1. Client Care and Service:
I perform my services on behalf of Peter Davey Barrister Limited, of which I am the sole director. In performing those services I will:
- act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made.
- protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties.
- discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved.
- provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it and the way the services will be provided.
- charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and let you know how and when you will be billed.
- give you clear information and advice.
- protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality.
- treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination.
- keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed.
- let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
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. If you have any questions, please visit www.lawsociety.org.nz or call 0800 261 801.
My obligations are owed to my client(s) and no other person may rely on my services unless this is agreed by me in writing.
2. Fees:
I record time spent on a file at an hourly rate that will be advised to you at the commencement of any instructions although the value of the time recorded is only one of the factors that is taken into account in setting a fee that is fair and reasonable. Other factors include the importance, urgency and complexity of the matter, the amount or value of any property involved and the results achieved.
I will periodically issue invoices on behalf of Peter Davey Barrister Limited for my services. Those invoices will also include any disbursements that I have incurred in performing my services. For example, this could include filing fees charged by the Ministry of Justice for filing documents in court, charges for serving documents and fees charged by experts. I may require monies to be paid into the trust account of my instructing solicitors as security for payment of my fees and disbursements (“Retainer”).
3. Termination of services
My services will come to an end once they have been completed or we may agree to terminate them before that occurs. You also have the right to terminate my services at any time by giving reasonable notice in writing to me. I may terminate my services for “good cause” which include:
- If you give instructions that would require me to breach any professional obligations;
- If you have not paid my invoices or a Retainer on the terms agreed between us;
- If you do not provide me with instructions in a sufficiently timely way.
- When my services are terminated you will be required to pay me for my services (including disbursements) reasonably and properly provided to you prior to the date of termination.
4. Complaints:
Please contact me by phone or in writing if you have a complaint about my services or fees.
If I cannot resolve your complaint then you may refer it to a barrister mutually agreed by us. Alternatively, the Law Society operates the Lawyers Complaints Service and you are able to make a complaint to that service. To do so, phone 0800 261 801 and you will be connected to the nearest Complaints Service Office, which can provide information and advice about making a complaint.
5. Professional Indemnity Insurance:
Peter Davey Barrister Limited holds professional indemnity insurance that meets or exceeds the minimum standards specified by the Law Society and I can provide you with particulars of those minimum standards upon request. The liability of Peter Davey Barrister Limited and myself for any claim that is related in any way to the services provided by me is limited to the maximum amount of the cover of my professional indemnity insurance.
6. 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. Except in certain circumstances specified in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, 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.
Peter Davey, BCom/LLB - Barrister in Auckland, NZ
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