Terms of Business

1.1 These terms and conditions (including the Schedule hereto) (these “Terms”) govern the relationship between Wiggin LLP (“Wiggin”, “we” or “us” as appropriate) and each of our clients (the “Client” or “you” as appropriate) unless we specifically agree otherwise in writing.

1.2 These Terms will apply to any matter on which you instruct us from time to time.

1.3 These Terms together with the terms and conditions set out in your engagement letter with us (such letter and/or any subsequent engagement letter sent to you in respect of any matter, the “Engagement Letter”) will form the basis of a binding contract between us and you. This may also be supplemented with additional schedules or other contractual terms depending on the nature of the work you have instructed us to carry out for you. Your continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of these Terms and such terms and conditions.

2.1 The scope of the services we will provide is set out in the Engagement Letter. We will provide legal advice and services to you with reasonable care and skill. However, the nature of many types of legal work means that it is not possible to guarantee a particular outcome.

2.2 In order to advise you properly, we will require you to:

2.2.1 provide documents when we ask for them and respond promptly when we ask for instructions or information;

2.2.2 notify us if your contact details change;

2.2.3 tell us immediately if your expectations change or if you are not sure you understand what we have discussed;

2.2.4 inform us of any time limits or objectives that might not be obvious to us;

2.2.5 notify us immediately if you receive any email or other communication purporting to be from the firm stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements; and

2.2.6 let us know about any other changes that may affect the way we deal with your matter.

2.3 If you ask us to obtain advice from another law firm/professional advisor (including, without limitation, where we are asked to instruct any such person to advise on the laws of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales), that firm/advisor will be responsible for the service and advice they provide irrespective of whether they are engaged directly by you or via Wiggin.

2.4 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our advice and any documents we prepare are for use only in connection with the specific matter on which we are instructed and can only be relied on by you. Our advice will reflect the law in force at the relevant time.

3.1 Our charges are usually based on the time spent by us on work for you, together with expenses that we incur on your behalf and VAT (where applicable).

3.2 Each lawyer or paralegal is ascribed an hourly rate according to their expertise. These rates are reviewed and may be adjusted periodically (usually annually). All rates quoted are exclusive of VAT. Time is charged in units of 6 minutes.

3.3 If we need to travel to meet you or others the travelling time will usually be charged. We do not charge for travel between our Cheltenham and London offices.

3.4 Expenses will be shown on your invoice under two headings:

3.4.1 ‘Other Costs’ which may include, our charges, if any, for example but not limited to, photocopying, international telephone calls, couriers’ costs and secretarial overtime; and

3.4.2 ‘Disbursements‘ which may include, for example but not limited to, work carried out by third parties on your behalf such as property search fees, trademark agent fees, barristers and other professional firms or third party experts.

3.5 We take your initial instructions to us as authority to incur reasonable expenses without further reference to you.

3.6 Where expenses or costs are likely to be substantial, we will usually ask you for money on account before we incur any liability. Payment on account will be a prerequisite to our continuing to act for you. Our decision not to ask you for money on account does not amount to a waiver of our right to do so in the future and we reserve the right to cease acting for you if such money is not paid in accordance with any such request.

3.7 You may set a limit on the value of time that may be spent or expenses that may be incurred without further authority from you.

3.8 If you are arranging for any other person to pay our fees and expenses on a matter you must ensure that they are aware of these Terms and the arrangements agreed in the relevant Engagement Letter and such arrangement must be notified to us in advance. Any such arrangements will require our consent, and we may be required to carry out due diligence on the payor before accepting any payment. If you arrange for any other person to pay our fees and expenses on a matter, you will remain liable for any amounts unpaid.

4.1 We will send you regular invoices, usually monthly. If you have any queries on the invoices please raise them as soon as possible.

4.2 Our invoices are payable within 30 days of receipt. If any part of an invoice is queried, that part which is not subject to the query must be paid within 30 days.

