Terms of Engagement

These Terms of Engagement will apply to the work we carry out for you.

Our services

1. The Services we provide and the way our Fee is charged are set out in our letter of engagement.

Who we are providing services to

2. We are providing services to you. Our duty of care is to you. If anyone else wants to rely on our advice, then we first need to agree this in writing.

Additional costs you may have to pay

3. On top of the fee, we may need to purchase items or services from third party providers. We will then pass these charges on to you. Lawyers call these disbursements.

4. We will provide an invoice for work we have completed at the end of each month. We ask that you make payment within fourteen days.

5. You can make payment by credit card. Our bank charges us a small fee to process credit card payments (just like they do in shops), and we add this fee onto our invoice. This amounts to 1.85% of the total fee.

6. If you don’t pay the invoice within fourteen days, then we will require you to pay interest calculated at the rate of 12.5% per annum, and any collection costs incurred in recovering the fee.

We will keep your information confidential

7. We will not disclose your confidential information to anyone else, except where it is necessary to carry out your instructions, or as required by law or to comply with the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.

Important documents we create

8. If you make a will or power of attorney, we will store the original.

9. We will return all other deeds and documents to you. We may choose to keep a scan copy.

10. We own the copyright in any documents we create. We grant you a non-exclusive licence to use the documents for your personal or commercial use.

11. If you want a third party to use or modify the documents, you will need to get our written permission first.

When we will dispose of the documents

12. We will keep a copy of the file for seven years, and then destroy it.

13. We may dispose of trivial documents or internal notes which belong to us at any time.

Our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020

14. You are entitled to request a copy of all documents which we hold on your behalf, and we will make these available.

15. You can find a copy of our Privacy Policy on our website, mhlegal.nz.

If a conflict of interest arises

16. If a conflict of interest arises, we will notify you. We will follow the procedures set out in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.

What to do if you have a complaint

17. We aim to provide excellent service to our clients. But sometimes we will get it wrong. When we do, we are committed to resolving matters quickly.

18. If you have any concerns with our services, please take the following steps:

a. Talk to the lawyer who is handling your file. They will aim to resolve your concern straight away.

b. If you feel uncomfortable talking to them, or do not feel like they are listening to you, please contact our practice manager. She will listen, enquire on your behalf and then respond to you.

c. If you are still dissatisfied, please telephone or email the managing Partner Gerard Molloy or practice manager Clare Campbell.

d. In the unlikely event we cannot resolve your concern, you may contact the Law Society Complaints Service:
Address: Level 5, 51-53 Shortland Street, Auckand
Postal address: PO Box 4417 Auckland 1140
Email: complaints@lawsociety.org.nz
Phone 0800 261 801

Their website has more information www.lawsociety.org.nz/for-the-community/lawyers-complaints-service/concerns-form

How you can ask us to stop working for you

19. You can ask us to stop working for you at any time.

20. We will charge a fee for any work that is done prior to stopping work, and any work reasonably required to bring the engagement to an end.

21. If you would like to change to another law firm, simply have that lawyer write to us enclosing a signed note from you. We will then forward all documents we are holding for you to your new lawyer.

When we can stop working for you

22. We can stop working for you in any of the circumstances set out in the Law Society’s Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. This includes where you refuse to pay our fee.

Our obligations under anti-money laundering law

23. We have to comply with the Anti Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT). This is commonly referred to as AML.

24. To do so, we need to we complete due diligence for our customers. This includes obtaining proof of identity and your address.

25. We also need to make inquiries of the sources of your funds and wealth.

What happens to money you pay to us to hold on your behalf

26. We have a trust account with the ASB Bank. When you pay us money, such as funds towards a house purchase, it is held in this trust account. There are strict laws about how this account can be operated, with oversight from the Law Society.

27. We may deduct our invoice from any funds we are holding in our trust account on your behalf.

28. Trust accounts do not earn interest. If we are holding significant funds for an extended period of time, we will lodge these in a day-to-day interest bearing account. Before we are able to do this, we will need you to sign a form confirming your tax status. This is explained further in the next section.

We have an obligation to report certain funds that we are holding

29. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) requires us to disclose funds we are holding for certain individuals. This is referred to in the banking industry as FATCA/CRS.

30. The ASB has to obtain certain information about funds held in our trust account and advise the IRD. The IRD may in turn forward the information to foreign tax authorities. This includes information about funds earning interest in our trust account for a foreign tax resident. Entities are also required to disclose whether their business is active or passive, and whether they are financial institutions. You agree to us providing this information to the bank.

We are not liable for problems caused by email

31. We may communicate to you and others by electronic communication such as email, unless you tell us not to. As you are aware, electronic communications are not secure.They may be read, copied or interfered with in transit.We will not be liable for any of the risks associated with electronic communication.

Important steps to take if you are paying money to us

32. Because email is not a secure form of communication, there are circumstances when third party scammers may change the number of bank accounts on any invoice or deposit slip we transmit to you.We recommend you telephone us on (09) 368 1810 to verify the bank account number before transmitting any money to us electronically.

33. We will not be liable for any funds which you credit to an incorrect bank account because of a scam.

Other things you need to know

34. These terms apply to this engagement and any future work we do for you.

35. We update these Terms from time to time. The latest copy of our terms is available on our website mhlegal.nz

36. We are only required to provide the Services set out in our letter of engagement. Lawyers call this a retainer. We do not have any liability to you for anything other than the Services set out in the retainer.

37. Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand Law.

Further information the Law Society has asked us to provide

38. The law society requires all lawyers to provide the following information to clients.

39. Professional Indemnity Insurance: We hold professional indemnity insurance that meets the standards specified by the Law Society. We will provide you with particulars of the Law Society standards on request.

40. Lawyers Fidelity Fund: The Law Society maintains the Lawyers Fidelity Fund for the purpose of providing clients of lawyers with protection against pecuniary loss arising from theft by lawyers. The maximum amount payable by the Fidelity Fund by way of compensation to an individual claimant is limited to $100,000.00. Except in certain circumstances the Fidelity Fund does not cover a client for any loss relating to money that a lawyer is instructed to invest on behalf of the client.

41. Client Care and Service: Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, he or she must:

a. Act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made.

b. Protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties.

c. Discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved.

d. Provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it and the way the services will be provided.

e. Charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and let you know how and when you will be billed.

f. Give you clear information and advice.

g. Protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality.

h. Treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination.

i. Keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed.

j. Let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.

k. 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.

l. If you have any questions, please visit www.lawyers.org.nz