WORKING WITH FORT LAW

Thank you for working with Fort Law. We strive to create better pathways for navigating legal matters. Our engagement is subject to these terms. You need to know what you can expect, and we encourage you to read them, and to ask questions.

1 General

1.1 These terms apply in respect of all work carried out by us for you, unless we otherwise agree with you in writing. We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will send you amended Terms. Our relationship is governed by New Zealand law and New Zealand courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

2 Services

2.1 The services we are to provide for you (the Services) are outlined in our Letter of Engagement along with any further instructions that you provide to us in writing (or that we record in writing).

3 Communications

3.1 You may contact us by email, or by phone:

(a) Email anytime on hilary@fortlaw.co.nz. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

(b) Phone us between during Fort Law’s office hours. Fort Law does not respond to calls outside of these hours.

(c) In person meetings or Teams meetings can be booked by phone or by email.

(d) Time spent communicating (whether phone, email, Teams call or meeting) is chargeable.

(e) We do not operate an answering machine service, voice message or text message service

3.2 You will provide us with your contact details. We may provide documents and communications to you by email. You will advise us if any of your contact details change. While we will take due care, 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 damage or loss caused hereby.

3.3 When you provide us with any email address for communications with you, you authorise us to use that email address for all electronic communications we have with you.

3.4 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.

3.5 You agree that we may from time to time with other information that may be relevant to you, such as newsletters and information bulletins. At any time you may request that this not be sent to you.

4 Financial

4.1 General: The work we do is not free. We charge for our work, and for our time, and you agree to pay us. The services we will provide and the fees which we will charge or the manner in which they will be arrived at, are set out in our engagement letter. You will pay us within 7 days of any invoice.

4.2 Hourly rate – time attendance:

(a) Unless otherwise agreed, we charge on a time attendance basis at $420 plus GST per hour. We reserve the right to review and amend our hourly rate from time to time. Time spent is recorded in six-minute units, with time rounded up to the next unit of six minutes.

(b) Our fees may be adjusted (upwards or downwards) to ensure the fee is fair and reasonable to take into account matters such as the complexity, urgency, value and importance of the work. Full details of the relevant fee factors are set out in Rule 9 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (Rules).

4.3 Estimates: You may request an estimate of our fee for undertaking our work for you at any time. If possible, we will provide you with an estimate (which may be a range between a minimum and a maximum amount or for a particular task or step). An estimate is not a quote. Any significant assumptions included in the estimate will be stated and you must tell us if those assumptions are wrong or change. Work which falls outside the scope of the estimate will be charged on an hourly rate basis.

4.4 Fixed Fee: If the engagement letter specifies a fixed fee, we will charge this for the agreed scope of the Services. Work which falls outside that scope will be charged on an hourly rate basis. We will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if it becomes necessary for us to provide services outside of the agreed scope and, if requested, give you an estimate for the likely amount of the further costs.

4.5 Disbursements and expenses: in providing the Services we may incur disbursements and payments to third parties on your behalf. You authorise us to incur these disbursements on your behalf (which may include such items such as services fees, court filing fees, registration fees and travel and courier charges) which are reasonably necessary to provide the Services. You also authorise us to make payments to third parties on your behalf which are reasonably required to undertake the Services (which may include items such as expert’s costs or counsel’s fees). These will be included in our invoice to you.

4.6 Office expense: We may also charge a fee of up to $50 per month to cover our office expenses.

4.7 GST: GST is payable by you on our fees and charges.

4.8 Invoices We may invoice you weekly, or on completion of certain tasks, or on completion of the matter, or on termination of our engagement. Invoices are payable within 7 days of the date of the invoice.

4.9 Failure to pay: If you do not pay our fees;

(a) We will terminate our engagement. Interest will be charged at 14% per annum compounded monthly on any amount which is more than 14 days overdue.

(b) You will be liable for all legal and debt collection costs that we incur, including solicitor / client costs, in enforcing, or attempting to recover unpaid fees or otherwise enforce our rights under these terms. We may use debt collection agencies. You will also be liable for Agency Collection Costs. If any amount that is overdue by more than 14 days is subject to a Law Society complaint, and the complaint is dismissed, interest shall be payable from the date of the invoice.

