Standard Terms of Engagement & Client Care and Service Information

These Standard Terms of Engagement (Terms) apply in respect of all work carried out by Tuitala Law Limted except to the extent that is otherwise agreed with you in writing and these standard terms are to be read in conjuction with an engagement letter specific to your matter. As required by the Law Society’s Conduct and Client Care Rules, we provide you with the following information:

NZ Law Society Client care & Service Information

Lawyers must follow certain standards of professional conduct which are set out in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. Under these rules, any legal services your lawyer is providing, your lawyer must comply with the following:

• 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 in which 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.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us or contact the Law Society.

2. General Terms and Conditions of Engagement

The services we will provide for you are outlined in the engagement letter which includes who is responsible for providing the services to you on our behalf.

AML compliance

From 1 July 2018, we are required by law to obtain more information from our clients under the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The purpose of this Act is to prevent money laundering or the financing of any terrorism. By having this information, we will have more knowledge about the transactions we are undertaking on behalf of our clients. If we have any suspicions, we have an obligation to report this. When we meet with our clients to discuss new legal matters, we will require what is called “customer due diligence” (CDD) which includes verifying each client’s identity, date of birth and address. For companies or Trusts, we will also require further information about other people involved in the company or Trust, such as the Directors, Shareholders, Trustees or Beneficiaries. We may also ask questions about the source of the money, and the reason for the proposed work. Please be aware that we require the above information/documentation before we can carry out any work for our clients, and if it cannot be provided then we will be unable to act.

2.1. Fees and Disbursements

The fees we charge or the manner in which they will be arrived at, are set out in the engagement letter. Unless we advise otherwise, all fees incurred are calculated on an hourly basis at various rates depending on the level of experience of our lawyers.

The hourly rates for our professional staff are:

• Director $345.00 ʻi he houa
• Associate $230.00 ʻi he houa
• Solicitor $172.50 ʻi he houa
• Law Clerk or Paralegal $115.00 ʻi he houa

The differences in rates reflect the experience and specialisation of our professional staff, which is recorded in six-minute units, which is rounded up to the next unit of six minutes.

We will only charge you for the agreed scope of services. Any work which falls outside that scope will be charged on an hourly rate basis as agreed by you. We will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if it becomes necessary to provide services outside the agreed scope and, if requested, give you an estimate of the likely amount of the further costs.

Fixed fee arrangements

Having a fixed fee arrangement may be more beneficial and cost-effective. It also provides more certainty around the actual cost of services to be provided in most services provided by the firm. If this applies to your matter, then it will be noted on the engagement letter and a schedule of fixed fee option attached for your consideration. If you agree to the fixed fee arrangement, you must provide written confirmation that this is your preferred billing option. If you do not, then the hourly rate basis will apply.

Disbursements & Travel Costs

In addition to our fees, disbursements are invoiced to you for immediate payment immediately when they are incurred. These are charges additional to the fees due for our services such as Court filing fees, Immigration Fees, travel expenses, costs of bulk printing or binding, courier which are paid to another organisation or individual.

Travel costs such as airfares or mileage for travel necessary carrying out your instructions will be charged to you. Mileage will be charged at the current rate per kilometer approved by IRD for the relevant time.

Administration Fee and Office Expenses

All new matters attract a $50.00 administration fee for each file created and further administration charges of $30.00 per invoice may be included as office expenses to cover office expenses including online services, telephone, postage and photocopying on each invoice produced.

Third party expenses

Although you may expect to be reimbursed by a third party for our fees and expenses, and our invoices may at your request or with your approval be directed to a third party, you remain responsible for payment if the third party fails to pay our invoices.

GST

New Zealand Goods and Services Tax (GST) is payable by you on fees and charges, unless you are exempt.

2.2. Billing

Our invoices are payable in New Zealand dollars, unless we agree otherwise. We will invoice at regular intervals either at the completion of each stage of your work completed for you, or on a weekly or fortnightly basis depending on your fee structure. You will then receive a final invoice at the completion of your case. All invoices are due for payment as per our engagement letter and your choice of billing cylce (this varies between each matter). Generally speaking fixed fees invoices are payable immediately upon completion for immediate payment and hourly rate invoices are due for payment within 14 days of the date of invoice.

If you feel you cannot pay by the due date, you must contact accounts@tuitalalaw.com to raise any queries you have about any invoice within three days of receiving it or to make alternative payment arrangements.

If default (i.e invoices are not paid on time) and an agreement has not been made, you will be charged interest at a rate of 15% per annum and the invoice refer to a debt collection agency for collection. If this happens, you will be responsible for any fees incurred as part of this process. We are also entitled to stop acting for you if your invoice is not paid by the due date.

