General

1. The services agreed between us are outlined in my Letter of Engagement and should be read in conjunction with these Terms of Engagement (together, the Services). The Services may be varied in writing.
2. These Terms of Engagement (Terms) apply to any current engagement we have and also to any future engagement, whether or not you are sent another copy of these Terms. I may amend these Terms from time to time, in which case the amended Terms will apply from the date they are sent to you or published on my website.
3. The Services are governed by New Zealand law, and New Zealand courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Standards of Conduct and Client Care

4. While lawyer’s have an overriding duty to the courts and to the justice system in New Zealand, there are a number of obligations lawyers owe to their clients, more particularly described in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (the Rules). These obligations owed to clients are summarised as follows:
   • a) to act competently, in a timely way and in accordance with your instructions
   • b) to protect and promote your interests and to act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties
   • c) to discuss with you your objectives and how they should be best achieved
   • d) to provide you with information about the work to be done
   • e) to charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and to let you know how and when you will be billed
   • f) to give you clear information and advice
   • g) to protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality
   • h) to treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination
   • i) to keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed
   • j) to let you know how to make a complaint and to deal with any complaint promptly and fairly
5. The Rules, above, are based on the fundamental obligations of lawyers:
   • a) to uphold the rule of law and to facilitate the administration of justice in New Zealand
   • b) to be independent in providing regulated services to clients
   • c) to act in accordance with all fiduciary duties, and the duties of care owed by lawyers to their clients
   • d) to protect, subject to the overriding duties as an officer of the High Court and the duties under any enactment, the interest of the client
6. The Rules are not exhaustive of the conduct expected of lawyers, but they do set a minimum standard that lawyers must observe, and they do provide a reference point for discipline.
7. The Rules have been made by the New Zealand Law Society and approved by the Minister of Justice. The Rules require lawyers to provide clients (in advance of the Services being provided) with information pertaining to the standards of conduct and client care including the kinds of conduct for which a lawyer may be disciplined (as set out above), and information pertaining to the fees to be charged and the principal aspects of the Services to be provided (as set out in my Letter of Engagement, and more particularly described below).

Communication

8. I will obtain from you your contact details, including, email address, postal address and telephone number. Most correspondence and communication with you will be by email. You must immediately advise me if any of your contact details change.
9. I will report to you periodically on the progress of our engagement and inform you of any material and unexpected delays, significant changes or complications. You may request a progress report at any time.

Fees

10. My fee is set out in my Engagement Letter.
11. Where I have quoted a fixed fee in my Engagement Letter, I will charge this for the agreed Services. Where the agreed Services extend beyond the fixed fee quoted, resulting in the need to charge an hourly rate, I will advise you of this as soon as reasonably practicable.
12. Where my fee is calculated by hourly rate, my time will be recorded in six-minute units. The time I record may be adjusted upwards or downwards to ensure my fee is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. Full details of the factors taken into account in determining a fee are set out in Chapter 9 of the Rules.

Estimates

13. You may request an estimate of my fees for services at any time and I will provide this, where possible, which may be a range between a minimum and a maximum amount, or for a particular task or step.
14. An estimate is not a quote. Any significant assumptions will be stated in the estimate and you must tell me if those assumptions are wrong or change. I will inform you if I am likely to exceed the estimate by any substantial amount.

Disbursements

15. During the Services, disbursements may be incurred on your behalf and will be included in my invoice. Disbursements may include items such as searches, filing or registration fees, travel or courier charges.
16. You authorise me to incur these disbursements which are reasonably necessary to provide you with the Services, and to include these in my invoice.

Administrative Expenses

17. In addition to disbursements, I may charge an administrative fee of $25 to cover out of pocket expenses which are not disbursements and separate from the time spent on legal services. An administrative fee covers items such as photocopying, printing, postage, file storage, telecommunications.

Invoices and Payment

18. I may send interim invoices, but regardless, will send an invoice on completion of the matter or termination of our engagement.
19. My invoices are payable within 7 days of the date of the invoice (unless we have agreed on an alternative arrangement) with all payments to be made by direct credit into my Westpac account number 03 0415 0130499 000.
20. Overdue accounts may incur penalty interest of 15% p.a. calculated daily on the unpaid overdue amount. Overdue accounts may also result in Services ceasing and/or additional costs being added that arise from debt collection.
21. If you have difficulty paying any account, please contact me immediately to discuss a possible payment arrangement.

