Terms of Business

Kang & Co Solicitors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our registered office is Cornwall Buildings, 45 Newhall Street, Birmingham, B3 3QR. Our company registration number is 10350638, our SRA number is 638269, and our VAT registration number is 274718770. We trade under the name Kang & Co Solicitors. You can contact us by telephone on 0345 222 9955 or by email at info@kangandco.co.uk. Further information about the professional regulations which apply to us is available from the SRA website, www.sra.org.uk, or by calling the SRA on 0370 606 2555.

Scope of Work

The scope of the work we have agreed to undertake for you is set out in the Engagement Letter sent to you (“Engagement Letter”) or, in the absence of an applicable Engagement Letter, as otherwise agreed with you in writing. No third party has any right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of the Engagement Letter or these Terms of Business.

A. When You Instruct Us

Responsibility for Your Matter

We will tell you which Director or Senior Manager has overall responsibility for your matter, and the person who will be dealing with your matter on a day-to-day basis if this is a different person. If other people within Kang & Co Solicitors become involved in your matter, we will tell you their name, job title, and the area of your matter they will be dealing with.

Whilst we will always endeavour to maintain continuity of representation, we reserve the right to reassign your matter to another suitably qualified fee earner where necessary, including in circumstances of absence, illness, workload, or other operational reasons. A change of fee earner does not affect your agreed fee or the terms of this retainer, and we will inform you of any significant change.

Conflicts of Interest

We search our records to protect you from conflicts of interest before accepting your instructions. If a conflict arises or may arise, for example where we find that your opponent is or has been our client, we may be unable to accept or continue acting on your matter. We may act for two or more clients in the same matter only where no conflict exists. If a conflict of interest arises during the course of our retainer, we may have to cease acting for one or more of you, and we will take such steps as are reasonably practicable to assist any affected client in obtaining alternative representation.

Your Identity

We are required by law to verify your identity before commencing work on your matter. You must provide us with proof of identity as requested, which may include attending a meeting with us for this purpose. If you do not comply with our requests for identification, we may be unable to act for you. We are required to monitor transactions and maintain records relating to your identity in accordance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, and we may ask you to provide updated proof of identity from time to time.

Your Authority

If you are a director or other representative acting on behalf of a company, we are entitled to assume that any instructions we receive from you have been properly authorised by that company.

B. Your Right to Cancel (Cooling-Off Period)

Because in most cases we do not meet with you in person to take your initial instructions, and you are an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 apply to our contract with you. This means that you have the right to cancel your instructions to us within 14 calendar days, without giving any reason. This cancellation period expires at the end of 14 days after the date on which this contract is entered into.

To exercise your right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision by a clear written statement. This may, for example, be a letter sent to Cornwall Buildings, 45 Newhall Street, Birmingham, B3 3QR, or an email to info@kangandco.co.uk. You may use the cancellation form attached to these Terms of Business, although you are not obliged to do so. If you cancel electronically, we will acknowledge receipt of your cancellation without delay.

Our Request to Begin Work Immediately

Given the nature of criminal and motoring defence proceedings, it will almost always be necessary for us to begin work on your matter immediately, without waiting for the 14-day cancellation period to expire, in order to protect your position and to meet court deadlines. By signing your Engagement Letter, you are expressly requesting that we begin work immediately, and you acknowledge the following:

• if you cancel within the 14-day period after we have begun work but before it is fully completed, you will remain liable to pay a fair and proportionate amount reflecting the work we have carried out up to the point of cancellation, and any balance of fees already paid will be refunded to you; and
• if all of the work for the relevant stage of your matter has been fully completed before you exercise your right to cancel, you will lose your right to cancel in respect of that stage entirely, and you will not be entitled to a refund of the agreed fee paid for that stage.

If you cancel before any work has begun, we will reimburse all payments received from you without undue delay, and in any event no later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed of your decision to cancel. We will use the same means of payment as you used for your original payment to us, unless you expressly agree otherwise. Where payment was made by credit or debit card, we will deduct a reasonable administrative processing fee from any refund: £50 where some work has been carried out on your file, or £100 where no work has been undertaken.

