29 December 2011
DISCLOSURE NOTICE
Common law claim - work accident or motor vehicle accident
We set out below important information we are obliged to disclose to you by the Legal Profession Act 2008 (called LPA) about our
legal costs which may affect your decision as to whether you wish to instruct us to act on your behalf in relation to the matter described
in the schedule below (called matter). You also have the right under section 267 of the LPA to be notified of any substantial change to
anything included in this notice.
Information is also available at our website at www.mrlegal.com.au and from the website of the Legal Practice Board.
Jurisdiction
1. Part 10 of the LPA (dealing with costs disclosure and assessment) applies to the matter if you first instruct us in relation to the
matter in the State of Western Australia (Jurisdiction).
1.1 Part 10 will also apply to the matter if:
(a) it does not currently apply to the matter or it is not possible to determine the jurisdiction in which you first instructed
us in relation to the matter; and
(b) either the legal services are or will be provided wholly or primarily in the Jurisdiction or the matter has a substantial
connection with the Jurisdiction, or both; and
(c) either you enter into the agreement set out below which includes a provision that Part 10 of the LPA applies to the
matter, or you notify us in writing that you require Part 10 to apply to the matter.
1.2 The law of the Jurisdiction applies to legal costs in relation to the matter.
1.3 Part 10 will cease to apply to the matter if:
(a) either the legal services are or will be provided wholly or primarily in another jurisdiction, or the matter has a
substantial connection with another jurisdiction, or both; and
(b) either:
(i) you enter under the corresponding law of the other jurisdiction into an agreement with us that the
corresponding provisions of that corresponding law apply to the matter; or
(ii) you notify us in writing under the corresponding law of the other jurisdiction (and within the time allowed by
that corresponding law) that you require the corresponding provisions of the corresponding law to apply to
the matter.
The basis of calculating professional fees
2. Macdonald Rudder may charge you for time spent by the partners, employees and agents of Macdonald Rudder in any way
relating to, arising out of or incidental to your instructions at the following hourly rates calculated on a time costing bas is of 6
minutes (1 unit). The minimum charge is 1 unit (even if the actual time spent is less) and time spent is rounded up (eg 9
minutes is charged as 2 units or twelve minutes). These rates are applicable for research, travel and waiting time. Barristers
engaged by us for you may charge greater rates or on a different basis but no more than the scale provides (presently $341
hourly rate, $3,410 daily rate; for senior counsel $605 hourly rate, $6,050 daily rate). The rates are inclusive of GST. Th e
rates below are the maximum under the relevant scale (see clause 6.2 below) and when the relevant scale increases (usually
on 1 July every two years) our hourly rates from that time will increase in line with the increase in the maximum hourly rate in
the scale.
Senior lawyer being 5 years or more in practice $429 per hour
Lawyer being less than 5 years in practice $297 per hour
Articled Clerk or Law Clerk $209 per hour
2.1 You must pay for the following services the amount or rate set out next to the service. These costs include GST.
Service of originating process $45.00 Faxes per page $2.20
Filing/ service per document $22.00 Faxes (ISD) per page $4.40
Stamping documents/ attendance $22.00 STD telephone calls per minute $1.00
Business name/ title or CT search, each $22.00 ISD telephone calls per minute $3.00
Mines Department/ company search, each $22.00 Recall of file once retired $148.50
Document production (copying and printing) $0.11 Binding documents, each document $9.90
per A4 page
Payment by credit card (Visa & Mastercard) 1.75% of Payment by credit card (other cards 4% of
payment accepted by us) payment
2.2 Cash disbursements associated with such service will be charged in addition to the above fees including the merchant fee
payable by Macdonald Rudder on any payment effected by a credit card.
2.3 As set out below in more detail, without this costs agreement we could not charge you in this way. Rather we could only
charge you in accordance with a statutory costs determination (Scale).
2.4 You have the right to negotiate the terms of the costs agreement, but we will not act for you unless there is a costs agreement
between us, either in the form of the agreement set out below (or as otherwise supplied) or as negotiated.
