1.1 Dean Wilson LLP (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’) is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (registration number OC351755). Our registered office and principal place of business is Ridgeland House, 165 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN3 1TL.
1.2 Any person undertaking work on our behalf pursuant to your instructions, does so as an employee or member of or otherwise on behalf of us, not personally and accepts no personal liability.
1.3 We confirm your instructions and the services to be provided to you by us in the client care letter or retainer letter and/or the scope of work and pricing options document addressed to you (referred to in these Terms as the “engagement documents”).
1.4 Your continuing instructions to us will amount to your acceptance of these Terms and the basis upon which we are accepting your instructions as set out in the engagement documents.
1.5 If there is any conflict between these Terms and the engagement documents, the engagement documents will take precedence.
1.6 Together, the Terms and the engagement documents are the legal agreement between us (“Agreement”)
1.7 In these Terms, there are provisions which allow us to:
1.7.1 charge you interest on late payment of our invoices (paragraph 11.1 and paragraph 11.2);
1.7.2 recover our costs for legal proceedings initiated to seek payment of our invoices (paragraph 11.3); and
1.7.3 limit our liability to you (paragraph 17)
2.1 The scope of our instructions is set out in the engagement documents.
2.2 We shall not advise or provide guidance on any matters which are not expressly included in the engagement documents.
2.3 Unless we expressly agree and confirm in the engagement documents, we will not be responsible for providing advice in relation to:
2.3.1 any laws other than the laws of England and Wales;
2.3.2 tax in any form;
2.3.3 the commercial and/or financial implications of any matter or transaction;
2.3.4 the financial status of any other party to a transaction; or
2.3.5 any accountancy matters.
2.4 The advice we give is personal to you. If any advice we have given is passed to any third party, we shall not be liable in any way to that third party under these Terms and you are the only person who can enforce the terms of the Agreement against us.
3.1 We conduct routine checks for conflicts of interest on accepting instructions.
3.2 We can only accept your instruction if no conflict exists or is likely to develop. If that changes during the course of a matter, we will talk with you about how to resolve it.
3.3 We may have to stop acting for your if a conflict arises. This may occur because we have discovered or are aware of information obtained whilst acting for another client which we would normally have to tell you about. However, telling you about that information would conflict with our duty of confidentiality to the other client. In this event, we reserve the right to withhold this information and stop acting for you. In certain cases, we may continue to act for you and the other client, but only if we are able to observe our duty of confidentiality to you.
3.4 We act for many clients. Some of our clients work in the same industry and sector. You accept that the fact that other current clients we may have or any future clients we may obtain, will sometimes have commercial interests which may be adverse to your own. In that situation you agree that that of itself would not prevent us from acting for you.
4.1 The engagement documents detail the principal people who will carry out your work and their status.
4.2 We try to avoid changing the principal people who carry out your work but if this cannot be avoided, we will notify you promptly as to who will continue to handle your matter and why the change was necessary.
5.1 It is important that we have a clear understanding of the legal services required by our clients. We will, therefore, need detailed instructions in respect of each particular matter so that we can properly and fully advise you and take the appropriate action.
5.2 You can assist us by giving clear instructions, letting us have all relevant documentation, informing us of any time limits of which you are aware and dealing promptly with any important questions or issues that arise.
5.3 It is your responsibility to inform us of any changes in circumstances which may affect your instructions to us and the advice we give.
6.1 If you have insurance cover for your own or another’s legal fees, you must tell us straightaway.
6.2 If you do not tell us, we will assume there is none and you may lose the right to be covered by the policy.
6.3 We charge either by hourly rate or fixed fee, the details of which will be set out in the scope of work and pricing options document.
6.4 You are responsible for payment of our charges even if you have entered an agreement with another to pay or share payment.
7.1 In circumstances where we charge by the hour, our charges are calculated mainly by reference to the time we spend in dealing with a matter and recorded in 6 minute units per activity on a computerised time-recording system.