Confidentiality

22. I will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that I acquire during the course of acting for you. I will not disclose any of this information to any other person except to the extent necessary or desirable to enable me to carry out the Services, or as expressly or impliedly agreed by you, or as necessary to protect my interests in respect of any complaint or dispute, or to the extent required or permitted by law.

Personal Information and Privacy

23. In my dealings with you I will collect and hold personal information about you and use that information to carry out the Services.
24. From time to time I may also share communications with you on matters I believe may be of interest to you.
25. You authorise me to disclose, in the normal course of performing the Services, such personal information to third parties for the purpose of providing the Services, and any other purposes set out in these Terms.
26. I will comply with the Privacy Act 2020 at all times in terms of the information I collect and hold about you.

Documents, Records and Information

27. I will keep records of all important documents which I receive or create on your behalf electronically (except where the existence of an original is legally important such as in the case of a will or a deed).
28. I may dispose of documents which are duplicates, or which are trivial (such as emails which do not contain substantive information), or documents which belong to me.
29. I am not obliged to retain copies of documents where you have requested that I provide them to you or to another person, although I am entitled to retain copies for my own records if I wish to do so.
30. I will provide to you, upon request, copies of all documents to which you are entitled under the Privacy Act 2020 or any other law. I may charge reasonable costs for doing this.
31. Where I hold documents for you that belong to a third party, you will need to provide me with that party’s written authority to uplift those documents.
32. Unless you instruct me in writing otherwise, I may (without further reference to you) destroy (or delete in the case of electronic records) all files and documents in respect of the Services, seven years after our engagement ends (other than any documents that I hold in safe custody for you or are otherwise obliged by law to retain for longer). I may retain documents for longer at my option.
33. I may return documents (either in hard or electronic form) to you rather than retain them. If I choose to do this, I will do so at my expense.
34. I own the copyright in all documents or work that I have created in the course of performing the Services but grant you a non-exclusive licence to use and copy the documents as you see fit for your own personal or commercial use. You may not however, permit any third party to copy, adapt or use the documents without my written permission.

Conflicts of Interest

35. I am obliged to protect and promote your interests, to the exclusion of the interests of third parties, including myself, as set out in Chapter 5 of the Rules. This may result in a situation arising where we have a conflict of interest.
36. If a conflict of interest arises, I will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in Rules 5.4, 5.11 and 6.1. This may mean I cannot act for you further in a particular matter and I may terminate our engagement.

Duty of Care

37. My duty of care is to you, and not to any other person. I owe no liability to any other person, including for example any directors, shareholders, associated companies, employees or family members, unless we expressly agree in writing.
38. I do not accept any responsibility or liability to any third parties who may be affected by the Services I provide to you arising from our engagement, or who may have relied on the advice I have given personally to you.
39. My advice is not to be referred to in any prospectus, financial statement, or public document without my written consent.
40. My advice is an opinion, based on the facts as relayed to me, and based on my professional judgement. My advice may be subject to any changes in the law after the date on which the advice is given. I am not liable for information provided to you by third parties.
41. My advice relates only to the particular matter in which you engaged me. Once that matter is at an end, I will not owe you any duty or liability in respect of any related or other matters, unless you specifically engage me in respect of those related or other matters.

Insurance

42. I do not hold professional indemnity insurance.
43. NZLS maintain a lawyers fidelity fund for the purpose of providing clients with protection against pecuniary loss arising from theft by lawyers. I do not operate a trust account so will not be holding funds on your behalf.

Termination

44. You may terminate our retainer at any time. I may terminate our retainer in any of the circumstances set out in the Rules, including the existence of a conflict of interest, non-payment of fees, and failure to provide instructions.
45. If our retainer is terminated you must pay all fees, disbursements and expenses incurred up to the date of termination.

Feedback and Complaints

46. Client satisfaction is paramount, both for me personally, and for the reputation of the profession. Feedback from a client is always welcome, and helpful. Likewise, if you have any concerns or complaints, please contact me as soon as possible so I can discuss the matter with you, investigate and respond.
47. If you are not satisfied with the way in which I have responded to your concern or complaint, please contact me in the first instance to express your dissatisfaction, and to allow me the opportunity to discuss the matter with you further. If we are unable to reach agreement, the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) complaints service is available:
    • a) To ask NZLS for guidance, phone 0800 261 801.
    • b) lodge a concern with NZLS.
    • c) Make a formal complaint to NZLS.
    • d) To send your concern or complaint to NZLS by email complaints@lawsociety.org.nz or by post to the Lawyers Complaints Service, P O Box 5041, Wellington 6140.