Services

These Terms of Service, including any modifications from time to time, apply in respect of all work carried out by us for you now and in the future except to the extent that we otherwise agree with you in writing. We will outline the services which we agree to provide for you in our engagement letter and include any further instructions that you provide to us in writing (or that we record in writing). These Terms are designed to be read alongside our letter of engagement, and are binding on you and your executors or administrators.

As Principal of the firm, Teresa Stoltz will have the overall responsibility for any work that you engage us to do. Our duty of care is to the client named in the engagement letter and not to any other person or entity. Our advice relates only to the services for which we are engaged and no other person or entity may rely on our advice. It is given as opinion only, based on the facts known to us and 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 or omissions in any information provided to us by you or third parties.

We do not give investment, accounting, or tax advice, and are only qualified to give advice on New Zealand law. If you require additional advice we may be able to suggest a suitable advisor.

Client Care

Our relationship with you is governed by the New Zealand Law Society (“NZLS”), the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (“the Rules”), and New Zealand law generally. Our obligations to you are subject to overriding duties, including duties to the Courts. You may contact NZLS directly if you have any questions about lawyers or the provision of law services in New Zealand.

As part of our commitment to you and to the Rules, when we are acting for you we will:

• treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination
• discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved
• give you clear information and advice
• provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it, and the way in which the services will be provided
• act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made
• keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed
• charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable, and let you know how and when you will be billed
• protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality
• protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties, and
• let you know how to make a complaint, and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.

More details about how we will meet these obligations are included below.

Identification and Privacy

We will collect personal information from you including your contact details, evidence of your identity, and tax and residency information, for the purpose of providing legal services to you. It is important that all information provided to us is accurate. If you do not provide the required information, we may not be able to act, or continue acting, for you until our due diligence requirements have been met.

We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that we acquire during the course of acting for you. We may hold your information on secure electronic databases and in our office. You have a right to request access and to request correction of your personal information. We will not disclose any of this information to any person outside of our firm except:

• with your consent
• to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions
• as necessary to protect our interests in respect of any complaint or dispute, or
• to meet compliance and reporting obligations and as otherwise may be required by law.

We may be required to provide information about you, persons acting on your behalf or other relevant persons to third parties (such as banks or Government agencies) and there may be circumstances where we are not able to tell you or such persons if we do provide information.

Communications

We will report to you periodically on the progress of any engagement and will inform you of any material and unexpected delays, significant changes or complications in the work being undertaken. You may request a progress report at any time. You will provide us with your contact details including email address, postal address, and telephone numbers, and any changes to these.

As a matter of course we will communicate with you and other parties by electronic means. We have virus protection software and security protocols in place, however, we cannot guarantee that electronic communications will always be free from viruses or other defects and are secure or will be received. If you are concerned about the authenticity of any communication received from us, please contact us by an alternative means as soon as possible.

Files and Documents

We own copyright in all documents prepared in the course of performing our services to you. We do not authorise these documents to be used for any other purpose than what they are intended.

Your files, documents, and records of all monies transacted on your behalf will be kept in accordance with the Rules and may be stored in electronic form. You authorise us to destroy all files and documents held on your behalf including electronic records (other than any original documents that are necessary to be held in safe custody for you) if they are not of a substantial nature, or once we have converted those files and documents to an electronic format or held them for such time as we may be required in law.

Provided our invoices are paid in full on all of your matters with us, we will provide to you on request copies or originals of all documents to which you are entitled under the Privacy Act 2020 or any other law, and we are not obliged to retain copies of these. You agree to pay our reasonable costs incurred if you require us to copy or transfer your files. documents or records to yourself or other parties.

Fees and Costs

Generally our fees are based on the time taken to complete the work. Time spent is recorded in six-minute units and hourly rates are reviewed regularly to reflect the experience and specialisation of our staff. The current hourly rate of the person in our firm responsible for the services to be provided to you is stated in our letter of engagement. Hourly fees may be adjusted (upwards or downwards) to ensure the fee is fair and reasonable, taking into account relevant fee factors as set out in the Rules which may include complexity, urgency, the importance of the matter to you, and the results achieved.

Should we provide you with an estimate of our fees, this is provided to you only as a guide and should not be relied on as a fixed quotation. We will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if our estimate is likely to change substantially and the reasons for this.