7.2 There are a number of factors that we take into account when calculating our fees. These include:
7.2.1 the time we spend providing legal services to you;
7.2.2 the complexity of the instructions;
7.2.3 the specialist knowledge involved;
7.2.4 the value of the transaction;
7.2.5 the speed or urgency within which the services are to be performed.
7.3 Our hourly rates are reviewed annually on 1 April. We will inform you if our hourly rates increase while we are undertaking instructions on your behalf.
7.4 Our hourly rates for the period beginning 1 April 2025 are:
7.4.1 Partner £325 - £450
7.4.2 Senior Associate up to £400
7.4.3 Associate £280 - £375
7.4.4 Solicitor £245 - £330
7.4.5 Legal Executives £275 - £300
7.4.6 Trainee Solicitor £200
7.4.7 Senior Paralegal £200 - £300
7.4.8 Paralegal Band 2 £220 - £300
7.4.9 Paralegal Band 1 £200
7.4.10 Legal Assistant/Admin £110
Our hourly rates for SPL for the period from 1 January 2025
7.4.11 Band A – £288
7.4.12 Band B – £242
7.4.13 Band C – £197
7.4.14 Band D – £139
7.5 The scope of work and pricing options document sets out when we can send invoices and when you have to pay them. If you do not pay us on time we may stop working for you and all outstanding invoices will become payable immediately.
7.6 In addition to our charges, we may incur expenses that we have to pay on your behalf. You agree to repay us for any such expenses we pay on your behalf and we may ask you to place us in funds before we incur certain expenses.
7.7 Where we are required to transfer money to you or a third party, we will charge an additional fee to cover our costs in setting up and arranging this payment.
7.8 Where we are instructed by two or more clients, their liability to pay our costs and expenses will be joint and several unless agreed otherwise in writing.
7.9 If for any reason we cease acting for you, unless agreed otherwise, we will charge you for the work done and the expenses incurred.
8.1 Except for fees, charges and expenses which are zero rated or exempt, we will add VAT to our fees, charges and expenses at the rate which applies when the work is carried out.
8.2 We may also incur disbursements on your behalf or as a result of your instructions. These may be subject to VAT irrespective of the VAT treatment of our supply of services.
9.1 It is our standard practice to require clients to pay sums on account in advance to cover the cost of future charges and expenses.
9.2 The initial payment and subsequent payments required will be set out in the engagement documents.
9.3 Where initial payments are specified in the engagement documents chargeable work may not be commenced until such time as we are in receipt of cleared funds. Where your matter is time-sensitive, it is your responsibility to ensure that we are placed in funds and we shall not be responsible for your delay.
9.4 Our fees and expenses are payable in full on or before completion of each matter, unless stated otherwise in the engagement documents.
9.5 We may send you regular interim invoices for our fees, disbursements, charges and expenses and if we are holding funds on account, we may offset those funds against an interim invoice in accordance with the Solicitors Account Rules. In that circumstance, we may require you to provide us with further payments on account.
10.1 The methods by which funds may be transferred to us shall be set out in the engagement documents. In making payments to us you should be wary of cyber-crime. It is your responsibility to verify our bank details before any payment is made and we are unable to take responsibility if you transfer money to a wrong account.
10.2 We will accept payment by debit and credit card in settlement of our fees (meaning the cost of legal services rendered by us to you) and VAT thereon.
10.3 We shall not accept credit card payments in respect of disbursements (including Counsel’s fees) or any other third party charges and expenses incurred on your behalf.
11.1 If you do not pay an invoice (in whole or in part) within 28 days of the date of the invoice, we may charge you interest on the amount outstanding from and including the date of invoice until payment.
11.2 Interest will be payable at the annual rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate from the date of the invoice until and including the date of payment and will be charged on a daily basis.
