Terms & Conditions
The following Terms & Conditions will apply to the provision of services by Use a Paralegal Limited to you unless and to the extent that they are varied in writing. By using the Use a Paralegal Limited service you accept these Terms & Conditions. These Terms & Conditions will be effective from the point that you book an appointment with us or the commencement of our services, which ever occurs first.
Your attention is drawn to the clause headed “Limitation of Liability” on the final page of this agreement which limits our liability to you.
Occasionally we are obliged to vary our Terms & Conditions in which case we will notify you and to the extent permissible. The updated terms shall then apply. Sometimes, during the course of providing the service to you, we may agree other changes with you in writing.
Our Work for you
We will provide you with paralegal services and shall carry out our work with due skill and care. Please note that Use a Paralegal Limited paralegals are not solicitors or barristers. It is not part of our role to advise on the risk or otherwise of commercial, financial or business decisions. In particular we do not advise on the commercial or financial viability or merits of transactions or the business risks associated with them.
We accept no liability to anyone other than you in connection with our services, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing. If you share our advice or the benefit of our services you agree to indemnify us for any liability including any legal costs we may incur as a result of any claim brought by a third party who has relied on our advice or service.
Our work can only be performed on the basis of information you provide to us. It is therefore essential and in your interest, that you co-operate with us and provide us with the information we need to complete our work and that the information provided is up-to-date, accurate, complete and provided to us in a timely manner. You must not ask us to work in an improper way or mislead us.
From time to time (if you are a business owner) you may ask for work or advice to be completed for a subsidiary or company within your group company or personal ownership. In such circumstances you agree that these Terms & Conditions shall continue to apply.
You should notify us as soon as possible of any changes to information which has been supplied to us and of any new information which may be relevant to our work for you.
Communication
We will, unless otherwise agreed with you (or if you do not have an email address), correspond with you and/or third parties identified to you by email only, wherever possible. Appointments with our service are by telephone call.
We advise all of our customers to use their private email address as opposed to a work or employer’s email address for correspondence and communication. You should ensure your email account is secure. We cannot be accountable for the contents of any emails once they have left our servers particularly where such emails have been altered or corrupted. Should you receive a request for payment of an invoice then please call us by telephone to confirm the validity of an invoice and where payment should be sent. You should not rely on any telephone number contained in an email and should always use the telephone number on our website.
Fees
Our fees for acting on your behalf will be billed at £89.00 per 40 minutes. Thereafter you are billed £44.50 per 20 minutes in 20 minute blocks/increments.
In some cases it is more appropriate to agree a fixed fee and in such cases, the amount charged will not vary according to the amount of work undertaken.
We will inform you if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary, for example due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the matter. We will also inform you in writing of the estimated cost of that extra work before incurring any additional costs.
Payments & Cancellation
You will not be charged for any work until it has been undertaken (the relevant appointment or booked time has ended) however we will require your payment confirmation prior to the work being carried out. The time you pay for may be incurred during your appointment time on the telephone or following any instructions from you to complete some work for you remotely. An invoice shall be sent to you following your appointment. If you have any queries about your invoice, you should contact us immediately.
If you do not pay the bills for your transaction we reserve the right to stop providing our service to you. If we stop providing any further service, you will be responsible for payment of all charges incurred up to the time we cease to providing our service.
We must point out that we have the right to retain your files and documents by exercising a lien over them in respect of outstanding costs. This could result in delays to your work being completed or your file of papers being released to you or any third party nominated by you.
You should be aware that in the event that all or part of a bill remains unpaid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the unpaid amount at the rate applicable to judgement debts.
You may cancel an appointment at any time without cost, provided you confirm your cancellation at least 24 hours prior to your booked appointment time. You may confirm your cancellation by clicking here. Any appointments cancelled within 24 hours shall still be charged for however you may reconvene your appointment at a later date provided it is booked for a date within 12 months of your original booking date.
In all circumstances you are responsible for paying our fees whether or not your matter involves a third party.
Confidentiality
We shall keep your affairs confidential at all times, subject to any statutory exceptions. You shall also keep any matter concerning our agreement confidential.
Severence
If any provision or part-provision of this agreement is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, but that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of this agreement. If any provision or part-provision of this agreement is deemed deleted under this clause the parties shall negotiate in good faith to agree a replacement provision that, to the greatest extent possible, achieves the intended commercial result of the original provision.
Assignment
We may assign this agreement at any time without your consent to an assignee.
Limitation of Liability
Our aggregate liability to you in contract, tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), misrepresentation or restitution, howsoever arising shall not exceed our limit for professional indemnity insurance which is currently £1,000,000.00.
Our liability for breach of contract and in negligence will rest with the company and not with any director, employee, or shareowner, who might otherwise be liable.
Entire Agreement
These Terms & Conditions forms the entire agreement between the parties in relation to the paralegal services we provide to you. It replaces any other agreements, representations or discussions. You acknowledge that by using our services you do not rely on any statement, representation, assurance or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in these Terms & Conditions. You agree that you shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation or negligent misstatement based on any other statement made. Any variation or addition to these Terms & Conditions can only be agreed if made in writing by a director of Use a Paralegal Limited.