Our invoices to you will include GST payable and disbursements that we may incur on your behalf in providing services to you (including third party costs such as title search fees, form fees, registration fees, and courier charges). These will be invoiced to you at cost when the expense is incurred. We may require advance payment for disbursements which we will be incurring on your behalf.

Invoices and Payments

Each person or entity named in our letter of engagement is jointly and severally liable to us for the accounts we render and we may assign any amount you owe us to a third party. If you instruct us on behalf of a joint client or an entity (e.g. as a trustee of a trust) you confirm you have authority to do so and will personally indemnify us for all charges incurred. Even if you expect to be reimbursed by a third party for our fees and expenses, and although our invoices may at your request or with your approval be directed to a third party, you remain responsible for payment to us in accordance with these Terms.

We will invoice you on completion of our services to you. We may also invoice you prior to this, for example when we incur a significant expense or undertake significant work. Our invoices are payable on the date of the invoice. If you have difficulty paying any invoice, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can discuss payment arrangements. Payment plans will be subject to an administration fee of $25 per month.

Payments are to be made to our firm’s Trust Account and we recommend that you contact us to check the validity of any payment instructions you may receive from us. You authorise us to deduct our invoices, once rendered to you, from funds held in our Trust Account on your behalf when those funds are deposited or held for this purpose.

If any invoice becomes overdue by 7 days or more, we may:

• Stop working for you until the invoices are paid in full
• Charge you interest on the outstanding amount at 15% per annum (compounding monthly) until payment is made in full
• Recover from you in full any costs we incur in seeking to recover the amounts from you, including our own fees and the fees of collection agency, and
• Require an advance payment from you before recommencing work on your behalf.

Trust Account

We maintain a Trust Account for all funds which we receive on behalf of clients (including monies received for payment of our invoices). A full record of our Trust Account is kept at all times. A statement of transactions detailing funds received and payments made on your behalf will be provided to you periodically and upon request.

We are required under law to verify client identities and the source and destination of funds transacted through our Trust Account. Payments made from the Trust Account will be made on the basis of your instructions, including payments to you, payments of our invoices, and payments to third parties. Before making a payment we may require satisfactory verification of the source of funds and the identity of the payee and their bank account details.

In certain circumstances we may place funds held on your behalf on interest-bearing deposit (“IBD”). Before we do so, we will require you to complete relevant banking forms. In all other cases monies held on your behalf will not earn interest. If monies are placed on IBD you agree that we will charge an administration fee of 5% on the gross interest. Interest earned, less our administration fee and resident withholding tax, will be credited to you.

Conflicts of Interest

We are obliged to protect and promote your interests to the exclusion of others. We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this and follow the requirements in the Rules. This may require us to terminate our services with you and we may not be able to disclose the reasons for this.

Termination

You may terminate our services at any time upon giving us reasonable written notice. If we have ongoing obligations such as to the Court or under an undertaking which you have instructed us to give to a third party, we will be required to complete additional steps before the termination will take full effect.

We may terminate our services to you if any of the circumstances set out in the Rules arise. These may include a conflict of interest, non-payment of fees, and failure to provide instructions. We will endeavour to give you reasonable notice of such termination so that you can arrange alternative representation.

If our retainer is terminated you must pay us all fees due up to the date of termination and all expenses incurred up to that date. Our Terms shall continue to apply after termination.

Professional Indemnity Insurance and Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund

We hold professional indemnity insurance which complies with NZLS standards. If a claim is necessary, limits will apply to the amount and timeframe within which a claim may be made.

NZLS maintains a fidelity fund for the purpose of providing clients of lawyers with protection against financial 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. The Fidelity Fund does not usually cover losses relating to money that a lawyer is instructed to invest on behalf of a client.

Feedback and Complaints

We value client satisfaction and feedback from clients is helpful to us. If you would like to comment on any aspect of the service provided by us, including how we can improve our service, please contact us. If you have any concerns or complaints about our services, we will endeavour in good faith to resolve the matter with you fairly and without delay.

If you are not satisfied with the way we have dealt with your complaint, NZLS has a complaints service to which you may refer the issue. You can find out more at 0800 261 801 or find out more on its webpage.