11.3 If you fail to pay our invoice, we may at our discretion commence legal proceedings against you for payment. In these circumstances, you will be responsible for the payment of all further fees, charges and expenses incurred in those proceedings, even if the claim is for less than £10,000.
12.1 If we hold money on your behalf, it will be instantly accessible subject to normal clearance times and interest will be calculated and paid to you gross in accordance with the amount held and the time for which it is held. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph 12.1, no interest will be payable if the interest amount calculated on the balance is £250 or less or has been held for less than 90 days.
12.2 Unless otherwise agreed in writing the interest rate to be applied will be that of NatWest Bank Plc’s ‘Instant Access Savings Account’.
12.3 Where monies are held in a separate designated client account the whole of the interest earned will be credited to the account.
12.4 Our bank account details will not change during the course of a transaction. If you receive an email that appears to be from us providing a change in bank details it is unlikely to be genuine and you are responsible for contacting us by telephone to confirm the correct details. We will not accept liability if you transfer money to an incorrect account.
12.5 Unless we fail to do what we say we will or if we are in breach of the SRA regulations, we are not responsible for the loss of client money or delays in money transmission.
12.6 If less than £500 of your money remains in our client account after we have concluded the work, and we do not hold your bank account details, we will make every effort to return your money to you within 90 days of the conclusion of the transaction. If we cannot return your money, we will donate it to our chosen charity.
12.7 Where we hold a balance that exceeds £500 and we are unsuccessful in returning the funds, having made reasonable attempts to do so, then we shall seek authority from the SRA to donate it to our chosen charity.
13.1 In order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our legal services, we utilise various AI tools, including but not limited to Microsoft Copilot. These tools assist in tasks such as document review, information retrieval, and basic drafting.
13.2 AI tools are employed to support our solicitors and are not a substitute for professional judgement and expertise. All outputs generated by AI are reviewed and validated by qualified legal professionals to ensure their accuracy and appropriateness for your specific legal needs.
13.3 We are committed to safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. When using AI tools, we ensure that all client data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, and that appropriate measures are taken to protect it from unauthorized access or disclosure.
13.4 We comply with all applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our use of AI tools adheres to strict data handling and retention policies designed to maintain the privacy and security of your personal information.
13.5 AI tools serve to augment the capabilities of our legal professionals. All final legal advice and documentation are provided under the supervision and verification of a qualified solicitor, ensuring compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct.
13.6 By entering into an agreement with us, you consent to the use of AI tools in the delivery of legal services. Should you have any concerns or objections regarding the use of AI, please communicate these to us, and we will address them appropriately.
13.7 Our use of AI is subject to continuous review and evaluation to ensure it meets the highest ethical standards and aligns with best practices in the legal profession.
14.1 In this paragraph 13:
“Data Protection Legislation” means (i) unless and until the GDPR is no longer directly applicable in the UK, the GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and any other national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK and then (ii) any successor legislation to the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018; and
“GDPR” means the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679).
14.2 We will only collect personal data from you that is relevant to the matter that we are dealing with. The GDPR requires us to tell you how we may use that information. We will mainly use your information for the provision of legal advice and as is necessary for the performance of the contract between us. We may also disclose these details to third parties where necessary for the purpose of the matter upon which you have instructed us.
14.3 We may also where it is in our legitimate interest, i.e., in a way in which we might reasonably be expected as part of running our business, contact you from time to time by mail, email, or telephone to provide information that might be of use to you, including details of the service we offer, newsletters, legal updates and invitation to events.
14.4 We will process your data in accordance with our ‘Privacy Policy’ a copy of which can be found on our website.
14.5 We may monitor, record, store and use any telephone, email or other communication with you in order to check any instructions given to us, for training purposes, for crime prevention and to improve the quality of our client care.
14.6 We will keep your personal data throughout the period of time that we do work for you and afterwards for such periods as we are required to do so by our insurers or by law.
14.7 You have a series of rights under the GDPR including the right to access a copy of the information we hold about you. Further information on this issue can be found in our Privacy Policy.