4.3 If any invoice is not settled within 30 days we reserve the right to:

4.3.1 claim and charge interest equivalent to the Court rate on judgment debts (currently 8% per annum) from the date payment is due, until the date of actual payment;

4.3.2 stop acting for you; and/or

4.3.3 retain documents, papers and any other property belonging to you.

4.4 Where you have paid money on account or we are holding money for you, you agree that we may use that money towards payment or part payment of our outstanding bills. We will always inform you when this happens.

4.5 In litigation matters, where legal proceedings have been started, sections 70-72 of the Solicitors Act 1974 set out your rights to apply for assessment (a review by the court) of our costs.

5.1 Everything we discuss with you is dealt with in the strictest confidence. We will keep confidential all documents and information that we receive as a result of acting for you, unless you instruct us to disclose that information or it is already in the public domain or if we, in good faith, consider disclosure to be required by law or the rules of any governmental, regulatory or professional body. There may be circumstances under money laundering legislation in which we could be prevented from telling you about a disclosure.

5.2 You agree that where we have acted for you on a matter that has been announced to the public, we may disclose that we have acted for you, provided that we do not disclose any details that are not already in the public domain.

5.3 We will only use the information we hold about you for the purpose of providing legal services and for marketing, internal management or administrative purposes. You agree that we may use the information we hold about you to carry out checks as to your credit-worthiness.

5.4 Ordinarily our advice is subject to legal professional privilege protecting it from production in civil or criminal proceedings. To maintain such privilege it is important that our advice is kept confidential and is not disclosed more widely than necessary. If you are in any doubt about this please ask us for advice.

5.5 You agree to provide us with all information that is reasonably required for us to advise you and to ensure that such information is, and remains, true and accurate in all material respects and is not misleading. Unless we agree otherwise, we will not check the accuracy or completeness of such information. You should not assume that information or documents which have previously been given to us or matters on which we have previously advised will be known to those instructed on a new matter.

5.6 You are responsible for ensuring that you have all necessary rights to supply us with the information you provide and that our use of that information will not infringe the rights of any third party or result in a breach of any law, rule or regulation.

5.7 Save as required by law or any governmental, regulatory or professional body and save to the extent already in the public domain, all arrangements between you and us in relation to (i) the fees charged by us and (ii) the services and advice provided by us, including without limitation any dispute as to the same, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed by you or us.

5.8 In providing our services we may transfer personal data outside the UK (and, where applicable, the EEA), including to our service providers and affiliates. We will ensure that any such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws, including by using appropriate transfer mechanisms (such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement and/or EU Standard Contractual Clauses) and other safeguards described in this clause 5 and our privacy statement.

Where correspondence and documents are sent to you using email we will take anti-virus precautions to minimise the chance of files being infected. However, given the inherently insecure nature of the internet we cannot guarantee that all transmissions will be free from infection. You agree that Wiggin will not be liable if infection occurs. Similarly, we cannot guarantee the security or effectiveness of our electronic communications and will not be liable if they are intercepted, received by parties other than those to whom they are addressed, or for delays or non-delivery outside our reasonable control.

We are authorised to advise you on English law and, only where we expressly agree in writing to do so through appropriately qualified lawyers, European Union law. Through our associations with other European and US professional advisors, and from our extensive international experience, we have an excellent network of overseas contacts with other professional firms and can arrange their instruction for you. If you authorise us to employ other advisers or agents you (and not Wiggin) will be deemed to be their client and you will be responsible for payment of their

In delivering our services we may, where appropriate, use vetted artificial intelligence and related technologies to support drafting, research, project management and other aspects of our work. We will do so in compliance with our confidentiality and data protection obligations and will not disclose your confidential information or personal data to third-party tools without appropriate safeguards. If you have any objections to our use of such tools on your matters, please raise them with your client relationship partner.

9.1 Unless agreed otherwise, we hold client money in various accounts with UK banks regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

9.2 We will never tell you about changes to important business information, such as bank account details, by email. Please inform us immediately if you receive any email or other communication purporting to be from the firm stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements.

9.3 It is our policy to account to clients or third parties on client money we hold on their behalf for a sum in lieu of interest on a fair and reasonable basis.