Ground floor 109 James Street Northbridge WA 6003 Telephone: +61 8 9328 9788 Kalgoorlie office:
PO Box 120 Northbridge WA 6865 Facsimile : +61 8 9328 9711 126 Hannan Street
DX 200 Perth mail@mrlegal.com.au Kalgoorlie 6430
http://www.mrlegal.com.au/
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Money on account and credit policy
3. You must pay for all cash disbursements we incur or for which we become liable on your behalf or for your benefit. In almost
all cases we will require you to place money in our trust account in advance to pay for all anticipated disbursements. As a
general rule we do not give credit. Even if we have agreed to give you credit, we may require you to place money in our trust
account to pay for anticipated fees. If there is a significant outlay for either a disbursement or professional fees (for example
for the advice of counsel or a court hearing) we may ask you to place in our trust account our estimate of the likely costs well
prior to the event in question. For details of our credit policy go to our web site and look under the ―Client‖ menu.
3.1 As we are entitled to cease to represent you if the money requested is not paid, if you receive a request from us for monies to
be deposited in trust but you are unable to meet such request, please immediately contact us so that if possible an alternati ve
arrangement can be made. In some circumstances we may accept other arrangements such as alternative security or a
guarantee from a third party for payment.
Legal aid
4. In some circumstances you may be eligible for legal aid. If you believe you are or may be entitled to legal aid please infor m
us. If you are entitled to legal aid we reserve the right to refuse or cease to act for you and you may have to instruct oth er
solicitors who will accept your instructions on a legally aided basis.
Legal costs — your right to know [LPA s.260(5) reg. 80(1)]
5. You have the right to —
(a) negotiate a costs agreement with us;
(b) receive a bill of costs from us;
(c) request an itemised bill of costs after you receive a lump sum bill from us;
(d) request written reports about the progress of your matter (for which you will be charged), and the costs incurred in
your matter (at no cost to you);
(e) apply for costs to be assessed within 12 months if you are unhappy with our costs or apply for the costs agreement to
be set aside;
(f) accept or reject any offer we make for an interstate costs law to apply to your matter;
(g) notify us that you require an interstate costs law to apply to your matter.
5.1 For more information about your rights, please read the fact sheet titled Legal costs — your right to know. You can ask us for
a copy, or obtain it from the Legal Practice Board (or download it from the website of the Legal Practice Board or the Law
Society of Western Australia).
Bills, itemisation and disputes
5.2 We will bill you periodically as we see fit, usually at the end of every calendar month or every week if justified by the volume of
work. We charge interest on overdue legal costs at the maximum rate prescribed under the LPA, presently the rate equal to
the Cash Rate Target (as defined in the Legal Profession Regulations 2009 as amended) plus 2% per annum. The rate of
interest will appear on every bill we send to you. Without the proposed costs agreement we can only charge interest if costs
are unpaid for 30 days or more after we have given you a bill for the costs in accordance with Division 7 of the LPA (see
s.273(1) LPA). Under the proposed agreement you will pay interest if legal costs are unpaid for 7 days.
5.3 If we give you a lump sum bill (a total without details of work done and time taken for each item of work) and you are en titled
to apply for an assessment of the legal costs to which the bill relates, you have a right to request an itemised bill in respect of
those legal costs.
5.4 If there is a dispute about legal costs the following avenues are open to you. You may:
(a) seek a costs assessment under Division 8 of Part 10 of the LPA, namely apply to a taxing officer of the Supreme
Court for an assessment of the whole or any part of a bill for legal costs, even if the bill has been wholly or partly paid;
(b) apply to set aside any costs agreement between us;
(c) make a complaint under Part 13 of the LPA.
5.5 You can seek a costs assessment within 12 months of being given the bill or a request for payment (or if no bill was given or
request made, within 12 months of the date the costs were paid). A complaint cannot be dealt with if it is made more than
6 years after the conduct is alleged to have occurred unless the Complaints Committee determines otherwise.