Equality and Diversity

We are committed to acting in a way that encourages equality, diversity, and inclusion in all of our dealings with clients, third parties, and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.

C. Our Charges and Payment

No Legal Aid or Insurance-Funded Instructions: Private Funding Only

Kang & Co Solicitors is a private fee-paying firm and does not hold a Legal Aid contract. We are unable to accept instructions funded by Legal Aid and are unable to advise you on your eligibility for Legal Aid. If you wish to explore Legal Aid funding, you should contact a firm that holds a Legal Aid contract, who will be able to advise you on your eligibility. We also do not accept instructions funded by Legal Expenses Insurance, as explained further below. We act for clients on a private fee-paying basis only.

The Agreed Fee

We work on an ‘agreed fee’ basis, set out clearly in your Engagement Letter. This is a fixed fee, agreed and paid before we begin work, covering your matter up to a defined stage, for example up to your police interview or your first court hearing. We will commence work once your agreed fee has been paid in full. The agreed fee is set on the understanding that we will represent you up to the agreed stage for that fee, even if the work involved takes longer than we initially anticipated.

The agreed fee is non-refundable once paid, even if your circumstances subsequently change, and even where a hearing is adjourned for reasons outside of our control or yours, for example due to the court’s own listing arrangements or the prosecution’s failure to serve evidence on time. The agreed fee covers our preparation for and attendance at the relevant hearing, regardless of whether that hearing proceeds as listed. Where a case is adjourned to a further hearing, a new agreed fee will become payable for that further stage in the usual way.

Where we are instructed to advise and assist you during a pre-charge police investigation, including attendance at a voluntary interview, the agreed fee for that stage is payable regardless of whether you are subsequently charged with any offence.

Representation at Court by a Barrister or Solicitor

Your agreed fee includes the cost of a barrister or a suitably qualified solicitor to represent you at court, where representation is required. We will determine, based on the nature and complexity of your case, whether your matter is best suited to representation by a barrister or by a solicitor, and we will select an advocate who is suitably qualified and experienced for your case. If you wish to instruct a specific advocate of your own choosing, or an advocate whose fees exceed those incorporated within your agreed fee, those additional fees will not form part of your agreed fee and will be payable by you directly to that advocate as a disbursement.

Disbursements

A disbursement is any cost incurred on your behalf which falls outside the scope of our own fee. Examples include expert witness fees, interpreter’s fees, or the fees of an advocate of your own choosing as described above. Expert witness fees are always treated as a disbursement, regardless of which expert is instructed, and are payable by you directly to the expert. If your case requires an expert, we will notify you as soon as possible so that you can make an informed decision about whether to proceed, and we will discuss the likely cost with you in advance. Similarly, if you require the services of an interpreter, the cost of that interpreter will be treated as a disbursement payable by you.

We will not incur any disbursement on your behalf without your prior written authorisation, and we will provide you with an estimate of the likely cost before seeking that authorisation. Reasonable travel costs (such as rail fare, mileage, parking, and toll charges) incurred by us in connection with your matter are absorbed within your agreed fee and are not charged separately.

Invoices and Payment of Stage Fees

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, we will invoice you for your agreed fee at the outset of your matter, and this invoice must be paid in full before we commence work. All invoices issued by us, including any subsequent stage fee invoice, are payable on the date that they are generated.

Where your matter proceeds to a further stage, for example where your case is adjourned to a further hearing, we will issue you with a new invoice for the agreed fee for that next stage. We would strongly encourage you to make payment promptly, as we are unable to carry out further work, or to attend any hearing on your behalf, until payment has been received in full.

Non-Payment of Invoices

If payment of any invoice is not received within a reasonable period, we will write to notify you of our intention to cease acting in your matter and to close your file, giving you a reasonable opportunity to make payment before taking that step. Where a court hearing is imminent, we will manage this process so as to avoid leaving you without representation immediately before that hearing, in keeping with our professional obligations. If payment is not received within the period specified, we will have no alternative but to cease acting for you. Please be aware that this may have serious consequences for your case, including the possibility that you are left without representation at a forthcoming hearing. Any fees already paid to us remain non-refundable.