4.10 Payment: Invoices must be paid by internet banking as described on the invoice.

4.11 Third Parties arrangements: As our engagement is with you, you are responsible for payment of our invoices. You may request us to direct your invoices to a third party as you may have your own arrangement to be reimbursed by a third party for our fees and expenses, however you remain responsible for payment to us if the third party fails to pay us.

4.12 Funds in advance:

(a) Fort Law does not operate a trust account; we never directly hold your money for fees, disbursements, or settlements.

(b) If your case is complex, high-risk, involves a large amount of work in a short period of time, or invoices are paid late, we may ask you to deposit funds into another law firm’s trust account as security for our fees. You agree to do this if required.

(c) Funds held by another firm require you to complete their AML process and pay any related fees, as required by New Zealand law. These AML steps are separate from Fort Law’s fees and terms.

(d) If funds are deposited with another law firm on our behalf, you authorise that firm to deduct (and pay to us in payment of your invoice) our fees (including disbursements, expenses and GST). By becoming a client of Fort Law and accepting these terms of engagement, you expressly authorise these deductions and you authorise Fort Law to receive payment for fees, expenses and disbursements from any funds held on trust on your behalf.

5 Confidentiality and Personal Information

5.1 Confidence: We will hold your personal information in confidence. We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:

(a) to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions;

or

(b) as expressly or impliedly agreed by you; or

(c) as necessary to protect our interests in respect of any complaint or dispute; or

(d) to the extent required or permitted by law.

5.2 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 the 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 the Services.

5.3 Subject to clause 5.1, you authorise us to disclose, in the normal course of performing the Services, such personal information to third parties for the purpose of providing the Services and any other purposes set out in these Terms.

5.4 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.

5.5 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 Hilary Beaufort.

6 Documents, Records and Information

6.1 We work electronically and try hard to keep our printing and postage to a minimum. You agree to also work electronically. If you give us a paper document, or if we receive a paper document on your behalf, you authorise Fort Law to destroy it after making an electronic copy.

6.2 We keep electronic records but we do not own the relevant servers. We don’t accept responsibility and won’t be liable for damage or loss caused by third parties.

6.3 We will retain your files for at least six years after our work with you has ended. We may then destroy the files.

6.4 At any time, we may dispose of documents which are duplicates, or which are trivial (such as emails which do not contain substantive information), or documents which belong to us. We are not obliged to retain documents or copies where you have requested that we provide them to you or to another person and we have done so, although we are entitled to retain copies for our own records if we wish to do so.

6.5 If you uplift your file from us, we may retain a copy of it for our own records in accordance with this clause.

6.6 We will provide to you on request copies or originals (at our option) of all documents to which you are entitled under the Privacy Act 1993 or any other law. We may charge you our reasonable costs for doing this.

6.7 Where we hold documents that belong to a third party you will need to provide us with that party’s written authority to uplift or obtain a copy of that document.

6.8 We may, at our option, return documents (either in hard or electronic form) to you rather than retain them. If we choose to do this, we will do so at our expense.

6.9 We own copyright in all documents or work we create in the course of performing the Services. You may not permit any third party to copy, adapt or use the documents without our written permission.

6.10 Disclosure :

(a) You agree to provide us with the information and disclosure documents we need, when we need them and to the best of your abilities. These documents are essential: without them, we cannot accurately advise you. The more accurate, complete and reliable your disclosure, the better we can act and advocate for you. 

(b) If you lie to us, or we discover you hold property that you did not disclose to us in our initial meeting, you agree that, in Fort Law’s discretion, we may:

i. increase your fees by up to 150% or

ii. stop acting for you.

7 Conflicts of Interest

7.1 We are obliged to protect and promote your interests to the exclusion of the interests of third parties and ourselves as set out in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (Rules). This may result in a situation arising where we have a conflict of interest.

7.2 We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Rules. This may mean we cannot act for you further in a particular matter and we may terminate our engagement.

8 Duty of Care

8.1 We act for you, not for the person who pays our bills or anyone else who is supporting you through this process. We owe no liability to any other person or entity. You can rely on our advice, but if anyone else wants to use it, they need to get our written agreement first. We also have duties to the court, and our colleagues.

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

8.3 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.

8.4 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.