Statutory scales of costs
6. The law regulates what a lawyer and a barrister may charge his client in the absence of agreement, irrespective of the amount
of time devoted by the solicitors to the proceedings. For this purpose various statutory scales (depending on the type of wo rk)
are prescribed. They are usually based on an assessment of the time a competent solicitor or counsel should take to carry
out different categories of work. In some categories the scales provide for a range of costs and in all instances they provi de
an upper limit for costs absent an order of a Court.
6.1 The scales limit the costs which you as the client could recover from the opposing party to the proceedings (if you were to
succeed in the case), the costs you must pay the opposing party (if you are unsuccessful) and the costs we can charge and
recover from you without the proposed agreement.
6.2 The scale relevant to this matter is the Error! No document variable supplied.. You can view this and other scales on our
web site under the heading ―Clients‖. The proposed agreement will entitle us to charge you on a time basis as set out above
for any work we undertake on your behalf or for your benefit, including litigation but always subject to the maximum hourly rate
in the scale and subject to any cap for items in the scale (unless otherwise ordered by the court).
6.3 Under section 27A of the Motor Vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act 1943 and under sections 274 and 275 of the Workers
Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 we are not entitled to any greater reward than is provided for by the relevant
legal costs determination (as defined in the LPA) that is in force. If any provision in this agreement is contrary to any st atutory
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enactment in force in the Commonwealth of Australia including the relevant sections of the Acts referred to above or the
provisions of any relevant scale then firstly the provisions of the statutory enactment and/or the scale shall prevail and further
any inconsistent provision of this agreement shall, if capable of being severed from this agreement, be severed herefrom and
the balance of this agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
6.4 Our hourly rate is no higher than the relevant scale provides. We will not charge you, absent an order of the court, more th an
the maximum scale amount for any scale item of work.
6.5 To see the various scales go to our web site, and look under ―Disclosure‖. Other solicitors may charge less than us; for
example if they undertook to do the work without requiring you to sign a cost agreement or because they charge out at lower
hourly rates (or at the same rate but in units of less than 6 minutes), and expend the same or less time to do the required
work.
6.6 Without the proposed agreement we may not be able to charge you for research, travel and the suchlike and may not be able
to render interim bills (as we see fit).
Estimates on legal costs and solicitor with primary conduct of the matter
7. We estimate that total legal costs will be in the range of $Error! No document variable supplied. plus GST. .
7.1 In litigious matters, major variables that will affect the calculation of total legal costs are as follows:
(a) in which court or tribunal the dispute is ultimately litigated (as both cost and procedures vary between different courts
and tribunals);
(b) whether the number of parties change;
(c) new or unexpected issues are raised;
(d) if you are the plaintiff whether:
(i) the defendant contests the claim;
(ii) there is any opportunity to obtain default or summary judgement against the defendant before trial;
(e) whether, and if so at what stage, a settlement can be negotiated;
(f) whether, for some other reason, the case does not proceed as far as trial and judgement;
(g) what pre-trial steps are required by the other parties or the court to be carried out. For example, further particulars of
pleadings, an attack on the defence or statement of claim; discovery, interrogation, mediation, witness statements,
outlines of argument; whether there are disputes between any of the parties as to the adequacy of performance of
any pre-trial steps; whether any order or judgement made in the course of the case (whether before or after trial) is
appealed by any of the parties; whether necessary witnesses for your case cooperate or not; whether it becomes
necessary to obtain evidence, or reports or documents from one or more expert or other witnesses; what attitude and
tactics are adopted by the other parties throughout the case;
(h) whether you decide to instruct senior counsel or more than one barrister to act for you at or before the trial;
(i) the complexity of the law involved in the case;
(j) whether expert evidence is required. There is the cost of the expert both to give a report and to appear at trial. The
cost of experts vary. Then there are the legal costs involved in identifying the issues requiring expert evidence and
the brief to the expert;
(k) the length of any trial or other hearings or the number of witnesses that would be required at trial, neither of which we
are yet in a position to accurately estimate .
7.2 Apart from all of the above factors, a lot of what will happen in the course of a case will result from the actions of the ot her
parties and the court, neither of which we control.