14.8 If you have any questions about the way in which we may process your personal data or you are unhappy about the way that we are using your personal data then initially you should contact our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, at dataact@deanwilson.co.uk and if your complaint remains unresolved you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, details available at www.ico.org.uk.
15.1 After completing your matter, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our fees, charges and expenses and those incurred on your behalf or upon your instructions.
15.2 We will keep our file and your deeds and documents (other than those papers, deeds and documents that you ask to be returned to you) for no more than seven years after the conclusion of your matter, or for such other period as is required by law. We reserve the right to destroy files at the end of that period but we will endeavour to contact you first if those files contain deeds or documents which belong to you. We will not destroy deeds or documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody.
15.3 If we retrieve papers or deeds or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, we will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, if you request us to produce stored papers or deeds or documents, we may make a charge of £30 plus VAT, based on the time spent producing those papers, deeds or documents and the additional costs we incur. We may also charge for reading or copying correspondence or documents or carrying out other work necessary to comply with the instructions given by you or on your behalf. We will inform you in advance of our costs and expenses in carrying out this work.
15.4 If we agree to store any deeds or documents for you, we will not be responsible for checking their accuracy or for advising on any changes which may affect the terms of those documents or their validity or for any time limits that may be referred to in those documents unless we expressly agree to do so in writing.
16.1 You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers, deeds and documents while there is money owing to us for our fees, charges and expenses and those incurred on your behalf or upon your instructions.
16.2 We may decide to stop acting for you only with good reason, for example:
16.2.1 the threat or risk of violence, injury or other danger to the physical, psychological or moral well-being of any of our personnel;
16.2.2 the discovery or creation of a conflict of interest;
16.2.3 your requesting us to break the law or any professional requirement;
16.2.4 the relationship of trust and confidence necessary between solicitor and client ceasing to exist between us;
16.2.5 your failure to pay us any amount due, or money on account requested;
16.2.6 your bankruptcy or insolvency;
16.2.7 our being forbidden to act by the National Crime Agency or your name appearing on any sanctions list produced by HM Government;
16.2.8 our reasonable belief that our continuing to represent you may cause damage to our professional or personal reputation; or
16.2.9 any other breach by you of these Terms.
16.3 If you decide to terminate your instructions to us, or we decide to cease acting for you, we will still be entitled to receive payment of our fees, charges and expenses for services performed up to the date of termination. All our rights set out in these Terms shall continue to apply even if the agreement is terminated.
17.1 We accept no liability for any loss, damage or expense of any nature whatsoever which is caused by the reliance upon our advice by any third party.
17.2 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our liability in any matter will be limited to £3m for any claim or series of claims arising from the same circumstances. We accept no liability for consequential or indirect loss. We can only limit our liability to the extent that the law allows (for example, we cannot limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence).
17.3 We will not be liable to repay money lost through the failure of a bank or other financial institution.
18.1 We may use email when communicating with you unless you have specifically requested us not to do so.
18.2 You accept that email communications are potentially insecure and may be accessed by someone not involved in the transaction. Although we will keep your files confidential, the use of email gives rise to a risk of this confidentiality being compromised.
18.3 Our computer systems and all our external email messages are checked for viruses. However, we accept no liability for any loss or damage that you may incur as a result of any viruses and you should check all your incoming email messages for viruses.
19.1 Our complaints procedure is set out on our website at Complaints Policy | Dean Wilson LLP.
19.2 You are entitled to complain to us or the Legal Ombudsman (www.legalombudsman.org.uk), about the level of fees charged in our invoice and you may also apply to the court for an assessment of the level of our fees under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.
19.3 If all or part or our invoice remains unpaid, we reserve our right to charge interest notwithstanding that our invoice has been challenged.
