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Terms and conditions

1. Introduction

These are the standard terms of engagement between Leading Edge Legal Pty Ltd (ACN 659 040 909) (us, we, or our) and the client or clients (you or your) named in our Offer to Provide Legal Services (the Offer).

Where we are engaged to act for more than one client in respect of a matter, each of you are jointly and severally liable for our fees.

This document forms part of our costs agreement, as that term is defined by the Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA) (the Uniform Law), and must be read together with the Offer. Unless accompanied by a formal Offer and your acceptance of that Offer, these terms do not constitute an entire costs agreement between you and us.

2. Term of agreement

This agreement will remain in force until the earlier of:

  1. completion of the work set out in the relevant Offer;
  2. expiration of any fixed period of time set out in the relevant Offer;
  3. termination by you in accordance with clause 10 of these terms; or
  4. termination by us in accordance with clause 11 of these terms.

3. Duty of care

Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person.  We 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. We do not accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever to any third parties who may be affected by our performance of our services or who may rely on any advice we give, except as expressly agreed by us in writing.

Our advice is not to be referred to in connection with any prospectus, financial statement, or public document without our written consent.

Our advice is opinion only, based on the facts known to us and on our professional judgement, and is subject to any changes in the law after the date on which the advice is given. We are not liable for errors in, or omissions from, any information provided by third parties.

Our advice relates only to each particular matter in respect of which you engage us. Once that matter is at an end, we will not owe you any duty or liability in respect of any related or other matters unless you specifically engage us in respect of those related or other matters.

Unless otherwise agreed, we may communicate with you and with others by electronic means. We cannot guarantee that these communications will not be lost or affected for some reason beyond our reasonable control, and we will not be liable for any resulting damage or loss.

4. Confidentiality and privacy

4.1 Confidence

We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that we acquire during the course of acting for you.  We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:

  • to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions; or
  • as expressly or impliedly agreed by you; or
  • as necessary to protect our interests in respect of any complaint or dispute; or
  • to the extent required or permitted by law.

Confidential information concerning you will as far as practicable be made available only to those within our firm who are providing legal services for you.

4.2 Personal information and Privacy

In our dealings with you, we will collect and hold personal information about you. We will use that information to carry out our services and to make contact with you about issues we believe may be of interest to you. Provision of personal information is voluntary but if you do not provide full information this may impact on our ability to provide our services. Our privacy policy is available here: https://leadingedge.legal/privacy-policy/

Subject to clause 4.1, you authorise us to disclose, in the normal course of performing our services, such personal information to third parties for the purpose of providing the services and any other purposes set out in these terms.

We may disclose your name and address to third parties such as credit agencies to perform a credit reference or to undertake credit management or collection processes if it is reasonable to do so.

The information we collect and hold about you will be kept at our offices and/or at secure file storage sites (including electronic file storage sites) elsewhere. If you are an individual, you have the right to access and correct this information. If you require access, please contact us.

43. Verification of identity

We will collect from you and retain information required to verify your identity. We may therefore ask you to show us documents verifying your identity (such as a passport or driver’s licence). We may retain copies of these documents.  We may perform such other customer verification checks as to your identity and checks as to the source of any funds associated with any transaction to which our services relate as we consider to be required by law.

5. Fees

Our Offer will specify the way in which we will bill you, which may include any of the following:

  1. subscription ( a recurring monthly fee for an agreed level of service or availability);
  2. fixed-fee; or
  3. hourly rates.

We must provide the services to you in accordance with the Offer. We are not obliged to provide any services to you that are not expressly specified in the Offer.

You must pay our fees in accordance with the terms of our Offer and these terms.

If we ask you to pay our fees by direct debit, you must do all things reasonably necessary to authorise and facilitate the payment of your fees by direct debit.

Where you have agreed to make payment by way of direct debit, we may directly debit from your credit/debit card or your nominated bank account any amounts due and payable under these terms in accordance with any direct debit request/authority provided by you to us.

5.1 Special Conditions — Subscription Fees

If the Offer specifies a subscription fee, we will charge that fee in the amount, manner, and for the term set out in the Offer. If no term is specified, the subscription is taken to be indefinite and will continue to be charged until terminated in accordance with these terms.