Methods of Payment

We do not accept payment in cash. We accept payment by BACS bank transfer, and by Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Solo, and JCB cards. A handling fee may apply to card payments, which will vary depending on the type of card used and will be debited from your card at the time payment is processed.

Cyber Fraud

It is extremely unlikely that we will change our bank details during the course of your matter, or that we will email you with alternative banking details at any time. You must treat any communication purporting to change our bank details as fraudulent. If you receive any such communication, please contact the person dealing with your case by telephone immediately, and not by email. We will never request your payment card details or other sensitive financial information by email.

Legal Expenses Insurance

You may hold a policy of Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI), which could cover some or all of the cost of your matter. It is your responsibility to check with your insurer whether such cover exists and whether it extends to the type of matter for which you are instructing us. Kang & Co Solicitors does not accept instructions funded by Legal Expenses Insurance, and we are unable to accept payment of our fees directly from an insurance provider or to act on a panel basis for any insurer. If you hold LEI cover, you remain free to instruct us, but you would need to do so on our usual private fee-paying basis in accordance with these Terms of Business, and to make your own arrangements with your insurer regarding any reimbursement to which you may be entitled. You must tell us at the outset if you believe an insurance policy may apply to your matter, or if any third party has agreed to pay our fees on your behalf. If a third party agrees to pay our fees, you remain personally responsible to us for payment until our invoices have been paid in full.

Recovery of Legal Charges from Third Parties

Even where you are successful in your case, you may not recover the full amount of the charges you have paid us from any other party, and that party may not be ordered to pay, or may be incapable of paying, the full amount of your costs. You remain liable to pay our charges in full regardless of any costs order made in your favour.

Claiming Costs from Central Funds

As we do not hold a Legal Aid contract, if you are found not guilty in the Crown Court you will not be eligible to claim a percentage of your legal fees from Central Funds at legal aid rates, unless you have separately applied for and been refused Legal Aid by another firm. If you are found not guilty in the Magistrates’ Court, the court may make a Defence Costs Order, which, if granted, will result in you recovering a percentage of your legal fees from Central Funds.

Value Added Tax

VAT is added to our charges and to certain disbursements at the rate applicable when the work is carried out. At the date of these Terms of Business, VAT is charged at 20%.

D. Your Responsibilities

Providing Information

You must provide us with any information we request as soon as possible, and inform us if you believe that information to be incomplete or inaccurate. You are responsible for providing us with full, accurate, and honest instructions and information at all times, and for carrying out promptly any other task we ask you to undertake. We will not be responsible for any adverse outcome arising from your failure to provide us with information or to carry out a task we have asked you to complete.

Attendance at Court

You must attend all court hearings in connection with your matter unless we have expressly advised you otherwise in writing. Failure to attend a hearing may result in a warrant being issued for your arrest, your case proceeding in your absence, or other serious adverse consequences. We accept no responsibility for any adverse outcome arising from your failure to attend a hearing, and any additional costs arising from a hearing being adjourned as a result of your non-attendance will be your sole responsibility.

Compliance with Bail Conditions and Court Orders

Where you are subject to bail conditions or any other court order, it is your sole responsibility to comply with them at all times. We accept no responsibility for any consequence arising from your failure to comply with your bail conditions or any other order of the court, including the revocation of bail or remand into custody, which may also necessitate a revised agreed fee for any additional work required as a result.

Keeping Us Informed

You must notify us promptly of any change in your circumstances that may be relevant to your matter, including a change of address or contact details, new developments in your case, contact from the police or prosecution, or any new charges. You must ensure that the contact details you provide us with are accurate and kept up to date, as we will rely upon them for all communications with you.

Contact with the Police, Prosecution, or Court

Once you have instructed us, you should not contact the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the court, or any other party to your proceedings directly without first seeking our advice. Direct contact of this nature may seriously prejudice your case, and we accept no responsibility for any adverse consequence arising from it.

Social Media and Public Commentary

You should not post any information, commentary, or opinion about your case, the proceedings, or any person involved in your case on social media or in any public forum whilst your matter is ongoing. Doing so may seriously prejudice your case. If you are in any doubt, please seek our advice before making any public statement.

