Terms and Conditions

STANDARD TERMS OF BUSINESS

1. Our contract with you

   1. These Terms of Business (as updated from time to time) (Terms) apply to all services that we provide to you. It is an important document — please read and keep it in a safe place for future reference.
   2. Where we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ in these Terms, we mean Teacher Stern LLP.
   3. Each time you instruct us on a new matter we will write to you confirming your instructions and setting out the scope of the work we will carry out for you, our fees and individual contact details. This is called the Engagement Letter. These Terms should be read together with the relevant Engagement Letter — together they form the contract between us (Contract).
   4. If there is any inconsistency between these Terms and the Engagement Letter, the Engagement Letter will take priority.
   5. Your continuing instructions on your matter will amount to your acceptance of the Contract.
   6. Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary by us, these Terms will apply to all future instructions you give us on this or any other matter.
   7. These Terms are subject to change from time to time and are updated on our website at Terms and Conditions – Teacher Stern.
   8. Where we say ‘you’ or ‘your’ in these Terms, we mean the client identified in the Engagement Letter and anyone authorised to give instructions on that client’s behalf.
   9. The Contract and any dispute or claim arising out of, or in connection with, it, its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England and Wales.
   10. You agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any such dispute or claim. However, we may bring proceedings against you in any other court of competent jurisdiction if we consider it appropriate to do so. Issuing proceedings in one jurisdiction does not prevent us from issuing proceedings in another jurisdiction, where the law allows.

2. About us

   1. We are a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales with registered number OC332605. Our registered office is at 37-41 Bedford Row London WC1R 4JH (Firm) We use the term ‘partner’ to refer to a member of Teacher Stern LLP. A list of the members can be inspected at that address or on our website at teacherstern.com.
   2. We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Our SRA authorisation number is 482952. The SRA regulate all of the services which we provide. We and our solicitors are governed by Codes of Conduct and other professional rules (Rules), which you can access on the SRA’s website at sra.org.uk or by calling 0370 606 2555.

3. Our responsibilities and your responsibilities

   1. As part of these Terms, we agree to:-
      1. treat you fairly and with respect;
      2. communicate with you in plain language;
      3. review your matter regularly while we remain instructed by you;
      4. advise you of any changes in the law that affect your matter;
      5. advise you on the issues which arise in your matter within the scope of the Engagement Letter; and
      6. provide the Services (as defined in paragraph 1 below) with reasonable skill and care.
   2. As part of these Terms, you agree to:-
      1. provide documents when we ask for them and respond promptly in full when we ask for instructions or information;
      2. notify us if your contact details change;
      3. tell us immediately if your expectations change or if anything that we discuss is unclear;
      4. inform us of any time limits or objectives that might not be obvious to us;
      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;
      6. let us know about any other changes that may affect the way we deal with your matter, including any changes that may affect your tax status in any jurisdiction; and
      7. supply us with personal identification and financial information when requested to do so, so that we can comply with our legal and regulatory requirements.

4. Conflicts of interest

   1. We have professional obligations not to act for a client in a matter where either there is an actual conflict or there is a significant risk that there could be a conflict:
   2. with either the interests of another client for whom we are already acting (unless certain conditions apply); or
   3. with the Firm’s interests.
   4. We carry out conflict checks before undertaking work for you and as may be appropriate, during our work on your matter. If any conflict situation arises, we will discuss the position with you and determine the appropriate course of action.  Subject to our professional duties, we will always seek to resolve any conflict issues in the most advantageous ways to the client(s) concerned: however, we may in certain circumstances decline instructions or cease to act for you.
   5. We may give advice and information to, and act on instructions from, any of the individuals to whom the Engagement Letter is addressed without the need to copy such advice to, or to confirm such instructions with, the other(s). You can let us know in writing that we are authorised to deal with someone else on your behalf in this way. For organisations, rather than individuals, we may ask for a formal resolution confirming who can instruct us.