Subject to our overarching professional obligations, we may change our subscription offering at any time at our absolute discretion, including increasing or decreasing the subscription fee, increasing or decreasing the subscription services, adding or reducing different subscription tiers, or ceasing to provide subscription services at all.

We may only change our subscription offering after providing you with 30 days’ written notice (which includes email) of the proposed change.

If you do not agree to a change, you are entitled to terminate the subscription service in accordance with clause 10 of these terms.

5.2 Special Conditions — Fixed-Fees

If the Offer specifies a fixed-fee, we will charge that fee for the scope of work specified in the Offer. 

We will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if it becomes necessary for us to provide services outside of the agreed scope.

Any work we are instructed to perform that falls outside the agreed scope will be the subject of a further fixed-fee Offer or (in the event that is not reasonably practicable) on an hourly rate basis. 

You acknowledge and agree that occasionally our duty to act in your best interests may require us to act urgently and prior to obtaining your instructions.

5.3 Special Conditions — Hourly Billing

It is our preference to charge on a subscription or fixed-fee basis. However, if we agree (in our absolute discretion) to charge you an hourly rate for your matter, we will charge you an hourly rate equal to the maximum hourly rate for the relevant level of fee earner as set out in the prevailing legal costs determination, published in accordance with Part 6 Division 1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 (WA), that is applicable to contentious business before the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

In calculating the time spent doing work, we divide each hour into 10 six-minute units and will charge you the amount of time spent, rounded up to the nearest unit. For example, if a task takes 3 minutes, you will be charged 1 unit. If a task takes 8 minutes, you will be charged 2 units.

We charge for all work carried out on your behalf in relation to your matter, regardless of whether or not that work is “legal work” as that term is defined in the Act, this includes (without limitation):

  • attending meetings;
  • attending court (including waiting time) in relation to your matter;
  • considering issues and strategy;
  • drafting letters, emails, file notes, contracts and other documents;
  • research;
  • telephone calls;
  • travelling.

Where we charge time for travelling, we will charge you 50% of the usual hourly rate that would otherwise apply.

As soon as reasonably practicable, we will provide you with an estimate of the fees that you will likely incur based on the expected amount of work required.

Our estimates are subject to change. Some issues that may affect the amount of costs that you are required to pay are:

  • whether the factual circumstances will turn out to be simple or complex;
  • whether the legal issues are easy or difficult to identify;
  • whether the evidence required to prove the facts will be difficult to identify and capture;
  • how the other party will deal with its own interests and how it assesses risks;
  • changes in the scope of the work required;
  • if there is going to be a settlement of the matter and whether a lot of work is required to reach that settlement;
  • the extent to which we need to advise you in order to satisfy our legal obligations to you, which may differ depending upon your experience and knowledge;
  • whether we need to engage any expert to provide an opinion; and
  • if court proceedings are commenced, the way in which procedural matters are dealt with.

We will notify you before undertaking any work that will substantially increase the amount of fees.

6. Expenses and Disbursements

You must reimburse us for all fees that we pay to others on your behalf (disbursements) and fees we incur while carrying out work on your behalf (expenses).

Some examples of common disbursements are:

  • barrister fees;
  • court filing fees;
  • process server fees;
  • expert report fees; and
  • witness expenses.

Some examples of common expenses are:

  • courier fees;
  • parking fees;
  • postage (except standard letters)
  • meeting room hire;
  • search fees for public databases (such as ASIC or Landgate); and
  • transport fees (such as taxi, train, Uber etc.)

We will obtain your instructions prior to incurring any disbursements or expenses on your behalf unless:

  • the expected amount is less than $100; or
  • the expense relates to process server fees for any document or thing that we are required to serve on any other person.

We will charge expenses and disbursements at cost, except where we are required by law to add GST.

7. Interest

If our invoices remain unpaid for a period of more than 30 days after the date of issue, you must pay us interest on any outstanding amounts at a benchmark rate of interest fixed by the Act and the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (WA).

The interest rate is a benchmark rate of interest, as that term is defined under the Act, and changes from time to time.