Prosecution Evidence and Disclosure Material

In the course of your matter, we may provide you with copies of evidence served by the prosecution, which may include witness statements, photographs, video or CCTV footage, body-worn video, and recordings of Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interviews. This material is provided to you solely for the purpose of your defence and to enable you to give us your instructions. You must not show, send, copy, post, or otherwise share any such material with any other person, including family members or friends, or on social media or any other platform, save with our express prior written agreement.

Sharing prosecution evidence in this way is a serious matter. Under section 17 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, using or disclosing prosecution material otherwise than in connection with the proceedings for which it was disclosed may amount to a contempt of court, and under section 18 of that Act you may be liable to be dealt with accordingly. Depending on the nature of the material and the manner in which it is shared, doing so may also amount to witness intimidation or perverting the course of justice, and could have serious adverse consequences for your own case, including in relation to your bail, your sentence, or the conduct of the proceedings against you.

If you are in any doubt about whether you are permitted to share a document or piece of material we provide to you, please contact us for advice before doing so.

E. No Guarantee of Outcome

Whilst we will provide you with competent, diligent, and professional representation, we cannot and do not guarantee any particular outcome in your case. The decision in your matter rests with the court, and our advice is based on the law and the facts available to us at the time it is given. We cannot be held responsible for changes in circumstances, new evidence, or judicial decisions that affect the outcome of your case.

F. Tax

We do not advise on the tax consequences of your matter. You should seek advice from your accountant on tax and similar matters, including VAT.

G. Your Papers, Confidentiality and Data Protection

Confidentiality

We take client confidentiality very seriously and are obliged to keep your affairs confidential. Because our work involves matters of a highly sensitive and personal nature, we are unable to discuss your case with your family members, partner, employer, or friends, or to provide them with any information about your matter, without your express written consent, regardless of the closeness of your relationship with that person.

Instructions From You Only

Where a third party, such as a family member, partner, or employer, pays your agreed fee or any invoice on your behalf, we will take instructions from you, our client, only. Payment of your fees by a third party confers no right upon that person to give us instructions, to direct the conduct of your case, or to receive any information about your matter.

In certain circumstances, in order to progress your matter, we may need to discuss elements of your case with the court, the prosecution, independent experts, barristers, or our own employees and agents. We may also be required to disclose information about you to authorities such as the police, HM Revenue & Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, or the National Crime Agency in connection with matters such as tax, fraud, bribery, money laundering, or terrorist financing. In such circumstances, you agree to waive our duty of confidence and the legal professional privilege attaching to your communications with us. Where we are required to make such a disclosure, we may be unable to tell you that it has been made, and we may have to stop working on your matter for a period without being able to explain why. We may record telephone calls for training and security purposes.

Sharing Your File for the Purpose of a Complaint

Where you make a complaint about our service, we may, at our discretion, instruct an independent third party to review and consider your complaint. By instructing us, you consent to us sharing your file, including your personal data and confidential information, with such a third party for the sole purpose of investigating and responding to your complaint. Any third party instructed for this purpose will be required to keep your file and information confidential.

Rights

We retain copyright and all other rights in any reports, draft agreements, written advice, or other materials we produce, and in any systems we use, while acting for you, and we may use such materials in connection with any other matter we handle. If you wish to use our materials for any other purpose, you will need our prior written permission.

Releasing Your Papers

We have the right to retain your papers and other items held on your behalf until our charges and expenses have been paid in full. This is known as a lien.

File Retention and Storage

Unless you notify us otherwise in writing, you consent to us storing all documents relating to your matter exclusively on our digital case management system, and to the disposal of paper versions. Following the conclusion of your matter, we will retain your file on our digital case management system for a period of six years, following which your file will be permanently deleted. If you require copies of any documents from your file, you should request these in writing before the expiry of the six-year retention period, as we will be unable to retrieve documents once they have been deleted. We will charge £40 plus VAT (£48 in total) for retrieving documents from storage, producing paper copies of electronically held documents, or providing information about them.

Data Protection

We act in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation. During the course of our service to you, we may need to share your information with others involved in your matter, including the relevant court, barristers, other lawyers, agents, experts, and suppliers. As a firm ranked by Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, we also have obligations to provide those organisations with details of clients we have represented during a 12-month period, and by instructing us you consent to this. We assure you that anyone handling or processing your data on our behalf will also be bound by data protection law. Where we are required to release your personal information as part of a legal or regulatory duty, we will only release what is reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances.