5. Scope of our legal services

   1. The scope of the services we will provide is set out in the Engagement Letter (Services).
   2. We will provide the 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.
   3. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will advise only on the law of England and Wales.
   4. We will not advise on financial, accounting, pensions, surveying, valuation, commercial viability, trading or marketability matters. We only advise on tax when we have expressly agreed in writing to do so. Except as described at paragraph 15 (Financial services), we do not provide financial services or advice.
   5. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our advice and any documents we prepare:
      1. are for use only in connection with the specific matter on which we are instructed;
      2. can only be relied on by you; and
      3. reflect the law in force at the relevant time.
   6. Third party service providers. We may instruct third parties (such as barristers, experts, enquiry agents, other specialist law firms and overseas lawyers) to provide services to you. Where appropriate we may instruct these third parties as your agent, so that you contract with them directly. However the third parties are instructed, you are responsible for the sums charged by third parties and their services are provided to you on their terms. We use reasonable skill and care in selecting and appointing third parties and provided that we do so, we are not responsible for the services and advice that the third parties provide and accordingly we shall have no liability in connection with such services and advice.

6. Updates

   1. We will update you by telephone or in writing (including by email) with progress on your matter regularly and explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses.
   2. We will update you at appropriate intervals on the likely timescale for each stage of your matter and any important changes in those estimates.
   3. We will update you on the cost of your matter at the intervals set out in the Engagement Letter. If appropriate, we will continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

7. Communications

   1. We do not accept or send substantive or material communications and instructions by text or other messaging services such as WhatsApp and reserve the right to request you to communicate by email.
   2. Unless you specifically notify us that any particular method of communication should not be used, we will use whatever method of communication appears appropriate to provide the Services.
   3. As email communications can be intercepted and exploited by criminals, we advise you to install and maintain anti-virus and anti-malware If you are in any doubt as to the contents or origins of any email which you receive and which purports to come from us, please telephone us immediately for clarification.
   4. While all properly addressed emails will arrive in the inbox of the person to whom they are addressed, please be aware:
      1. that sending attachments to emails which are of an unusually large size or which are in certain electronic formats or encrypted may result in delays in delivery. If you are in any doubt, please let us know so that we may ensure that your email is safely received by us; and
      2. the safe delivery of email via the internet should not be assumed and the confidentiality of email cannot be
   5. unless you specially request us to do so, we will not encrypt, or password protect any email or attachment sent by us other than our bank details which as a matter of course are usually contained in a password protected attachment.
   6. The electronic transmission of information via the internet (including email) has inherent risks. We shall not be responsible for any loss or damage whether direct, indirect, or consequential caused by email use or by reason of any unauthorised interference with copying or reading of emails where we have taken reasonable security measures.

