.

Amanda Doyle Law Services Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with registration no: 7120175. Its registered office: 12 Knole Park, Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4BS. The practice is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, see www.sra.org.uk.

Fees and expenses:

Fees are usually charged either (a) at hourly rate or (b) on a fixed fee basis.  The basis of charging will be set out in the letter of appointment. It is often difficult to estimate how many hours of work will be necessary to complete any engagement so, unless a fixed fee is specifically agreed, fees are calculated on the basis of the actual time spent on a matter and any estimate of the fees likely be incurred is indicative only.

As part of the services we may incur expenses. If so we charge these to you at cost, examples may be Companies House or Land Registry fees, search fees etc.

Invoices will be submitted monthly or at the end of the particular matter as specified in the letter of appointment and unless there is a genuine dispute, fees are payable within 30 days of issue of invoice. Interest may be charged on any unpaid amounts at 3% above the base rate of National Westminster Bank Plc. Invoices are submitted in .pdf format by email only.

We do not accept cash payments.

Our legal advice:

We are authorised to practise law in England and Wales, we do not practise in any other jurisdiction. Any advice we may give you in relation to those other jurisdictions is commercial advice only; it is not legal advice and you must not rely on it as such. If you require legal advice we may be able to introduce you to a law firm authorised in the relevant jurisdiction.

We will not provide you with tax advice unless agreed specifically in writing. You should ask your accountant to advise on tax and similar matters including VAT.

Our advice on any matter is confidential and is provided for your benefit alone and solely for the purpose of the matter set out in the letter of appointment. It may not be relied upon for any other purpose or by any other person. Our duty of care is to you as our client and does not extend to any third party. 

Our primary means of communication with you will be via phone and e-mail. Unless you let us know to the contrary, we will assume that you are happy for us to communicate by e-mail, even though we cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of e-mail communications. We do not encrypt emails. We have no control over the telecommunication networks, which deliver e-mail and so cannot accept liability in relation to their use.

Our liability to you:

We are only liable for the losses we cause directly, we will not be liable for any loss of profit, business, contracts, revenues or anticipated savings or any indirect, special or consequential loss. 

Our liability to you in aggregate in respect of any claim or series of claims during each 12 calendar month period for any direct loss shall be limited to the sum of £3,000,000.

We carry professional indemnity insurance in line with the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, currently £3,000,000 through Travelers Insurance Company Ltd of the Exchequer Court, 33 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8AG. 

Nothing in these terms or the letter of appointment excludes or limits liability in respect of death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or in respect of any damage arising out of any acts of misrepresentation or fraud by us.

Your relationship is with Amanda Doyle Law Services Ltd, which owes you a duty of care. No employee or officer will be personally liable to you in contract tort or otherwise. 

We will not be liable to you if we are unable to provide legal services to you because of any factor outside our control, including but not limited to Acts of God, industrial action, default or failure of a third party, war, governmental action.

Proof of identity:

In order to comply with laws on money laundering we may be required to obtain evidence of your identity or, if you are a limited company or limited liability partnership, that of your officers. If required, this usually takes the form of asking for each individual’s full name, date of birth, current address and a copy of their passport or driving licence and the authentication of those details electronically using www.veriphy.com. This is not a credit check it simply checks the details against publicly available sources such as the Electoral Register.

Confidentiality: 

We are obliged to keep your affairs confidential unless you specifically ask us to disclose the information to anyone else or we need to do so in order to deal with your matter. We may, however, be required to disclose information about you to law enforcement or other authorities if required to do so by law. 

Your information: 

In the course of acting for you, we may collect personal data about you or your officers and employees, we will hold and process such personal data in accordance with all relevant data protection legislation. 

To ensure our systems are properly backed up we use a number of reputable email and data storage providers who use industry recognised security protocols. Wherever possible these are based in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). The business’s financial records, including invoicing details, are managed using an accounting system that is based in the USA and so some limited personal information (names and addresses) will be transferred outside of the UK and the EEA. The provider of that system has adopted standard contractual clauses approved for use in the UK.

For full details of how we collect, store, use and share personal information, your rights in relation to personal information and how to contact us and supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint please see our privacy statement at www.doylelaw.co.uk/privacy-statement. 

Complaints:

If there is ever any matter with which you are not happy please raise it formally with Amanda Doyle on 01454 201761 or by email to amanda@doylelaw.co.uk. We have a procedure to handle complaints a copy of which we will provide you on request. We have 8 weeks to consider your complaints, although would endeavour to do so much more quickly. Individuals and micro-businesses (European Union definition) who remain unhappy with our conclusion and have a valid complaint can contact the Legal Ombudsman at www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Termination:

You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time. If at any stage, you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf you must tell us this clearly in writing. If we decide to stop acting for you, (for example, if you do not pay an invoice, you fail to give us proper instructions or our continuing to act would be impractical, unethical or unlawful) we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing. You must pay our charges for work carried out up to date of termination and we may keep all the papers, which we are entitled to retain until all of our fees, disbursements and interest have been paid.

Law:

English law governs terms of engagement and any dispute arising out of the terms will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.