9.4 Client monies will be deposited in a general client account (in which amounts for different clients are pooled) unless instructed otherwise by you and agreed to by us in writing.

9.5 Client monies will be held in an instant access account in order to facilitate transactions. Interest will normally be calculated at a rate equivalent to that available to us at the time the client monies are held had the client monies been deposited in a separate instant access account.

9.6 We will not make payment in lieu of interest:

9.6.1 on money we are instructed to hold outside a client account in a manner that does not attract interest,
9.6.2 where the total amount of interest accrued on the relevant sum is less than £250; or
9.6.3 where we agree otherwise, in writing, with you or the third party for whom the money is held.

9.7 You acknowledge that you understand that it is unlikely any client or other party will receive a payment in lieu of interest in respect of client monies that is as much as the amount of interest that might have been obtained had the funds been invested by such person themselves.

9.8 Bank failure and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme: We are not liable for any losses you suffer as a result of any bank in which we hold client money being unable to repay depositors in full. You may, however, be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”).

9.9 The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of banking institutions. The FSCS can pay compensation up to £85,000 if a banking institution is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it.

9.10 The limit is £85,000 per banking institution. If you hold other personal money in the same banking institution as our client account(s), the limit remains £85,000 in total. Some banking institutions have several brands. The compensation limit is £85,000 per institution, not per brand.

9.11 The FSCS also provides up to £1,000,000 of short-term protection for certain high balances, e.g. relating to property transactions, inheritance, divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, unfair dismissal, redundancy, and personal injury compensation (there is no financial limit on protection for personal injury compensation). This is called the temporary high balance scheme and, if it applies, protection lasts for a maximum of six months.

9.12 The FSCS (including the temporary high balance scheme) will apply to qualifying balances held in our client account. In the unlikely event of a deposit-taking institution failure, we will presume (unless we hear from you in writing to the contrary) we have your consent to disclose necessary client details to the FSCS.

9.13 More information about the FSCS can be found at https://www.fscs.org.uk.

10.1 We are required to comply with all relevant money laundering legislation. Among other matters, this means that in order to act for a new client we have to be satisfied as to that client’s identity in accordance with the prevailing money laundering legislation and procedures.

10.2 Our engagement will not take effect, and we will not be obliged to begin work or act, until we have received and verified all client due diligence information and documentation we reasonably require to our satisfaction, in accordance with applicable anti-money laundering and related legislation, regulation and our internal policies.

10.3 We may cease to act, in the event that we do not receive or we are unable to verify, all client due diligence information and documentation we reasonably require to our satisfaction to comply with ongoing monitoring requirements, in accordance with applicable anti-money laundering and related legislation, regulation and our internal policies.

10.4 We will not act, or will cease to act, if doing so may breach any applicable laws and regulation including sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering or related financial crime laws. We may conduct sanctions and other screenings and make disclosures to competent authorities where required without notice. We will not accept or transfer funds where we consider doing so may breach such laws.

10.5 We are likely to ask you for proof of your identity and we may conduct searches or enquiries for this purpose. We may also be required to identify and verify the identity of other persons such as directors or beneficial owners. If you or they do not provide us with the required information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

10.6 You agree that we may make checks using online electronic verification systems or other databases as we may decide. You must not send us any money until we have told you these checks have been completed.

10.7 If we receive money in relation to your matter from an unexpected source, there may be a delay in your matter and we may charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary.

10.8 Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.

10.9 We may ask you to confirm the source of any money you have sent us or will send us. If you do not provide us with that information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

10.10 Any personal data we receive from you for the purpose of preventing money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing will be used only for that purpose or with your consent, or as permitted by or under another enactment.

10.11 We also have a legal obligation in certain circumstances to disclose information to the National Crime Agency or the SRA without reference to you. This obligation overrides our obligation of confidentiality identified at clause 5 above.