7.3 If there is a court proceeding and you are successful, an order by a court for the payment of costs in your favour will not
necessarily cover the whole of your legal costs. We estimate that the amount which you could recover from the opposing
party would be around 50%-70% of the amount which you would have to pay us under the proposed agreement.
7.4 If there is a court proceeding and you are unsuccessful, we estimate that you would have to pay the opposing party around
50%-70% of the amount which you would have to pay us under the proposed agreement.
7.5 We estimate that the amount which you would have to pay us under the applicable scales, if this agreement did not apply,
would be about 30% to 50% less than the amount which you would have to pay us under the proposed agreement.
7.6 If you enter into the proposed costs agreement with us we will charge you for the time it has taken us to prepare this notice ,
the estimate of total legal costs and for any time we have spent considering the matter before the costs agreement is made.
Progress reports
8. On reasonable request we will give to you:
(a) a written report of the progress of the matter; and
(b) a written report of legal costs incurred by you since the last time you were billed or if no bill has then been rendered,
since you retained us (WIP).
8.1 You will be charged for the progress report, but not for a report on WIP.
8.2 If you wish to discuss legal costs you may contact the solicitor handling the matter (whose name appears below) or any
partner of the firm.
Client/lawyer Retainer (including costs) Agreement
This agreement is made between Macdonald Rudder and the Client. Before you sign it, it is an offer from us to you to enter i nto an
agreement that deals with, amongst other things, costs. You may enter into this agreement and give the consents forming part thereof
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by signing where indicated below or by informing us in writing that you agree to enter into this agreement with us or by cont inuing to
instruct us to act on your behalf, although we may require you to sign this agreement before we agree to act or continue to act for you.
This agreement is comprised of this document (including the disclosure notice) and any correspondence we give to you relating to the
matter that we provide to you at the time of receiving instructions.
Basic obligations
9. We promise to carry out your instructions with skill and diligence as your legal advisers and unless we are authorised by you
to act for other parties, solely in your interest. We will not perform work for you if for example a conflict of interest prevents us
from accepting your instructions.
10. You agree:
(a) to provide us with timely accurate and proper instructions and all documents and other things relevant to the services
we are providing to you; and
(b) to pay our fees and charges described and calculated in the manner set out in this agreement plus GST thereon (if
applicable) and any money we expend on your behalf or for your benefit upon receipt of an invoice therefor;
(c) that you must satisfy yourself as to, and are solely responsible for, the commercial viability of any transaction, the
bona fides and the financial status of any other party to any transaction, the financial matters relevant to and the
commercial soundness of the transactions;
(d) to act reasonably to protect your own interests;
(e) that if we expend money on your behalf or for your benefit and any partner, director, servant or agent of Macdonald
Rudder receives frequent flyer points or similar benefit as a consequence, they can keep that benefit for their own
use absolutely;
(f) that you will not require us to transfer money from our trust account by Electronic Funds Trasnfer.
(g) that in providing legal services we may need to base our advice or conclusions on facts or assumptions. If we tell you
what facts and assumptions we are relying on you agree to check that all those facts and assumptions are correct
and if they are not, or we have overlooked or not been informed of a fact you consider is or might be relevant you will
inform us accordingly without delay;
(h) that we are not responsible any loss incurred in connection with changes made to a document that we provide to you
unless we have specifically approved all of those changes.
Fees and other charges
11. Our fees are calculated by reference to the time spent by our lawyers and other relevant staff on your matter, multiplied by the
relevant hourly rate set out in the Disclosure Notice plus GST where applicable. Time is costed in 6 minute units as explaine d
in the Disclosure Notice. The minimum amount of time spent on a task will be one unit.
