Privacy Policy

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The following terms of business engagement apply to all dealings with the firm.

We aim to provide a high quality service in every aspect of our dealing with your case and our terms of business govern the services to be provided to you by the firm and its employees and consultants.

At the start of your matter you will receive an engagement letter. This engagement letter will set out the terms on which we accept instructions and charge of our services.  In the event of conflict between the letter of engagement and these general terms, the letter of engagement will take precedence. Our agreement will apply to any future instructions you give to GLC and your new or continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of these terms. If we merge with another firm or transfer our business to another entity (“successor”), our agreement with you will not end by reason of the merger or transfer. To ensure continuity of service, you agree that immediately on such merger or transfer the successor will be automatically retained by you in relation to all matters upon which we were retained and all accrued rights and liabilities of the firm and its employees will automatically transfer to the successor in substitution for the firm. If the successor is a company or a Limited Liability Partnership, your agreement will be with that company or LLP and any member, Partner, employee or consultant will at all times act as agent of that company or LLP and will have no personal liability to you. Nothing in our agreement will entitle any third party to rely on or enforce any term of this agreement, whether under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.

Right to withdraw your instructions

You have the right to withdraw, without charge, any new matter on which you instruct us, within seven working days of the date you first instructed us.  However, this right will cease if we start work with your consent within that time.

Our fees and expenses

At the outset of a matter we will agree the basis on which we will charge you, and the engagement letter will set out our agreement concerning our fees and expenses.  Generally our fees are calculated by the time spent on the case, therefore unless a separate fee arrangement had been reached, agreed hourly rate shall apply.  Our practice management system records and keeps detail of our work to date.   You have the right to ask for your up to date incurred fees at any time subject to 72 hours written notice.

A fixed fee arrangement is an agreement between you and us on the total amount of fees chargeable, not including expenses.  The fee is fixed.  When you received our engagement letter please consider the content carefully.  Our engagement letter will set out the exact remit of our work.  If unsure, you must inform us or seek clarification.  You have the right to terminate this fixed fee arrangement in writing at any time on the condition that the work has not commenced.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, you must pay all bills in sterling within 14 days from the taxable date of the invoice.  We reserve the right to charge interest for late payment at the higher of 2 per cent over the Natwest Bank PLC’s base rate, the rate then currently payable on judgement debts, or the rate payable under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

If we entered a fixed fee arrangement, the money received from you became firm’s money.

We will only incur disbursements and expenses with your authorisation. These disbursements and expenses incurred by GLC  on your behalf will be invoiced to you.   The firm shall endeavour to minimise the expenses or disbursements wherever possible, in any event, subject to your authorisation to incur such expenses.

It is our practice to use email to send documents and correspondence to clients, and in our communication with other relevant parties to your matter.  We are unable to guarantee the security and confidentiality of material sent over the internet and accept no responsibility for any error, loss or claim which arises as a result of any failure of security or confidentiality. Please tell us if you do not want us to communicate with you via the internet. Our IT system is protected with anti-virus software, but again cannot guarantee that transmissions will be free from infection and we recommend that you also use your own anti-virus software. We operate a firewall and automatic spam filter. These may block a small number of genuine emails so that they do not reach their intended recipient at the firm. In such circumstances we will not be liable for any loss, damage, costs, interest and expense you may incur directly or indirectly as a result. You may prefer to communicate more securely with us either generally or in particular circumstances. Should you wish, we may be able to put in place your higher security systems and working practices to facilitate more secure communication.

Storage of documents

When a matter has been completed and all fees paid, we will return to you, at your request, any documents you have provided in connection with that matter and any other papers to which you are entitled.  We cannot promise to retain files for a specific period of time, but will generally keep them for at least six years, and reserve the right to dispose of them after that time.

It might be necessary for us to pass information and papers relating to your matter to our insurers as part of our insurance arrangements. You accept that by appointing us to act for you we are able to do this.

We will comply if for any reason (whether during or after a case) we are compelled to disclose documents or to give information orally or in writing about a matter or your affairs, under a court order, notice or demand served by a body or person with the authority to make us do so.  If any documents or information are subject to legal professional privilege (and thus confidential), we will let you know and tell you that you have the opportunity to waive privilege.  If you decide not to waive privilege and this is challenged, you must pay us the costs we incur in preserving privilege for you.

Our liability

The relationship between you and the firm is based on contract for service.   We have a duty to work for you with reasonable care and skill.  Our advice and services are for your benefit only and may not be used or relied on by any other party but you.

GLC Law Costs limited is a limited company by shares. .  The limited company with its individual legal  identity It is more usual for senior professionals to be referred to as “partners”.  Our members have decided to retain the traditional title of “partner”.  There is, however, no partnership between the members or between the members and the firm.  A reference in these terms of business or in the course of your dealings with the firm to a person being a “partner” is a reference to that person as a member of the firm.

There is no contract between you and any member, employee or consultant of the firm.  Any advice given to you, or any other work done for you, by one of our partners, employees or consultants is given or done by that person on our behalf and not in his or her individual capacity.  No such person assumes any personal responsibility to you for the advice or work.

You agree that if, as a matter of law, any of our partners or employees would otherwise owe you a duty of care that duty is excluded from our contract with you.  You agree that you will not bring any claim against any of our members, employees or consultants for any matter arising in any way out of providing the services to you.

Accordingly, any claim you wish to make can only be made against GLC and not against a partner, employee or consultant or agent of GLC.  You also agree that in the services we will provide to you, including in particular those described in any engagement letter we send you at the start of a matter, our total liability at law to you for losses will not exceed any amount stated in the engagement letter. Also excluded is any consequential or indirect loss, whether or not it might have been foreseeable at the start of the matter.

If we are acting for more than one person, the limit of liability will have to be allocated among you. If the engagement letter does not expressly set out each person’s share, that allocation will be a matter entirely for you. If for whatever reason you do not agree on an allocation, then you agree not to dispute the limit of liability on the grounds that no such allocation was agreed.

Our liability to you will also be limited to that proportion of the loss or damage (including interest and costs) that you have suffered and that a court has ordered against us after taking account of how far any other person responsible or liable to you for the loss or damage has contributed to it.  In assessing anyone else’s contribution, we will ignore any limit imposed on their liability by any agreement made before the loss or damage occurred.

The limitations and exclusions on liability in this section will not apply to any liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.