11.1 We will keep our file of papers (except for any papers which you ask to be returned to you) and all electronic data which comes into our possession in relation to each matter for no less than 6 years. You agree that we have your authority to destroy the file and any data held in our IT systems at any time after 6 years have elapsed from the point at which each matter is closed.

11.2 Where we receive documents from you to hold in safe custody those documents will not be destroyed after 6 years. We reserve the right to charge for the provision of such custody services.

11.3 Materials that we generate for you are protected by copyright that belongs to Wiggin. The fee you pay us entitles you to make use of those materials only for the purpose for which they were obtained. Ownership of the copyright will remain ours.

12.1 If you need to discuss issues about our work, please contact the partner involved in your matter as soon as the issue arises. If a resolution cannot be found, please contact David Quli (at david.quli@wiggin.co.uk), a senior partner with responsibility for client relationship matters.

12.2 We have a written procedure in place which details how we handle formal complaints, which is available on request. If for any reason you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you may be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the issue (write to: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ; or email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; or phone 0300 555 0333). The Ombudsman may refer your complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority if they are not the correct body to conduct the investigation. For full details, please visit: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk

12.3 The SRA can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

12.4 The SRA’s website at http://www.sra.org.uk contains information on raising concerns about solicitors and law firms.

12.5 If you wish to complain about a barrister you may, if you wish, make your complaint directly to that barrister’s chambers rather than via us. Barristers must have a written procedure for handling complaints and must provide it to you on request.

13.1 Wiggin is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales.

13.2 We use the term ‘partner’ to refer to a member of Wiggin or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications.

13.3 A list of the members of Wiggin can be inspected at our registered office.

13.4 Although known as partners, the members of Wiggin are not in partnership for any purpose relating to the provision of services to you. Contractual obligations entered into by the members on behalf of Wiggin will bind Wiggin only and not its members. Members of Wiggin are not agents for each other and do not have joint liability for the actions of other members or for the actions of Wiggin.

13.5 Wiggin is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”), the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society of England & Wales, with registration number 420659. The SRA Standards and Regulations set out our professional and ethical rules and obligations (including the SRA Codes of Conduct and SRA Accounts Rules) and can be viewed at www.sra.org.uk.

13.6 The SRA can be contacted at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN or via 0370 606 2555.

13.7 All services provided by Wiggin under these engagement terms are regulated by the SRA.

14.1 You acknowledge that any expressions we make concerning the outcome of your legal matters are expressions of our best professional judgment, but do not guarantees such outcome. Such opinions are based on our knowledge of the facts and on the state of the law at the time they are expressed.

14.2 In addition, you agree that our role does not include advising you on business, commercial ventures or on financial issues, including on the viability or merits of transactions.

14.3 You agree that where we make an assessment for you of the likely level of risk associated with different potential courses of action, it is a matter solely for you whether that risk is acceptable to you and whether that course of action is appropriate for you in all the circumstances and taking account of every factor in that decision.

15.1 You acknowledge and agree that any liability for any loss, damage, costs and expenses suffered or incurred by you and/or your associates arising as a result of the provision of services by us would be the liability of Wiggin only and you undertake that you will not, and that you will procure that your associates will not, in any circumstances, bring any action in respect of any such loss, damage, costs or expenses, whether arising in contract, negligence or otherwise, against any of our representatives, members, officers, employees, agents or consultants. Your contract is solely with Wiggin, which has sole legal liability for the work done for you and any act or omission in the course of that work. No representative, member, officer, employee, agent or consultant of Wiggin will have any personal legal liability for any loss or claim.

15.2 We shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss nor shall we have any liability whatsoever arising out of any action that we, in good faith, consider is necessary for us to comply with money laundering legislation.

15.3 We shall have no liability to any third party for any services or advice that we provide to you unless we have agreed in writing that the third party can rely on such services or advice. Nor shall we have any liability for any services or advice given by any third party whom we instruct on your behalf including, without limitation, legal and other professional advisers.