11.1 Fees will be charged for all work we do on your behalf or at your direction or for your benefit directly or indirectly of concerning
relating to incidental to or arising out of the matter described below whether before or after you enter into this agreement and
whether or not our retainer has for any reason whatsoever been terminated and the other charges described in this
agreement including but not limited to drafting, reviewing and completing documents, correspondence, advices, conferences,
reading materials, travelling (where related to the work), telephone calls, court appearances, research, preparing any
disclosure notice, costs estimate or otherwise complying with the LPA in relation to our relationship with you, attendances and
communications in relation to fees or outstanding fees, moneys held in trust, the handing over of this matter or files to ano ther
lawyer or to you or terminating your instructions including without limitation removing ourselves from the record in any court
proceedings.. This work includes without limitation conferences between our lawyers or between our lawyers and an articled
clerk as any of our lawyers reasonably consider necessary, and for one lawyer to review the work done by another lawyer or
articled clerk where it is reasonable to do so having regard to the length or importance of the document or any other relevan t
fact. You acknowledge and agree that the lawyer having conduct of the matter may change from time to time and that this
lawyer may delegate work to be carried out on your behalf to other lawyers, articled clerks and paralegals as that lawyer
reasonably considers necessary or convenient having regard to the nature and complexity of the matter and his availability.
You also agree that we may charge you under the terms of this agreement for all attendances in recovering legal costs and
disbursements rendered pursuant to this agreement including without limitation the cost of any court proceedings even if our
retainer has been terminated.
11.2 Other charges are calculated in accordance with the schedule of charges in the Disclosure Notice (as varied from time to
time) or at the rate charged by the provider or otherwise at cost. Where we pay any money on your behalf or at your direction
or for your benefit, you will reimburse us for those payments. All disbursements and outlays we incur on your behalf will be
accounted for in our bills. We will provide you, on request, with invoices or other proof of disbursements we make on your
behalf.
11.3 We will review our rates and other charges each financial year and we will notify you of any changes that we seek as set out
below. In any event you agree that hourly rates may be increased on 1 January each year following the date of signing of this
agreement by the annual increase in the consumer price index in Perth. The increased hourly rate shall apply to all unbilled
work notwithstanding that such work be performed in a preceding calendar year.
11.4 For the purposes of Goods and Services Tax (GST) we will treat you as the recipient of the supplies that we make. We will
determine the GST payable on our supply of services to you based on your legal status and the nature of the work, include an
amount to our bills on account of that GST and you will pay us that additional amount on account of any GST that we are
liable to pay as a result of any supply we make to you. If there is any shortfall you promise to pay the difference.
Billing
12. We can render bills as we see fit – as set out in the Disclosure Notice. You promise to pay our bills within the time specified
therein or if no time is specified immediately upon receipt in full without any deduction or set off of any kind. If there is more
than one of you, each of you authorise the other to receive a bill on your behalf. You are taken to have received our bill:
(a) if it is given personally to you or your agent- on the day it is given;
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(b) if it is sent by post to you or your agent - within 2 days of posting;
(c) if it is sent electronically to you or your agent - upon transmission.
Third party payer
13. If you expect to be reimbursed by some other person for our bills, and we do not have any recourse against that other person,
you will be responsible for payment, even if payment to you is delayed or not received.
14. Where a third party is legally obliged to pay your fees and other charges to us (that is, an associated third party pursuant to
the LPA), then:
(a) we may make any disclosure required by the LPA to the third party without further reference to you; and
(b) we may provide the third party with any information that it requires relating to the fees and other charges you would
otherwise be liable for as a result of our retainer;
(c) if the third party does not pay our bills, you remain liable therefor.
Money held in trust
15. If we request money on account of fees or disbursements (or both) you will pay the amount requested into our trust account
immediately.
15.1 Unless there has been a written direction by you in relation to money paid into our trust account for you before receipt thereof
by us, you irrevocably authorise us to apply money held for you in our trust account to pay our fees and disbursements upon
an bill therefor being rendered and before service of that account on you, provided the bill is posted or otherwise sent to you
on or about the day the bill was rendered. Money held by us in trust for you will not earn interest unless you direct us in
writing to place the same in an interest bearing bank account. We reserve the right to decline any such direction.
Agents
16. You authorise us to instruct a barrister (which includes any other kind of specialist advocate) in relation to any matter wit hin
the scope of your instructions to us and promise to pay to us all fees and charges incurred by us or for which we have been
billed by the barrister that are in accordance with any costs agreement between us in relation to those fees or are otherwise
reasonable within 7 days of us notifying you of the amount.
