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By booking an appointment online with Brachers, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions below.
1. Who will be dealing with the matter?
Where you have booked an appointment with a named solicitor, it is intended that that person will provide the advice. This is subject to our rights under section 4 below.
2. Who is our client?
We will assume the person making the booking is the person intended to be our client.
If you are seeking to make a booking online on behalf of someone else please explain this in the comments box when booking. You will need to include their name and contact details.
3. Conflict of interest checks
After we have received your booking, we will check to make sure there are no conflicts of interest with other parties involved in your case.
Should we identify any reason why it is not appropriate for us to act for you we will notify you by telephone or by email as soon as we can and, where we reasonably can, we will recommend other advisers you can consider.
4. Cancellation/refusal of appointment/change of adviser
We reserve the right to refuse or cancel any booking at any time, although we would normally only do so in exceptional circumstances.
We may, for business operational reasons, need to change your chosen/appointed adviser. Where this becomes necessary, we will inform you of the proposed change and you can then choose whether you wish to proceed or cancel your appointment.
5. Amending your appointment time
You can amend your appointment online up to the deadline stated in your confirmation email. If you would prefer to speak to us about rearranging your appointment, you can call 01622 690691 and ask for the relevant team.
If you need to amend your appointment time after the deadline for making changes online, please call us.
For chargeable appointments, there may be a cancellation fee if you cancel your appointment at late notice. Please see the terms and conditions for the type of appointment you have booked, below.
6. Identity verification and anti-money laundering checks
We are legally required to carry out identification checks on all clients. We will therefore need you to provide us with specific identification documents and your current home address before we can proceed with any chargeable consultation/meeting with you.
Details of how to do this will be provided within your booking confirmation email where relevant.
7. Fixed fee
For chargeable appointments, you are agreeing to a fixed-fee piece of work charged at the price shown on the booking page.
Please note our charges are subject to VAT, charged at 20%. For example, a £100 fixed fee results in a cost to you of £120 including VAT.
8. Timetable for the work
We will meet with you at the time agreed between us.
9. Chargeable appointments
If you are booking an appointment that we charge for, please read the additional terms and conditions below which apply to the type of appointment you’re booking.
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10. Settlement agreements
10.1 Who will be supervising the matter?
The advice provided on your settlement agreement, will be primarily supervised by Catherine Daw, Partner and Head of Employment. Other supervision may be provided by other Partners in the employment team. Find out more about our team.
10.2 Cancellation charge
Where you need to cancel your appointment you may do so without charge up to two business hours prior to your booked appointment time. Our business hours for this purpose are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.
Where you need to cancel within two business hours of your appointment time we may, at our discretion, charge you £100 plus VAT to cover the time we have spent preparing for your appointment.
10.3 Assumptions
The fixed fee is based on the following assumptions:
- That you provide us with the proposed settlement agreement at least 24 hours before your appointment time.
- That the agreement is in a standard form and meets the minimum requirements for agreements of this sort.
- That you are prepared to sign the settlement agreement following our meeting/discussion and changes to the agreement aren’t required.
10.4 Scope of work within the fixed fee
a) Receiving and reviewing the settlement agreement ahead of our consultation/appointment.
b) Meeting with you for up to one hour to review the terms of the agreement with you and provide you with the legally required advice as to its terms.
c) You then decide whether you want to sign the agreement offered to you by your employer as it stands or seek any changes.
The work in (a) and (b) above is the work which needs to be undertaken in order to meet the legal requirements for signing settlement agreements.
If, following our advice on the terms, you would like to ask for changes to be made to the agreement, further charges will apply. We will, where possible, provide you with a further cost estimate (or fixed cost if applicable) for this further work.
10.5 Work not included within the fixed fee
- Advice on tax. We will explain to you the proposed tax treatment detailed in your agreement (where this is set out) but we do not provide any wider advice on taxation matters.
- Work on calculating post-employment notice pay (PENP) for the purposes of tax treatment. The expectation is that your employer will undertake this calculation.
- Wider advice, for example on the enforceability of post-employment restrictions, the likelihood that you would succeed in legal claims against your employer (or anyone else), pension or share issues.
- Drafting or negotiating amendments to the agreement, and reviewing and providing advice on any changes which are made.
- Anything else not specifically mentioned as being in scope.
- Advice on a second (or reaffirmation) agreement.
10.6 Responsibility for the fixed fee – how does this work with any employer contribution?
Are my legal costs paid for by my employer?
If you have been given a settlement agreement by your employer, you are legally required to take advice on its terms. Advice meetings for standard agreements are charged at £500 plus VAT which is usually paid for in full or in part by your employer. Please review our terms and conditions for more information.
If you decide to sign the agreement following your consultation with us, and subject to the points below, we will invoice your employer directly for the amount they have agreed to contribute towards the costs of seeking advice on the agreement terms.
Any additional fees incurred over this amount will be invoiced to you separately.
When will I have to pay costs?
You will be responsible for our fees above any contribution paid by your employer.