15.4 Where we and your other advisers and/or third parties are responsible for any loss suffered by you, our liability for that loss will also be limited to a just and equitable proportion of your total loss calculated by reference to the extent of our responsibility. If you have engaged other professional advisers to represent or advise you on a matter in which we are involved and you agree with any of them that their liability to you will be limited, our liability to you will not exceed the amount which would have applied in the absence of that limitation.

15.5 Nothing in this clause or any Engagement Letter shall exclude or limit our liability to you (i) for fraud, (ii) death or personal injury caused by our negligence or (iii) to the extent that liability may not be excluded or limited by any applicable law.

15.6 Our aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with each matter on which we are instructed by you is limited to £3 million, unless we agree a higher amount with you in any Engagement Letter relating to that matter.

16.1 We have professional indemnity insurance giving cover for claims against us. Details of this insurance, including contact details of our insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy, are available on request at our registered office.

16.2 It is a condition of our professional indemnity insurance that we notify our insurer and/or broker of any circumstances which may give rise to a claim against us. In doing so, we may disclose documents and information to our insurer, broker and insurance advisers on a confidential basis. Our insurers and brokers are contractually obliged to keep all information we pass to them strictly confidential.

17.1 Legal conflict-of-interest checks are typically carried out prior to sending you the accompanying Engagement Letter. If there are any conflicts you wish us to be aware of, please let your contact partner know. An actual or potential conflict between your interests and the interests of another client of the firm may arise during the course of a matter. If this situation arises during our dealings with you, we will discuss the position with you and determine the appropriate course of action. In order to protect your interests, we may in certain circumstances have to cease acting.

17.2 You agree that we may act for third parties that compete with you or are engaged in activities which are similar to yours provided that doing so does not give rise to a legal conflict-of interest.

Neither we nor you shall be liable in any way for failure to perform our respective obligations under these Terms or any relevant Engagement Letter if the failure is due to causes outside the reasonable control of the party which has failed to perform.

19.1 You may terminate our engagement on any matter in writing at any time.

19.2 We may cease acting for you with good reason and on reasonable written notice. We may also cease to act in the circumstances set out in clauses 3.6, 4.3.2, 10.3, 10.4, 17.1, or as otherwise set out in these Terms of Business.

19.3 On termination you will pay all outstanding fees and expenses. Our retainer relating to a matter will be deemed to terminate on delivery of our final invoice relating to the matter. We can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for our charges or disbursements.

19.4 All accrued rights and liabilities under these Terms and any Engagement Letter and clauses 5, 10, 11, 12, 15, 19, 20, and 23 to 25 (inclusive) of these Terms shall survive and remain in full force and effect notwithstanding termination.

19.5 We are not responsible for reminding you about important dates and/or any deadlines after our appointment has been terminated.

If any provision in these Terms or any Engagement Letter (including in particular and without limitation the provisions of clause 15 of the Terms) is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable then it shall, to the extent required, be ineffective and the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected in any way.

21.1 We are affiliated with certain businesses that are not regulated by the SRA. A list of these businesses can be found on our website. Work carried out by an affiliate does not attract all of the regulatory protections available to clients of Wiggin and other SRA authorised firms and therefore will not be covered by the SRA Compensation Fund and may not be covered by our professional indemnity insurance.

21.2 We may refer you to one or more of our affiliates at any time if we consider you may benefit from their assistance. However, you are under no obligation to instruct them. Any instructions you may give to our affiliates will be governed by separate engagement terms and their services do not form part of our engagement under these Terms of Business.

21.3 You agree that we may disclose your identity and a brief description of your matter to any of our affiliates as part of the process by which we check for potential conflicts of interest.

22.1 If you are an individual acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession, and our contract with you has been entered into with you not at our offices (for example by email), then you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

22.2 The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.

22.3 To exercise the right of cancellation, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email) sent for the attention of your contact partner.

22.4 To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

22.5 If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse you all payments received from you, subject to our right to receive payment from you if you requested us to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period.

22.6 We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract.

22.7 We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial payment, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.

22.8 If you have requested us to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated to us your cancellation of this contract, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.

22.9 If you request us to work and we complete our work before the end of the cancellation period, you will lose our right to terminate the contract.