H. Our Office Hours and Communication With You

Office Hours

Our offices are open Monday to Friday, from 9:00am to 5:00pm. We are closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and all bank holidays, and we also close for approximately one week over the Christmas and New Year period each year, details of which will be provided to clients in advance where relevant to their matter. Meetings with us are by appointment only.

Out of Hours and Emergencies

No member of our staff is available after 5:00pm on any working day, and our telephone lines do not operate outside of office hours. Emails sent to us outside of office hours are not monitored and will not receive a response until the next working day. Kang & Co Solicitors does not offer an emergency callout service and does not provide out-of-hours or emergency representation at the police station; this differs from the service offered by some Legal Aid firms, which may operate a duty solicitor scheme.

If you are arrested or detained by the police outside of our office hours, you have the right to free and independent legal advice at the police station through the national duty solicitor scheme, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of your financial circumstances. We strongly advise you to make use of this service if you are detained outside our office hours. Accessing the duty solicitor will not affect your retainer with us, and we will continue to represent you in all subsequent proceedings. Any message left for us outside of office hours will be attended to on the next working day.

Our Response Times

We aim to respond to all telephone calls, emails, and letters within five working days, and we will always endeavour to respond sooner where possible. If your matter is urgent, for example if you have been arrested, asked to attend a police station, or have an imminent court hearing, please contact us immediately by telephone, and we will treat your matter as a priority.

Electronic Communications

We will communicate with you in the most effective way available, and please let us know if you have a preferred method of communication. Emails we send may not be encrypted, and whilst we take reasonable steps to ensure the security of our communications, email is not entirely secure, and we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of information sent by this means. We will scan outgoing emails for viruses, although we cannot guarantee they will be virus-free, and we may monitor emails in accordance with the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000. We will never request payment or banking details from you by email.

I. Independence of Counsel

Any barrister instructed by us to represent you at court is an independent legal professional and is not our employee or agent. Whilst we will select counsel who is suitably qualified and experienced for your matter, the conduct of any hearing and the advocacy provided are the responsibility of the individual barrister or solicitor advocate concerned. We accept no liability for any act, omission, advice, or conduct of any independently instructed barrister or solicitor advocate. Any complaint about the conduct of a barrister should be directed to the Bar Standards Board, and any complaint about a solicitor advocate to the SRA.

J. Conduct Towards Our Staff and Representatives

We ask that you, and anyone acting on your behalf, including friends, family members, or any other third party who contacts us in connection with your matter, treat our staff, our principals, and anyone acting on our behalf, including any instructed barrister or solicitor, with courtesy and respect at all times.

We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards conduct that is aggressive, abusive, threatening, intimidating, or confrontational, whether in person, by telephone, or in writing. Where we consider that you, or anyone acting on your behalf, has engaged in such conduct, we reserve the right to cease acting for you immediately and to terminate our retainer. Any fees already paid to us will remain non-refundable.

K. Mutual Trust and Confidence

The relationship between a solicitor and client depends upon mutual trust and confidence. We will always provide you with honest, professional, and considered advice, and we ask that you approach that advice with an open mind. Where there has been a genuine and fundamental breakdown in the relationship of trust and confidence between us, such that we are no longer able to act effectively in your best interests, we reserve the right to cease acting for you. This is distinct from a situation where you simply disagree with a particular piece of advice or prefer a different course of action; it is only where the breakdown is genuine and irretrievable that we will exercise this right. Where we do so, we will notify you in writing and will provide reasonable assistance to help you obtain alternative representation.

L. Financial Services

We are legal advisers and are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. We cannot advise you on the merits of any investment transaction, exercising investment rights, or act as an arranger or broker of any transaction. We assume that any decision you make to enter an investment transaction is based on your own assessment, and any advice received from a person authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Nothing in our communications should be interpreted as an invitation to engage in investment activity.