Where possible, we will agree any additional fees above the fixed fee with you in advance but on occasions, particularly where work is required over a short period, it may not be possible to precisely agree the scope of fees with you in advance.
As you are the client and not your employer, you also need to be aware that on the rare occasion when an employer does not pay the agreed legal fee contribution then you will be responsible for all of our fees.
Steps can then be taken by you to enforce the part of the settlement agreement by which your employer has agreed to make the contribution towards your fees.
If once we have reviewed the agreement, you or your employer decide not to go ahead and enter into the settlement agreement, then you would be responsible for all of our fees.
10.7 What if I want advice or assistance outside the in-scope advice?
We would be happy to assist as necessary. For example, if you would like to ask for changes to be made to the agreement or if you would like advice about something other than the strict terms of the agreement.
Where a fixed cost is not offered for such further work, we will charge for our work on a time-spent basis against the following hourly rates:
Partners – £350 – 390 plus VAT
Senior Associate – £310 plus VAT
Associates – £285 plus VAT
Solicitors – £275 plus VAT
Trainee Solicitors – £150 plus VAT
Legal Assistants – £150 plus VAT
If you want to ask for changes to be made to the agreement, these additional costs are likely to be at least £250 plus VAT, although they may be higher if a number of changes need to be made or the changes are complex.
11. Family fixed-fee
11.1 Who will be supervising the matter?
The advice provided will be primarily supervised by Mei-Ling McNab, Partner and Head of Family. Other supervision may be provided by other Partners in the family team. Find out more about our team.
11.2 Cancellation charge
Where you need to cancel your appointment, you may do so without charge up to one working day prior to your booked appointment time. Our working days for this purpose are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
Where you need to cancel within one working day of your appointment time, we may, at our discretion, charge you £100 plus VAT to cover the time we have spent preparing for your appointment.
11.3 Assumptions
The fixed fee is based on the following assumptions:
- That you provide us with £250 on account at least 24 hours before your appointment time.
- That you provide the required ID at least 24 hours before your appointment time.
11.4 Scope of work within the fixed fee
Meeting with you for up to one hour to provide you with advice on family matters, including divorce, civil partnership, finances on separation, cohabitants’ rights, disputes regarding child arrangements, and/or emergency injunctions following domestic abuse.
You then decide whether you want to instruct us to act on your behalf in respect of such matters. We will then provide you with a cost estimate for such further work as may be required.
11.5 Work not included within the fixed fee
- Advice on children matters where the local authority are an interested party.
- Wider advice, for example on what division of your financial assets may be considered to be fair in your circumstances.
- Anything else not specifically mentioned as being in scope.
11.6 What if I want advice or assistance outside the in-scope advice?
We would be happy to assist as necessary. Where a fixed cost is not offered for such further work, we will charge for our work on a time- spent basis against the following hourly rates:
Partners – £350 – £380 plus VAT
Consultant – £350 plus VAT
Associates – £290 plus VAT
Legal Executives – £250 plus VAT
Solicitors – £230 plus VAT
Paralegals and Legal Assistants – £155 plus VAT
Your requirements will be discussed with your chosen legal advisor during your consultation.
12. Pre/post-nuptial agreement initial appointments
12.1 Who will be supervising the matter?
The advice provided on your nuptial agreement will be primarily supervised by Mei-Ling McNab, Partner and Head of Family. Other supervision may be provided by other Partners in the family team. Find out more about our team.
12.2 Cancellation charge
Where you need to cancel your appointment, you may do so without charge up to one working day prior to your booked appointment time. Our working days for this purpose are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
Where you need to cancel within one working day of your appointment time, we may, at our discretion, charge you £100 plus VAT to cover the time we have spent preparing for your appointment.
12.3 Assumptions
The fixed fee is based on the following assumptions:
- That you provide us with £380 plus VAT on account at least 24 hours before your appointment time.
- That you provide the required ID at least 24 hours before your appointment time.
12.4 Scope of work within the fixed fee
Meeting with you for up to one hour to provide you with advice on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements.
You then decide whether you want to instruct us to act on your behalf in respect of such matters. We will then provide you with a cost estimate for such further work as may be required.
12.5 Work not included within the fixed fee
- Wider advice, for example on what division of your financial assets may be considered to be fair on divorce in your circumstances or on child arrangements following separation.
- Anything else not specifically mentioned as being in scope.
12.6 What if I want advice or assistance outside the in-scope advice?
We would be happy to assist as necessary. Where a fixed cost is not offered for such further work, we will charge for our work on a time- spent basis against the following hourly rates:
Partners – £350 – £380 plus VAT
Consultant – £350 plus VAT
Associates – £290 plus VAT
Legal Executives – £250 plus VAT
Solicitors – £230 plus VAT
Paralegals and Legal Assistants – £155 plus VAT
Your requirements will be discussed with your chosen legal advisor during your consultation.
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14. General Terms and Conditions
The work we undertake for you and your relationship with us as a client are further governed by our general Terms and Conditions.