8. Our liability to you

   1. Your Contract is solely with Teacher Stern LLP which, save as agreed otherwise in these Terms, has sole legal liability for the Services provided by the Firm to you and for any act or omission in the course of those Services.
   2. Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, in writing:
      1. we do not owe, nor do we accept, any duty to any person other than you;
      2. we do not accept any liability or responsibility for any consequences arising from reliance on our advice by any person other than you; and
      3. you shall not be entitled to assign or transfer your rights or obligations under the Engagement Letter or these Terms, which remain personal to you at all times, and third parties shall have no right to rely on advice provided to you (the client).
   3. We are not responsible for:-
      1. any failure to advise or comment on matters falling outside the scope of our instructions and Services as set out in these Terms and the Engagement Letter; or
      2. for any loss, damage, costs or expenses which arise directly or indirectly from the act or omission of any third party.
   4. Our maximum liability to you (or any other party we have expressly agreed may rely on our Services) in relation to any single matter or any group of connected matters which may be aggregated by our insurers will be £25 million (unless we expressly stated a different figure in the Engagement Letter.)
   5. Subject always to our liability cap, our liability to you shall be limited to the amount which it would be just and equitable for us to pay having regard to the extent of our responsibility and the responsibilities of all other persons for the loss and damage.
   6. We will not be liable for:
      1. any indirect loss or damage or any loss of profit, income, anticipated savings, loss of production, or accruals arising in any circumstances whatsoever whether in contract, negligence, for breach of statutory duty or otherwise;
      2. losses that were not foreseeable to you and us when the Contract was formed;
      3. losses not caused by any breach on the part of the Firm;
      4. any loss, damage, costs, or expenses arising from any fraudulent acts or omissions or arising from any misrepresentations or default by you or your partners, directors, employees, agents or subcontractors or by reason of the provision to us of any false, misleading, incomplete or late information or documentation and we shall have the right to recover from you any costs which we may incur by reason of any such matters;
      5. any loss arising from circumstances beyond our reasonable control including but not limited to acts of God, pandemics, war, terrorism, civil unrest, strikes, or government action;
      6. loss or damage caused by email use provided we have taken reasonable security measures; or
      7. any loss arising as a result of failure or delay of any bank, including without limitation the Firm’s bank. For the avoidance of doubt and without limiting the foregoing, the Firm shall not be liable for any delay by any bank in remitting or transferring funds to or from another bank, be that for security, fraud, money-laundering or other checks which such banks may choose to carry out, whether of its own discretion or otherwise.
   7. Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or restrict our liability in respect of:
      1. death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
      2. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
      3. any losses caused by wilful misconduct or dishonesty; and
      4. any other losses which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law or the Rules.
   8. Services are provided by our staff for and on behalf the Firm. Our staff do not assume any personal responsibility to our clients in relation to work carried out under these Terms and any personal liability of any member of staff is therefore excluded. Any claims must be brought against the Firm. You agree not to bring any claim (including in negligence) against any employee or member of our staff including principals (that is members) as individuals in their personal capacity in connection with any loss or damage suffered in connection with our services. If you do bring a claim against any of our staff, they can rely on the terms of the Contract, including its limitations of liability.
   9. We will perform our obligations to you with reasonable skill and care. However:
      1. we shall not be responsible for any failure to provide services on any issue which falls outside the scope of our Services as set out in these Terms and the Engagement Letter, or for any loss, damage, cost or expense which arises directly or indirectly from the act or omission of any third party;
      2. without prejudice to the general provisions of 8.9.1, we shall not be responsible for any act or omission occurring before the commencement of our engagement. Where a matter in progress is transferred to us our responsibility shall begin from the date you accept the Engagement Letter or the date we receive all working papers (whichever the later). Unless the Engagement Letter expressly states that we will conduct a full review of all work done to date, we shall be entitled to assume that the working papers we receive are complete, accurate and up-to-date and that all matters have been properly and punctually dealt with up to the time of transfer;
      3. we shall not be responsible for any loss arising from or connected with our compliance with any statutory or regulatory responsibility which we may have or which we reasonable believe we may have in relation to you or the matter(s) on which we are instructed by you, including (but not limited to) to report matters to the appropriate authorities from time to time under the provisions of any anti-money laundering or other legislation or regulations which may apply from time to time; and
      4. we will not be responsible for the accuracy or appropriateness of the advice given by other professional advisers or service providers who we may instruct, liaise with or co-ordinate with on your behalf, or be responsible for the payment of their fees or other charges.
   10. We believe that the limitations on our liability as set out in these Terms are reasonable, having regard to the availability and cost of professional indemnity insurance and potential changes in its availability and costs.
   11. Please ask if you would like us to explain any of the terms above.