16.1 We will advise you in advance if we need to brief a barrister. If we become liable to pay interest on any agent’s fees as a
consequence of delay on your part we will pass that charge on to you. The law provides that a barrister is immune from suit i n
relation to advocacy. Nothing in this agreement affects a barrister’s immunity from suit in relation to any advocacy conducted
on your behalf.
17. You authorise us as your agent to engage external suppliers (usually experts) in relation to anything within the scope of you r
instructions (for example accountants, forensic experts, surveyors, town planners). You will be responsible for payment of
fees and charges of these suppliers and promise to pay all fees and charges we have agreed to pay them on your behalf or if
there is no such agreement all reasonable fees charged by them. If for any reason we are liable to pay the supplier you
promise to pay the amount owing to us on demand. If we have paid any supplier you promise to reimburse us on demand.
17.1 External suppliers (including barristers) may contract with you (and in the case of barristers with us) on their own terms and
conditions of business and undertake work only on the basis that their liability for damages is limited. We accept liability for
any error on our part in our instructions to external suppliers (including barristers), but to the extent permitted by law:
(a) take no responsibility for their work or how they carry out their instructions;
(b) take no responsibility for suggesting or selecting any supplier (including a barrister) in reliance on information we are
given as to the qualifications of the person; and
(c) give no warranty as to the ability of the supplier to appropriately carry out the task or as to the quality of that supplier’s
work.
17.2 You agree that we are entitled to rely on expertise of a barrister engaged to represent or advise you in the matter, and unless
otherwise instructed in writing we are not obliged to, but may, duplicate or review the work done by a barrister in or relating to
the matter.
17.3 For the purposes of the Australian GST law, you (and not us) will make an acquisition of the supplier’s services. You will
therefore be entitled to an input tax credit for GST included in amounts charged by the supplier to the extent that you satis fy
the requirements of the GST law. We will supply you with details of the amounts invoiced by the supplier and will retain the
original tax invoices on your behalf. Whether or not the supplier should add GST on the amounts they charge for supplies they
make to you is a matter between you and the supplier. Where a supplier includes an amount on account of GST that we pay
on your behalf you must repay us the whole amount paid by us, including any GST.
Liens and suspension of work
18. Subject to the LPA:
(a) we have a lien on all documents, funds and records in any form whatsoever in our possession or under our control
until payment in full of all our bills for all matters in respect of which you have retained us; and
(b) we are entitled to retain copies of all documents which we give you, whether owned by us or you and copies of all
documents you supply to us.
18.2 We may at any time suspend all work for you until payment in full of all our bills for all matters in respect of which you or any
of you have retained us.
18.3 If you do not comply with any reasonable request by us to supply information or attend appointments, or refuse to act in
accordance with our advice, or breach any provision of this agreement express or implied, we may suspend work or cease to
act for you.
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Default
19. For every cheque or charge to a credit card you supply that is not honoured, you agree to pay us $50.00. For every payment
by credit card you agree to pay the merchant transaction fee set out above. If you or someone on your behalf deposits money
to our trust or general account by electronic funds transfer (EFT) you promise that the description of the deposit will include
either your name or our matter reference. If this does not happen the money may not be credited to your account and we
reserve the right to charge you a fee of up to $100 for the time taken to determine who effected the deposit.
19.1 If you default in the payment of any money that you owe to us whether under this agreement or otherwise interest will be
charged on the amount due and owing and unpaid from time to time at the maximum rate prescribed under the LPA (as
explained above) per annum as from and including the due date for payment until it has been repaid. Any unpaid interest
shall be capitalised annually for the purpose of calculating interest, namely it will be added to and increase the amount due
and owing and thereafter interest shall be charged on the sum of the amount then due and owing and the unpaid interest at
the said rate per annum. In other words compound interest is charged on the unpaid interest.