2.3. Indemnity Insurance

The New Zealand Law Society maintains the Lawyers Fidelity Fund for the purposes of providing clients of lawyers with protection against pecuniary loss arising from theft by lawyers. The maximum amount payable by way of compensation to an individual claimant is limited to $100,000.

Except in certain circumstances specified in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, the Fidelity Fund does not cover a client for any loss relating to money that a lawyer is instructed to invest on behalf of a client. We do not carry indemnity insurance.

2.4. Complaints

We maintain a procedure for handling any complaints from clients, designed to ensure that a complaint is dealt with promptly and fairly.

If you have a complaint about my services or charges, please contact the Director, Semisi Pohiva, via email: semisi@tuitalalaw.com or via phone 0275092799 in the first instance so that it may be dealt with under certain complaint procedures.

If you wish to make your complaint to the Law Society, you can contact the Law Society’s Complaints Service.

2.5. Conflicts of Interest

When we are acting for you on a matter, we will not (without your consent) act for another client against your interests on the same or any closely related matter. Nor (without your consent) will we act for another client where we hold confidential information concerning you or your affairs that we have acquired while acting for you, where disclosure of that information to that other client would be likely to affect your interests adversely.

If a conflict of interest arises, we will tell you and, if bound to do so by the Law Society’s Conduct and Client Care Rules, or if we choose to do so, we will terminate our engagement.

2.6. Confidentiality

We will hold in confidence all information concerning you and your affairs that we acquire while acting for you. We will not disclose this information to any person, unless you expressly or impliedly authorise me to do so, except to the extent required to represent you or as permitted by the Law Society’s Conduct and Client Care Rules.

2.7. Reliance

You are the only person who may rely on our advice. We owe no duty or liability to any other person, including for example any associated companies, shareholders, directors, employees, or family members. If you want any other person to be able to rely on my advice, our written agreement is required.

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 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 me 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 my reasonable control, and we will not be liable for any resulting damage or loss.

2.8. Document Destruction

Our policy is to retain clients’ files in paper or electronic form for 7 years, except for some files which we may choose to retain longer. Neongo ia, we may destroy files at any time after that. Unless you notify us in writing before a file is destroyed that you do not wish it to be destroyed, you will be deemed to have consented to that file (whether in paper or electronic form) being destroyed.

2.9. Termination (Cancellation of Services)

You may terminate our engagement at any time. Neongo ia, where you give us an instruction, and we rely on that instruction in something we do, you may not revoke that instruction. If work has already been done for you, you will still be liable to pay for anywork done up until the day you terminate our engagement.

We may also terminate our engagement at any time if:

• you misrepresent or fail to disclose to me relevant facts

• you mislead or deceive us in a material respect
• you adopt a course of action that we believe may be inconsistent with our professional obligations
• we consider that a conflict of interest has arisen
• you do not pay our invoices by the due date.

We may also terminate our engagement in any other circumstances requiring or justifying termination in terms of the Law Society’s Conduct and Client Care Rules.

If our engagement is terminated, we may retain your files until our invoices are paid and these terms of engagement will continue to apply to the extent that is appropriate.

2.10. No Refund Policy

Our general policy is that once services have been completed, no refunds will be given. By engaging our services you agree to this and you agree to pay for any services or work done including disbursements and other office expenses up until the day your matter ends and/or our engagement comes to an end.

2.11. Privacy

While acting for you, we may collect and hold personal information concerning you. This information may be used by us to provide services to you. You authorise us to obtain from any person, or release to any person, any information necessary for that purpose, and you authorise any person to release to us information that we may require for that purpose.

We are committed to protecting your personal and, if applicable, any card information collected and stored by us when paying for services rendered electronically.

We implement a variety of security measures to ensure the safety of your personal and card information. These measures include, but are not limited to:

• Encryption of sensitive data during transmission
• Secure storage solutions for personal information
• Regular security audits and updates to our systems

Card numbers are not stored on our servers. Instead, they pass through a secure gateway provided by our payment processing partners. This ensures that your card information is handled with the highest level of security.

Once your personal information is provided, it is securely stored and used solely for the purpose of delivering our services. We retain your information only as long as necessary to fulfill these purposes and comply with legal obligations.

Under the Privacy Act 1993, you have the right to access and correct any personal information we hold about you. If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact us.

We understand the importance of safeguarding your personal and card information. This Privacy Policy is designed to provide you with the assurance that your information is protected when using our services.

2.12. General

This document contains our standard terms of engagement. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, these terms of engagement will govern our relationship. By instructing me to act for you, you will be deemed to have agreed to them.

These terms apply to any current and all future engagements. Neongo ia, we may vary these terms from time to time and, if we do so, we will inform you of the varied terms. If you continue to instruct us following a variation, you will be deemed to have agreed to the varied terms.

If you have any questions about these terms, please do not hesitate to contact the director, Semisi Pohiva, via email on semisi@tuitalalaw.com or via phone 027 509 2799.