The  benchmark rate of interest is the cash rate target, set by the Reserve Bank of Australia and available at www.rba.gov.au, as at the date that our invoice was issued, increased by two percentage points. For example, if the Cash Target Rate at the date the invoice was issued is 1.5%, the interest payable on that invoice will be 3.5% per year.

8. Billing intervals and payments

Ordinarily, we will issue you with an invoice at the intervals set out in our Offer. Usually, this will be at the end of a calendar month. However, we reserve the right to issue you with an invoice at any time that may seem appropriate to us, in our absolute discretion.

Where you have provided us with an fax number, email address, or some other method of communication (including social media or messaging services, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.) to communicate with you, you consent to receiving invoices by that method.

You must pay our invoices within 14 days after the date that you are taken to have received the invoice.

You are taken to have received our invoices as follows:

  • in the case of an invoice sent by post, on the day 3 days after the date on which the invoice was posted;
  • in the case of an invoice sent by electronic communication (including fax, email, social media, messaging services, etc.), on the day after the invoice was sent to you; and
  • in the case of an invoice given to you in person, on the day on which you were handed the invoice.

We reserve the right to determine how all and any payments by you are allocated to amounts owed by you.

If you have any questions about our invoices or costs in general, please contact us.

9. Trust funds

We do not presently operate a trust account. However, we may decide to operate a trust account at any time at our absolute discretion. If we decide to operate a trust account, we may, from time to time, request that you deposit a sum of money into that account in advance of work being carried out, or expenses or disbursements being incurred.

If we request that you deposit funds into our trust account on account of anticipated fees, expenses, or disbursements, you must do so within 7 days of that request, failing which we will be entitled to terminate our costs agreement with you.

If we receive funds in trust for your matter, regardless of the source of those funds, you authorise us to draw down a sufficient amount of those funds to pay, or part-pay, any of our invoices after 7 days following the date on which you are taken to have received the invoice, in accordance with clause 24.

10. Termination by you

Subject to clause 12, you may terminate this agreement at any time by giving us clear notice in writing to that effect.

11. Termination by us

We may terminate this agreement by notice in writing to you if:

  • you fail to provide us with prompt, clear, and complete instructions whenever we request them;
  • we provide you with advice and you do not accept or follow that advice and in our opinion your failure to follow that advice will be detrimental to the outcome of your matter;
  • in our opinion, there has been a breakdown in the necessary relationship of trust and confidence that must exist between a solicitor and client;
  • a conflict of interest exists or arises, or a potential conflict of interest exists or arises;
  • in our opinion, we consider that by continuing to act for you we would breach professional conduct rules;
  • you reject any proposed change to this agreement;
  • you fail to pay our invoices in accordance with the terms of this agreement;
  • you fail to deposit funds into our trust account upon request, in accordance with the terms of this agreement;
  • in the case of an individual, you become bankrupt or enter into an agreement under Part IX or Part X of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth); or
  • in the case of a body corporate, you become externally administered under the provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

12. Termination generally

You will remain liable for any fees, expenses, and disbursements incurred up to and including the date that the agreement is terminated, regardless of who terminated the agreement.

You acknowledge that in some cases we may be required to make an application to a court to cease acting for you and you must pay our fees (calculated on an hourly rate basis) and expenses for making such an application as if this agreement had not been terminated.

If we are required to make copies of your file and/or communicate with other solicitors after this agreement is terminated, you must pay our fees (calculated on an hourly rate basis) and expenses in respect of those matters as if this agreement had not been terminated.

12.1 Termination of subscription services

Subject to this clause 12, where a subscription fee agreement is terminated, you may elect to either:

  • continue to receive the subscription service until the end of the current subscription period (usually the calendar month); or
  • terminate the subscription with immediate effect, in which case you must pay us a pro-rata subscription fee, calculated by:
    • dividing the subscription fee by the number of days in the current subscription period (usually a calendar month) to obtain the daily subscription fee, then
    • multiplying the daily subscription fee by the number of days elapsed in the current subscription period up to and including the date of termination.