19.4 We reserve the right to outsource the conduct of any complaint to a third party provider.
20.1 Before we can do any work for you, we are legally required to verify your identity. By accepting the terms in our Terms you are agreeing that we can:
20.1.1 use your personal information (name, address, date of birth etc) for identification purposes; and
20.1.2 provide your personal information to any relevant third parties, such as credit reference agencies.
20.2 By law we are required to verify your identity prior to entering into a business relationship with you. As part of our Client Due Diligence checks and our ongoing efforts to protect your personal information, we have engaged with a third party provider to help verify your identity. The third party provider is Legl.
20.3 In the event we are unable to verify your identity through Legl, we will tell you exactly what information and documentation you need to provide us to complete our checks. We will use your personal information to carry out an online verification check.
21.1 We and our employees and all associated persons are prohibited from giving or receiving gifts or hospitality made with the intention of exerting improper influence, obtaining or retaining a business advantage, or in explicit or implicit exchange for favours or benefits. No gifts in the form of cash will be accepted. If you wish to provide a gift or hospitality to a person associated with this firm, then we have a duty to log the same in our central register.
21.2 We may terminate our retainer with you should we have cause to believe you or a person or business performing services on your behalf have committed an offence under the Bribery Act 2011.
21.3 A copy of our anti-bribery policy can be found on our website at www.deanwilson.co.uk/policies.
22.1 If you are an individual and the terms on which we are to act for you are concluded when we are meeting away from our offices or in our offices but when you have originally asked us to act in a meeting elsewhere, under consumer protection legislation you have a right to cancel your instructions within fourteen days without giving any reason.
22.2 Your right to cancel can be exercised by delivering, or sending (including by electronic mail) a cancellation notice to the person with day to day conduct of your matter (as stated in the engagement documents) at our address at any time within the period of fourteen days starting with the date you originally requested us to start work or you receive the engagement documents, whichever is the earlier.
22.3 You cannot exercise this right by telephone.
22.4 If you cancel, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you unless we have paid them out to a third party on your behalf.
22.5 We will make the reimbursement without undue delay and no later than fourteen days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel your instructions.
22.6 We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction unless you have expressly agreed otherwise. In any event, you will not incur any fee as a result of the transaction.
22.7 A form of our cancellation notice is provided on our website at www.deanwilson.co.uk/policies should you decide to cancel the agreement between you and us or you may write to or email us with your own unequivocal cancellation.
22.8 You must pay for any service you have received prior to cancellation. The fee will be based on time recorded on your matter and will be proportionate to the full contracted price.
22.9 If you wish us to start work before the end of the cancellation period, your counter signature on the engagement documents will provide sufficient authority for us to do so.
23.1 Sometimes, conveyancing, family, probate or company work involves investments. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and so we may refer you to someone who is authorised to provide any necessary advice. However, we can provide certain limited services in relation to investments, provided they are closely linked with the legal services we are providing you, as we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
23.1 If you have a problem with the service we have provided for you then please let us know. We will try to resolve any problem quickly and operate an internal complaints handling system to help us to resolve the problem between ourselves. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, then we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complaints and redress mechanisms are provided through the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman.
23.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). However, we are included on the register maintained by the FCA so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the FCA website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register.
23.1 The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society and the Legal Ombudsman is an independent complaints handling body.
24.1 We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. A copy of our equality and diversity policy can be found at www.deanwilson.co.uk/policies.
25.1 It is agreed between us that the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 does not apply to these Terms.
26.1 We may occasionally wish to give details of our existing client base and the nature of the work we undertake to prospective clients, publishers of legal directories or the media. We will contact you for agreement before providing any information about you or your business.
27.1 If any provision of these Terms is found by a competent court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the other provisions of these Terms which shall remain in full force and effect. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable but would be valid or enforceable if some part of the provision were deleted, the provision in question shall apply with such deletions as may be necessary to make it valid and enforceable.
28.1 These Terms and the engagement documents and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms and the engagement documents or their subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
29.1 The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms and the engagement documents or their subject matter or formation.