9. Our charges and billing

   1. You are liable to pay legal costs as set out in the Engagement Letter, which also states the arrangements for billing. We will usually discuss this with you at the outset of your matter. In addition, please note the following:
      1. in any case where we may agree in writing to charge a fixed fee for the Services, irrespective of the time spent in the provision of such Services, this fee will apply only to the Services and any additional work will be charged on a time basis;
      2. subject to paragraph 9.1.3 below, if the matter we undertake for you does not carry through to completion for reasons outside your control or if you or we terminate our engagement, we shall charge only for the time spent (with any appropriate uplift in accordance with paragraph 9.1.7) together with any administrative charges and disbursements incurred or committed to;
      3. where a fixed fee is agreed on a property related matter (be that a property directly or via a corporate entity owning a property as its main asset) or a corporate transaction, it is payable in full if contracts have exchanged, even where completion does not take place;
      4. charges in respect of certain activities which we carry out in connection with the Services, including but not limited to charges for any electronic bank transfers, anti-money laundering checks, ID verification checks, e-signature software, photocopying and scanning will be invoiced to you as administrative charges in addition to our own fees;
      5. the costs information contained in the Engagement Letter with you will normally include an estimate of our fees either in respect of the entire matter on which we are instructed or in respect of a particular phase or phases of work on the matter. Any such fee estimate will be given in good faith but will not be binding unless it is specifically agreed to be so. If the limit of the fee estimate is or is likely to be reached before the work to which it relates is completed, we will provide you with revised costs information and an updated fee estimate to complete the work. Similarly, if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary (for example, due to unexpected complexities or difficulties or because your requirements or the circumstances of the assignment have changed significantly), we will provide you with an estimate for the costs of the additional work (wherever practicable, before such costs are incurred). Sometimes this may not be possible if the priority is to deal with the matter in hand to meet a deadline and/or to expedite or complete the matter as soon as possible. In such situations we will charge fees on an hourly basis and will endeavour to update you either verbally or in writing on the fees incurred as soon as reasonably possible;
      6. by instructing us, you are authorising us to incur such charges and disbursements as we consider necessary although we will consult you before incurring any significant charges and disbursements such as tax counsel or other counsel’s fees, overseas specialist lawyers’ fees, experts’ fees, search fees and stamp duty land tax which will be charged to you (in addition to our own fees and administrative charges) as the fees that have been or will be charged to us; and
      7. our current hourly charge-out rates are set out in the Engagement Letter which accompanies these Terms. They apply to work carried out in the ordinary course of the matter during normal office hours. Where the work is extremely urgent or requires us to carry out substantial work outside normal office hours, we reserve the right to charge a premium on these rates. Our rates are reviewed from time to time, and we will notify you in writing of any change in these rates.
   2. Unless otherwise agreed in the Engagement Letter, we will be entitled to bill you for our fees, administrative charges and disbursements monthly and on completion of each There may be a delay in invoicing disbursements if we have not received relevant invoices from third parties and our bills are not a final bill in relation to disbursements and other administrative charges.
   3. VAT will be added to our fees, administrative charges and disbursements (when applicable) at the prevailing rate at the time of invoicing.
   4. We may deliver our bills to you electronically. Please let us know if you have any particular requirements for the delivery of our bills.
   5. Our bills become due for payment immediately after you receive them and in sterling. If we incur currency conversion or bank charges or suffer exchange rate losses on payments other than in sterling, we are entitled to make an additional charge to cover these.
   6. Please inform us if you would like a third party to be responsible for paying our bills or any part of them. We must approve this in advance and we will need the party’s name, contact details, details of connection with you and any other information or identification documents we request. Notwithstanding this arrangement, it is your responsibility to pay our bills even if a third party has agreed to pay some or all of them and our bills will still be addressed to you as our client. If someone else does pay some of our bills, you are responsible for paying the rest. We reserve the right to reject payments from third parties and to require payment directly from you as our client, and you can be reimbursed by the third party.
   7. If we are instructed by more than one person as our client, then we can require any of those persons to pay our bills in full (joint and several liability.)
   8. We reserve the right to charge interest on all or any part of overdue bills. Interest will accrue on a daily basis at the rate of 8% above the standard variable rate of our bank as published from time to time. Such interest is chargeable on a daily basis from the date of delivery of the bill until payment in full. Until all sums due to us have been paid, we have both a lien and a contractual right to hold on to certain of your papers and other assets in our possession (whether these relate to the services for which payment has not been made, or to other services).
   9. We may suspend or cease acting for you on your matter or any mater on which we have been instructed by you if any sums that are due (including interest) from you remain unpaid after 30 days or if our reasonable request of a payment on account of costs is not met.
   10. You have the right to challenge or complain about our bill. Please see paragraph 17 (Complaints) for details of how to complain about our bill.
   11. You have the right to challenge our bill by applying to the court to assess the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The usual time limit for applying to the court for an assessment is one month from the date of delivery of the bill.