If you terminate a subscription fee agreement and later wish to re-enter a subscription fee agreement on the same or similar terms, or in relation to the same matter, then you must pay to us, as a lump sum, the amount that would have been payable as if the subscription had not been terminated. For instance, if you terminate a subscription fee agreement in July 2022 and then wish to re-enter subscription fee agreement on the same or similar terms or in relation to the same matter in January 2023, you must pay us the monthly subscription fee that was payable immediately prior to termination multiplied by five (5), being the number of months between termination and re-engagement.

12.2 Termination of fixed-fee agreements

Subject to this clause 12, where a fixed-fee agreement is terminated prior to the completion of the relevant work, you must pay us a pro-rata fixed fee for the amount of work completed up to the date of termination, which will be determined as follows:

  • We will estimate the amount of work completed up to the date of termination, as a fraction of the fixed fee, rounded to the nearest one tenth.
  • We will multiply the fixed fee by the fraction to yield the pro-rata fixed fee.
  • Without limiting any of the remedies available to a client under the Act, any dispute or difference whatsoever arising out of or in connection with our estimation of work completed for the purposes of determining the pro-rata fixed fee shall be submitted for expert determination by a lawyer holding the title of Senior or King’s Counsel in the State of Western Australia in accordance with, and subject to, the Resolution Institute Expert Determination Rules.

13. Electronic systems

You consent to us using an internet-based system or systems to manage your data (including sensitive and confidential information about you and your matter) and you agree to release us from any claim that you may accrue against us for any and all loss that is occasioned in any way by the use of such a system.

You consent to us using email as a primary method of communication with you (including sensitive and confidential information about you and your matter) and you agree to release us from any claim that you may accrue against us as a result of any unauthorised copying, reading, recording, or interference with any documents after transmission, mis-delivery, non-delivery, delay, or damage to your system or files (including by any computer virus).

14. Retention of files and lien

We will keep an electronic copy of your file for at least 7 years after your matter is closed, after which the file may be destroyed without further notice to you.

You acknowledge that we do not keep paper copies of files. Original documents will be sent to you for safe-keeping.

If you require a copy of your file, you may request it in writing. You agree to pay any charges associated with that including any disbursements or expenses that we incur.

If we have original documents that belong to you, we reserve the right to withhold them from you until all monies payable under this agreement are paid in full. This is called a “solicitor’s lien”.

15. Variation

This Agreement is binding on you and us and may only be varied in writing, or in accordance with clause 5.1.

In the event that this agreement is varied, all other terms of this agreement remain in full force except to the extent necessary to give effect to the variation.

16. Limitation of liability

The liability of our directors and employees is limited under the Law Society of Western Australia’s Professional Standards Scheme, which is an approved scheme under the Professional Standards Act 1997 (WA) (the Scheme).

The Scheme limits our occupational liability to you to a maximum of $1.5 million per claim plus costs.

If you require further information about the Scheme, a copy will be provided upon request, or it is available on the website of the Law Society of Western Australia (www.lawsocietywa.asn.au).

17. Audits

We may currently have, or at some time in the future have, an accreditation under one or more quality assurance schemes.

These accreditations mean that we must submit to an independent audit on a regular basis (usually once per year). During the audit process, your documents in our possession may be looked at by the auditor.

What the auditor sees in your documents will be kept strictly confidential; however, if you do not wish for your file to be available to be audited, you must let us know in writing.

18. Jurisdiction

Unless otherwise agreed, the laws applicable in Western Australia govern this agreement.

If the work you require us to do for you has a substantial connection with a different state or territory, you may ask us to enter into a costs agreement with us on the basis of the law that applies in that state or territory. If you wish to do so, you must inform us prior to accepting this offer. We are entitled to withdraw our Offer to act for you if we do not want to enter into a costs agreement with you on that basis.

19. Severance

If any provision (or part of it) of our costs agreement is held to be unenforceable or invalid in any jurisdiction, then it will be interpreted as narrowly as necessary to allow it to be enforceable or valid. If a provision (or part of it) of our costs agreement cannot be interpreted as narrowly as necessary to allow it to be enforceable or valid, then the provision (or part of it) must be severed from the costs agreement and the remaining provisions (and remaining part of the provision) of the costs agreement are valid and enforceable.

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