9 Limitations on our Obligations or Liability

9.1 You agree that to the extent allowed by law, our total liability to you (whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise) in connection with our Services is limited to the amount available to be payable under the Professional Indemnity Insurance held by the firm.

9.2 We hold insurance at the minimum standard specified by the Law Society namely no less than $1,200,000 for any one claim.

9.3 Exclusion: You acknowledge that where you are in trade the provisions of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) shall not apply and that sections 9, 12A and 13 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) shall not apply for the purposes of section 5D of the FTA.

9.4 Limitation of Liability: You agree that our liability is limited as follows:

(a) where we have to obtain and rely on external information or public records, we do not accept any liability for direct or indirect loss caused by errors or omissions in such information;

(b) the liability of our firm and all staff within our firm, howsoever arising shall be limited to the sum of $1,200,000 in aggregate in respect of each matter upon which we have accepted your instructions to act;

(c) our firm and all staff within our firm will not be liable to you for any loss of revenue or income, loss of profits, loss of opportunity or any indirect or consequential loss of whatsoever nature;

(d) our advice is given only for your benefit and in your interest. It is not to be relied on by third parties unless we agree in writing;

(e) we do not accept liability for loss arising from non-receipt of any communication, including emails;

(f) we do not accept liability for loss arising from cybercrime (scammers), including but not limited to the hacking of emails and/or tampering with bank account details; and

(g) we do not give investment or financial advice. Such advice should be obtained from a properly qualified financial adviser or financial advice provider in terms of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

9.5 Time Limit for Claims: For the purposes of any claim against us, as defined by the Limitation Act 2010, whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise, arising out of our engagement, the Act shall be modified so that any claim must be filed within 12 months after the date of the act or omission on which the claim is based. Further, the "late knowledge" provisions in sections 11(2), 11(3), 14 and 32(2) shall not apply. The 12-month time period applies whether or not loss or damage has become apparent, or has been suffered, within that time period.

10 Termination

10.1 You may terminate our retainer at any time.

10.2 We may terminate our retainer in any of the circumstances set out in the Rules including the existence of a conflict of interest, non-payment of fees, and failure to provide instructions.

10.3 If our retainer is terminated you must pay us all fees, disbursements and expenses incurred up to the date of termination.

10.4 The enforceability of this agreement is not affected by termination.

11 Other matters

11.1 Overseas Property: We are only qualified to give advice on New Zealand law. Best practice is for you to engage a lawyer in all countries you have property in. If we assist you with overseas property, we do so on the basis that we do not accept any responsibility in relation to your legal position in the other country (or countries).

11.2 Legal aid: Certain matters qualify for legal aid funding. You may be eligible for legal aid, and we recommend that you consider and investigate whether you may be eligible for legal aid. We are not currently providing legal aid services.

11.3 We May Record Our Conversations: If we consider it to be convenient or important to do so, we may record conversations with you (whether on the phone, via videocall or in person).

12 Lawyers Fidelity Fund

12.1 Fort Law will not hold any of your funds. As such, the New Zealand Law Society’s Fidelity Fund will not be available to you.

13 Feedback and Complaints

13.1 Client satisfaction is one of our primary objectives 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 Hilary Beaufort.

13.2 If you have any concerns or complaints about our services, please raise them as soon as possible with us. We will respond to your concerns as soon as possible. We will inquire into your complaint and endeavour in good faith to resolve the matter with you in a way that is fair to all concerned.

13.3 If you are not satisfied with the way we have dealt with your complaint the New Zealand Law Society has a complaints service to which you may refer the issue. You can call the 0800 number for guidance, lodge a concern or make a formal complaint. Matters may be directed to: Lawyers Complaints Service

PO Box 5041

Wellington 6140

New Zealand

Phone: 0800 261 801

To lodge a concern: www.lawsociety.org.nz/for-the-community/lawyers-complaints-service/concerns-form

To make a formal complaint: www.lawsociety.org.nz/for-the-community/lawyers-

complaints-service/how-to-make-a-complaint

Email: complaints@lawsociety.org.nz

Client Care and Service

Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, they must:

• 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.lawyers.org.nz or call 0800 261 801.

These terms of engagement and any other agreement we have with you are governed by New Zealand law and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.