10. Confidentiality

    1. Advice on your legal rights and obligations, any letters and other communications between us in connection with the giving of such advice, and any materials prepared by or for us for the purpose of actual or contemplated litigation is confidential to you. Its “privileged” status means that ordinarily it does not have to be produced to any other party and to the Court. However, you may lose this privilege if you discuss or reveal the contents of such advice or material to any other person.
    2. Save as required by law or any regulatory authority to which we are subject, we will keep confidential any information and materials which we hold about your identity, business and affairs, unless you permit disclosure, or the relevant circumstances are already in the public domain. We may however disclose such confidential information and materials (whether or not it is also subject to your legal professional privilege) about your identity and affairs:
       1. where disclosure of the information is required or permitted by law or regulatory requirements that apply to us; or
       2. where these Terms state otherwise.
    3. Examples of organisations to which we may be required to disclose your information include:
       1. the National Crime Agency;
       2. domestic and international tax authorities; and
       3. regulatory authorities.
    4. Unless you instruct us otherwise email will be our default method of communication. We deploy a range of information security measures, but we cannot guarantee the security of information or documents sent by email. If you do not wish us to communicate information by email, please let us know in writing.
    5. We reserve the right to disclose confidential information where we ask third parties to provide services such as typing, document production, and photocopying on our files to help us deliver efficient and cost-effective legal services.
    6. We may also disclose confidential information and use personal data we hold about you to help us make credit decisions about you, prevent fraud, check your identity and to prevent money laundering or other financial crime. We may disclose your details to our agents and service providers for any of these purposes without your prior consent.
    7. We may also ask other third parties to provide specific business and compliance support, for example:
       1. cloud based IT services;
       2. E-disclosure services;
       3. dataroom services;
       4. ID verification and anti-money laundering services; and
       5. tax advice.
    8. Where we use third party service providers, we ensure that those providers operate on terms that are consistent with our legal and professional obligations, including in relation to confidentiality and data protection. Information on outsourcing in relation to your personal data is set out in our Privacy policy – see paragraph 11 below.
    9. External organisations such as the Information Commissioner’s Office, Lexcel, the Firm’s auditors or insurers, the SRA and other professional and regulatory bodies may conduct audit or quality checks on our Firm from time to time. They may wish to audit, or quality check your file and related papers for this purpose. We will require that these external organisations maintain confidentiality in relation to any files and papers which are audited or quality checked.
    10. Your files may also be reviewed in a due diligence exercise relating to the sale or transfer of all or part of our business, the acquisition of another business by us or the acquisition of new business. If you do not wish your file to be used in this way, please let us know as soon as possible.

11. Privacy and data protection

    1. We use your personal data primarily to provide legal services to you, but also for related purposes such as administration, billing and record keeping and to inform you of our services and events that we think may be of interest to you.
    2. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a Controller.
    3. Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), other relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.
    4. We take your privacy very seriously. Our Privacy policy contains important information on how and why we collect, process and store your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data. The Privacy policy is available on our website at Teacher Stern LLP, but please contact us if you would like us to send a copy to you or if you would prefer us to explain our Privacy policy verbally.
    5. Where you provide any personal data to us (including personal data related to third parties involved in the instructed matter) you are responsible for ensuring that your disclosure of the personal data to us for our use in the provision of our services complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and other applicable data privacy laws. You have sole responsibility for the accuracy, quality and legality of the personal data you provide to us.
    6. We do not ordinarily rely on your consent to process your personal data. All personal data we take is either to enable us to perform our Contract or proposed arrangements with you, to advise you on the matters on which we are instructed, and/or to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations whether under applicable Anti Money Laundering Regulations or otherwise. We therefore consider that all personal data we obtain is reasonable and necessary for these purposes.
    7. We may also record telephone and video calls and monitor emails for training, regulatory and compliance purposes.
    8. We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, or text), about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services or Firm from time to time. You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time, by:
       1. emailing us at marketing@teacherstern.com; or
       2. using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails (or ‘STOP’ number in texts).