M. Professional Indemnity Insurance

We maintain professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the SRA’s rules. Details of our insurers are available upon request. We are required to notify our insurers of any circumstance which appears to be, or could become, a claim against us, and where we do so, your right to confidentiality is waived to the extent necessary to disclose your matter, instructions, and our advice to our insurer, broker, and any other party investigating or resolving a claim or complaint, including the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA. Our liability to you under or in connection with this agreement is limited to £3,000,000, being the limit of our professional indemnity insurance, and shall not exceed that amount in any circumstances, save where such limitation is not permitted by law.

N. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations to you caused by circumstances entirely beyond our reasonable control, including pandemic, severe weather, civil unrest, or government action. We will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable in such circumstances and will take all reasonable steps to resume our services, including, where a hearing is affected, arranging alternative representation or seeking an adjournment.

O. Compliance with Legal Obligations

We shall not be responsible for any loss suffered by you or any third party arising from our compliance with obligations imposed on us by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, any other legislation connected with the prevention of crime, or the instructions of a law enforcement agency.

P. Court Adjournments

Where your hearing is adjourned for reasons outside of our control or yours, including the court’s own listing arrangements, the unavailability of a judge, or delay on the part of the prosecution, you remain liable for the agreed fee already paid for that stage, and a new agreed fee will be payable for any further hearing.

Q. Ending Our Retainer

By You

You may ask us to cease acting for you at any time. Please see the section headed “Releasing Your Papers” above regarding our right to retain your papers until our charges have been paid.

By Us

We may cease to act for you, and will give you reasonable notice of our intention to do so wherever practicable, in the following circumstances: where an invoice has not been paid as set out in these Terms of Business; where you, or anyone acting on your behalf, has engaged in conduct of the kind described in the section headed “Conduct Towards Our Staff and Representatives”; where there has been a genuine breakdown in mutual trust and confidence, as described above; where a conflict of interest arises; where you have provided us with false or misleading instructions or information; or where you require us to act in a way that would involve misleading the court or acting improperly, which we are unable to do consistently with our professional obligations.

Where we cease to act for you, you will remain responsible for any commitments we have entered into on your behalf, such as expert or counsel fees, and any fees already paid to us will remain non-refundable. We may charge a reasonable fee for transferring your file to another adviser, of which we will inform you in advance.

You may not instruct another firm to advise or represent you on the same matter whilst we remain instructed. If you do so, you must notify us immediately so that we may cease acting and close your file; in those circumstances, your agreed fee will not be refunded.

R. Referrals

Your matter may have been referred to us by an introducer. Any advice we give you remains entirely independent, and you are free to raise questions about any aspect of your matter. Where we also act for the introducer and a conflict of interest arises, we may be obliged to cease acting.

S. Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Business and the services we provide are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

T. General

Unless otherwise agreed, these Terms of Business apply to any future instructions you give us. Full or partial payment of an invoice, or your continuing instructions to us, will amount to your acceptance of these terms, together with the terms of your Engagement Letter.

These Terms of Business, together with your Engagement Letter, constitute the entire agreement between us in relation to your matter and supersede all prior discussions or representations, whether oral or written. No variation to these terms will be binding unless agreed in writing by a Director of Kang & Co Solicitors. If any provision of these Terms of Business is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be treated as removed, and the remaining terms shall continue in full force and effect.

U. Complaints

We expect that you will receive a comprehensive, efficient, and effective service. If a problem arises, or you are dissatisfied with the service provided or an invoice you have received, we have a comprehensive complaints procedure, available upon request. Complaints must be raised within one year of the date of the act or omission complained of, or within one year of when you should reasonably have become aware that there was cause for complaint.

You should initially raise your concerns with the person handling your matter, who will seek to resolve them. If your concerns remain unresolved, you may contact our Managing Director, Manjinder Kang, using the contact details on our website.

As explained above under “Sharing Your File for the Purpose of a Complaint,” we may, as part of our complaints process, instruct an independent third party to investigate your complaint objectively, and your instructing us confirms your consent to this.

If you remain dissatisfied following our final written response, you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. Any referral to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response. The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted on 0300 555 0333, by email at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, or via www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

These Terms of Business govern our relationship with you and replace any earlier Terms of Business previously sent to you. Your continuing instructions in this matter signify your acceptance of these terms.