23.1 Subject to clause 23.2, no provision of these Terms or any Engagement Letter shall be enforceable solely by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by any person who is not a party to this Agreement.

23.2 Clause 15.1 of these Terms may be enforced by any current or former employee or member of Wiggin.

24.1 If any dispute arises out of or in connection with your instructions which is not resolved, then the parties shall attempt to settle it by mediation in accordance with the CEDR Model Mediation Procedure.

24.2 If the dispute is not settled by mediation within a reasonable period, it shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts and the parties shall not object on grounds of inconvenient forum.

24.3 Nothing in this clause shall (a) prevent us from applying to a court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of fees and expenses, including those of any third party, incurred on a matter on which you have instructed us, (b) restrict us from taking any steps we consider necessary if proceedings are issued against us by a third party (such as joining you as a party to such proceedings), or (c) affect your statutory rights.

25.1 You agree that these Terms and any Engagement Letter shall be governed by the law of England and Wales.

25.2 Subject to the mediation provisions set out in clause 24 the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with our engagement, these Terms or any Engagement Letter

1.1 Generally

1.1.1 It is important that you are aware that you are responsible for payment of all costs and expenses as the case progresses, regardless of whether you ultimately win or lose or whether you are able to recover your costs from your opponent.

1.1.2 If it is not possible to agree the amount of costs you are to receive with your opponent, the amount will be decided by the Court at a hearing. This is known as a detailed assessment.

1.1.3 It is our standard practice to engage an external specialist costs lawyer to prepare the paperwork and attend the detailed assessment. Our costs of their instruction and the costs of their and our attendance will be payable by you.

1.2 If you win:

1.2.1 It is usual for the Court to order that your opponent should pay your legal costs. However, it would be very unusual for you to recover all of your costs at a detailed assessment. The Court will only award an amount it considers proportionate to the matters in issue, even if the costs were reasonably and necessarily incurred. In other words, you may have a substantial shortfall in the amount you recover.

1.2.2 In some circumstances, even if you win, the Court may not award you your costs.

1.2.3 It is important to note that even if you are awarded your costs and damages, you may not be able to recover them because, for example: (a) your opponent may have insufficient assets to pay; (b) your opponent has funding from the Legal Aid Agency.

1.2.4 You will be responsible for the costs and expenses of recovering any costs and damages that your opponent is liable to pay.

1.3 If you lose:

1.3.1 If you lose the case at trial, or at an earlier hearing while the case progresses (an interim hearing), the court is likely to order that you pay your opponent’s costs.

1.3.2 If the court orders you to pay costs at an interim hearing, they will usually be payable with 14 days. It will be very difficult to continue with the litigation unless payment is made.

1.3.3 If your opponent is being represented on a conditional fee agreement your opponent’s fees may be increased substantially (sometimes doubled) to reflect the success fee payable to their lawyers. Such ‘success fees’ will rarely (if ever) be recoverable from you, but other sums might, such as, in certain circumstances, premiums for “after the event” (ATE) insurance cover taken out by your opponent.

2.1 You must check to see whether you hold any insurance in respect of liability or legal expenses. If you do have insurance, you must contact your insurers as soon as possible and notify them of our instruction. Failure to do so could invalidate your policy.

2.2 If you do not have insurance, it is sometimes possible to obtain “after the event” legal expenses insurance which could cover some or all of our costs and give you protection from any orders to pay your opponent’s costs. The premium for the policy may, in some limited cases, be recoverable, if you win, from your opponent. We are happy to assist you with finding after the event insurance. However, we cannot advise you on the suitability of any policy. We will assist with completion of paperwork and deal with underwriters’ queries. You will be liable for our costs of assisting you with obtaining insurance.

We reserve the right to increase our charges in very special circumstances, where the work we do for you is different to that which we had anticipated (to reflect the additional complexity of a matter or where action must be taken extremely promptly). However, such circumstances would be unusual and these factors would normally be covered by the standard hourly rate. We will notify you of and discuss with you any intention to increase our charges.