12. AI-Assisted Services Notice

Our firm may use secure, supervised AI tools to support document analysis and drafting.  All outputs are reviewed by qualified solicitors, and no confidential client data is shared with unapproved systems.

13. Banking and related matters

    1. Our client account Unless agreed otherwise, we hold client money (including payments on account) in our general client account with our UK bankers (currently HSBC Bank Plc) who are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and in accordance with the provisions of the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 2019.
    2. Changes to our bank details 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 us stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements.
    3. Your bank details It is a condition of our agreeing to act or continuing to act for you that you will provide us with details of a bank account held in your name from which you will make payment to us and into which we are authorised to make payment to you of monies which we receive in respect of your matter and that you will at all times while we continue to act for you either maintain that bank account or provide us promptly with details of an alternative bank account held in your name into which we are authorised to make payment to you of such monies.
    4. Payment of interest
       1. In accordance with the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 2019, we will pay a reasonable rate of interest to clients or third parties on client money we hold on their behalf. The general client account is an instant access account and therefore the rate of interest you receive will not be as high as you might obtain elsewhere.
       2. Where your money is held on our general client account, any client interest paid to you is paid without deduction for income tax. As such, it is your responsibility to inform HMRC of interest received from us and the implications of this will depend on your own personal circumstances.
       3. We will not pay interest:
          1. on money we are instructed to hold outside a client account in a manner that does not attract interest, e.g. cash held in our safe;
          2. where the amount of interest is de minimis i.e. less than £50;
          3. where we agree otherwise, in writing, with you or the third party for whom the money is held; or
          4. where we are holding money as a stakeholder, any interest accrued will be paid to the person to whom the stake is held.
       4. Please ask us if you would like to see our written payment of interest policy.
    5. Bank failure or delay and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
       1. 1. 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).
          2. 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.
          3. As at the date of these Terms, the compensation 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.
          4. The FSCS also provides up to £1m 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.
          5. 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.
          6. More information about the FSCS can be found at https://www.fscs.org.uk.
    6. Receiving and paying funds
       • • 1. We may require you to make payments to us from time to time on account of anticipated fees, administrative charges and disbursements. The prompt payment of any such payment on account will be a condition of our agreeing to act or continuing to act for you.
           2. Money held by us in client account from time to time may be taken by us in part or full payment of our invoices within 14 days of the date of the invoice unless the money is held for some other purpose. You agree that we can retain monies against unbilled and/or unpaid administrative charges and disbursements on your matter.
           3. Our policy is not to accept cash from clients.
           4. If we receive money in relation to your matter as a cash deposit or from a third party or an unexpected source, there may be a delay in your matter and we may charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary.
           5. Where we have to pay money to you, it will not be paid in cash or to a third party. Payments by us of any money to you or otherwise on your behalf will usually be by an electronic funds transfer or by cheque sent by ordinary post. We accept no responsibility or liability for any losses arising from any interception, misappropriation or delay in Please let us know if you would like us to use any particular payment method.
           6. The Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 2019 permit us only to receive money and to make payments from money which we hold on behalf of clients to recipients and for purposes which are connected with the delivery of the Services on the matter or transaction in respect of which the money has been received and held by We will not accept monies or any instruction to accept or make a payment which does not meet these requirements and will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost, or expense which may arise directly or indirectly because of any failure or delay by us in carrying out an instruction to pay monies which would, or we have reason to believe would, place us in breach of our obligations under the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 2019.

14. Prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, and financial crime

    1. As a firm of solicitors, we must comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing requirements and those relating generally to financial or economic crime. Such requirements are for all our protection. 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 connected to our clients such as directors or beneficial owners and approved third parties providing instructions or funds and to verify your business structure, organisation history and sources of wealth and funds. If you or they do not provide us with the required information promptly, your matter may be delayed. We will be especially interested in funds involved in a transactional matter on which we are instructed, even where they do not enter our client account.
    2. We will let you know what information and evidence we need from you, so we can complete our compliance checks which are required before we can begin work on your matter. This applies throughout our business relationship, and we may additionally carry out periodic checks (including the refreshing of materials previously provided) and not just before we commence work on a particular matter.
    3. You agree that we may make checks using third party online electronic verification systems or other databases throughout and beyond our Contract, as we deem fit to comply with our obligations. We will charge you for these identification and verification checks as set out in the Engagement Letter.
    4. You must not send us any money until we have told you these checks have been completed or as we stipulate in writing.
    5. We may ask you to confirm the source of any money you have sent us or will send us. We may require supporting evidence of such confirmation in accordance with our legal obligations. If you do not provide us with that information promptly, your matter may be delayed.
    6. Any personal data we receive from you for the purpose of preventing money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing or financial or economic crime will be used only for that purpose or:
       1. with your consent; or
       2. as permitted or required by or under law or regulation applying to us.
    7. We are professionally and legally obliged to keep your affairs confidential. However, we may be required by law to make a disclosure to the National Crime Agency or other regulatory authority where we know or suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing or financial or economic crime. If we make a disclosure in relation to you or your matter (or a third party involved with your matter), we may not be able to tell you that a disclosure has been made. We may also have to stop working on your matter and withhold your money for a period of time until the issue is resolved and may not be able to tell you why.
    8. Subject to paragraph 8 (‘Our liability to you’), we shall not be liable for any loss arising from or connected with our compliance with any statutory obligation, or any belief we may have, to report matters to the relevant authorities under the provisions of any legal or regulatory requirements aimed at preventing money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing or other crime and in particular by reason of any delay or failure to progress or proceed with your matter which has arisen in connection compliance generally with such legal or regulatory requirement. This includes circumstances where it turns out that we were not in fact legally obliged to make a report or correct in our belief, but we acted in good faith, and also applies even in circumstances where you may be subject to contractual obligations on a matter, such as an exchange or completion date, court or other deadline which may be time critical.
    9. In addition, at the commencement and periodically throughout our business relationship, we check that no person/entity associated with you or your matter is on any sanctions or watch list maintained by various national and international bodies and any such listing will entitle us to terminate the our engagement immediately with you and all and/or any connected persons and at our discretion charge for all work carried out. These checks apply equally to opponents and third parties with whom we have no business relationship. If anyone involved in a matter is sanctioned, we will not proceed further with the matter and reserve the right to charge for work carried out.
    10. We reserve the right to decline an instruction or terminate it or the Contracts, where the opponent or third party in your matter is not legally represented by a UK lawyer or is otherwise not appropriately qualified and regulated. That the opponent is legally represented is an integral layer of protection against financial crime and we are all less protected when this does not occur. Should we decide to proceed in such circumstances our fees are likely to increase in line with the additional compliance work and risk.
    11. We reserve the right to terminate the Engagement if we are not given the information requested under this paragraph 14 or if we are not satisfied with the information provided or the results of our checks. We shall not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense which may directly or indirectly arise from such termination.

15. Financial services

    1. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). However, we are included on the register maintained by the FCA so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. The register can be accessed via the FCA website at fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the SRA.
    2. We are also not authorised by the FCA to provide investment advice services. If you need advice on investments, we may refer you to someone who is authorised by the FCA to provide the necessary advice.

16. Professional indemnity insurance

    1. As required by the SRA, we maintain 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 can be provided on request.
    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, brokers and external advisers on a confidential basis.

17. Complaints

    1. We want to provide high quality legal advice and client care at all times. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we are providing please contact us immediately, so we can do our best to resolve the problem.
    2. In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your matter or the partner who normally has overall responsibility for your work to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, please read our full complaints procedure here Our Complaints Policy – Teacher Stern or available on request. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your
       1. We have eight weeks to consider any formal complaint during which we will investigate your concerns and then respond setting out our proposed resolution or outcome. If we have not resolved it within this time or you do not agree with our response, you may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Generally, this applies if you are an individual, a business with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or assets not exceeding a certain threshold, a charity or membership organisation with a net annual income of less than £1m, a trustee of a trust with an asset value of less than £1m, or if you fall within certain other categories (you can find out more from the Legal Ombudsman). The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your matter.
       2. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
          1. within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint; and
          2. no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
          3. no more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
       3. If you would like more information, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:
          1. visiting legalombudsman.org.uk;
          2. calling 0300 555 0333 between 09.00 to 16.00 (Mon – Fri);
          3. emailing enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; or
          4. writing to Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
       4. 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.
       5. The SRA’s website contains information on raising concerns about solicitors and law firms.

18. Terminating your instructions

    1. You may terminate our engagement at any time by giving us notice in writing.
    2. We can also decide to stop acting for you with good reason, for example, where we feel that the relationship has broken down, if you do not pay a bill, if you provide us with misleading information or if you act in an abusive or offensive manner. We will give you reasonable notice before we stop acting for you if that is practicable.
    3. If you terminate our engagement or we decide that we should stop acting for you, we will charge you for the work we have done and all our administrative charges and disbursements and, where appropriate, our work in transferring the matter to another adviser if you so request. This will be calculated on the basis set out in the Engagement Letter. We can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for our charges or disbursements.
    4. We are not responsible for reminding you about important dates and/or any deadlines after our engagement has been terminated.

19. Storage and retrieval of files

    1. We may create and hold your client files in hard copy (paper), electronically or a combination of both.
    2. We normally store client files and papers (except any of your papers you ask to be returned to you) in electronic or paper form for seven years after we send you our final bill. Unless you instruct us to the contrary, we may destroy paper documents once we have made electronic copies for the file. We store the file on the understanding that we may destroy/delete it after seven years. We will not destroy original documents such as wills, deeds and other securities that we have agreed to hold in safe custody but we may, on reasonable notice, send them to you for safekeeping.
    3. We will not normally charge for this storage.
    4. If we retrieve your file or any papers from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act for you, we will not normally charge for the retrieval.
    5. If we retrieve your file from storage for another reason, we may charge you for:
       1. time spent retrieving the file and producing it to you;
       2. reading, correspondence, or other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved file; and/or
       3. providing additional copies of any documents.
    6. Our Privacy and data policy contains more information about how long we keep personal data for — see paragraph 11 above.

20. Distance selling regulations

In accordance with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, subject to the exceptions set out below, if you are a consumer, you have the right to cancel your instructions to us within the period of fourteen days beginning with the day on which you receive the Engagement Letter and these Terms, unless the period of fourteen days ends on a weekend or bank holiday, in which case the period will end on the next working day.

21. Enforceability

If at any time any provision of these Terms is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any respect under the law of any jurisdiction that shall not affect or impair the legality, validity or enforceability in that jurisdiction of the remainder of these Terms.

22. Equality and Diversity

    1. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, employees and third We will not discriminate in the way we provide our services on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, personal status, disability, race, colour, religion, age, nationality or ethnic origins. Please read our Equality and Diversity Policy here Corporate Social Responsibility – Teacher Stern or available on request.
    2. If it would assist you for our services to be delivered in a different way, please let us know and we will investigate how we can help. Our Equality and Diversity Policy includes information on reasonable adjustments.

23. General

    1. Variation The terms of the Engagement Letter and these Terms may not be varied unless agreed in writing by a partner.
    2. Further instructions These Terms together with our current hourly rates at the relevant time, will apply to future assignments also, unless we agree variations to those terms with you in writing or we issue an entirely separate letter of engagement or revised Standard Terms of Business.
    3. Headings The headings in these Terms are for ease of reference only and do not affect their interpretation.