19.2 If you are in default under this agreement you promise to pay all costs incurred by us or for which we become liable and for
our time as lawyers at the rates payable under this agreement in consequence of, in connection with, or arising out of any
default by you in performing or observing any of the promises herein contained or implied on your part to be performed or
observed, including the cost of and the preparation for any litigation commenced by us against you (or any of your servant or
agents) on an indemnity basis and further such costs are to include all costs except so far as they are of an unreasonable
amount or have been unreasonably incurred so that subject to the above exceptions we will be completely indemnified by you
for our costs.
Charge
20. You (and if more than one of you, each of you) hereby charge all of your right, title and interest in and to all real estate which
you or any of you now have or at any time hereafter may have to secure the payment of all money that you (or if there is more
than one of you any one or more of you) owe to us on any account now or at any time in the future provided that if you own
more than one property and satisfy us on reasonable grounds that we do not need to lodge a caveat over property specified
by you to adequately secure your said obligations, we will not lodge a caveat over that property. You promise to pay for all
reasonable costs and expenses we incur (including our time at the hourly rates set out above) of concerning or in any way
relating to the said charge and the charge taken from any Guarantor including without limitation the cost of lodging and
removing caveats and the enforcement thereof.
Communication
21. If you have not already done so, you promise to provide us with an email address at which we may communicate with you.
By supplying an email address to us you AUTHORISE us to communicate with you (and if there is more than one of you, all of
you) by that email address. You promise that we can communicate with you at any email address you supply to us. By
supplying an email address you also promise that you regularly check for incoming emails and accept any risk that emails
may be accessed by third parties or not received by you or us. We reserve the right not to act for you or to cease to act fo r
you if you do not supply us with a current email address. Further, and without limitation, you consent to us giving you
information (whether we are required to do so (eg the above disclosure) or because we chose to do so) by electronic
communication including without limitation the above disclosure notice.
21.1 Email and other digital or electronic communication may be interfered with, contain computer viruses or other defects, or may
not be successfully replicated on other systems. To the extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any copying,
recording, reading or interference by others during, or after, a transmission, for any delay or non-delivery, or for any damage
caused in connection with the transmission. You will contact us immediately if you have any doubts about the authenticity of
any communications or material which appears to have been received from us. Without limitation you will contact us if you
receive an email that purports to come from us but does not contain a reference to the matter number assigned to the matter.
21.2 In relation to any communication or transmission of documents by email, we will not be liable for any copying, recording,
reading or interference by others during or after a transmission, for any delay on non-delivery or for any damage caused in
connection with a transmission.
21.3 Any notice or other document or writing we are required or wish to serve on:
(a) you may be served by email at your email address herein or at such other email address as you may have notified to
us in writing from time to time as an email address for the service of notices;
(b) the Guarantor may be served by email at the email address of the Guarantor herein or at such other email address as
the Guarantor may have notified to us in writing from time to time as an email address for the service of notices.
21.4 Any notice or other document or writing we are required or wish to serve on you or the Guarantor may be served by fax at the
fax address of you or the Guarantor herein (as the case may be) or to such other fax address as you or the Guarantor may
have notified to us in writing from time to time. Service of any fax by we will be deemed to have been effected on the day after
it was sent.
21.5 If we are required or wish to produce a document that is in the form of paper, an article or other material, you and the
Guarantor hereby consent to that requirement being satisfied by the production of an electronic form of the document.
21.6 If any signature is required to be given to you (specifically but not limited to, on a bill) and the document containing the
signature is to be transmitted electronically (eg by fax or email) you consent to this requirement being satisfied by the person
who is to give the signature stating their name, inserting an image of a signature and making a statement to this effect, or
stating their name and that by so doing they sign the document.
21.7 If any signature is required by law from you, it is agreed that you sign any document you send to us electronically if it con tains
your signature (or electronic signature) or statement to the effect that you agree to the contents of the document.
21.8 You authorise us to communicate with you by SMS to all or any of the mobile phones listed below or supplied by you or any of
you to us from time to time.
21.9 A communication to any one of you, whether by email, post or SMS message is a communication to all of you.
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Use to be made of advice and documents
22. All work done, advice given and documents prepared by us in the matter described in this agreement is done, given and
prepared for you in relation to that matter, and must not be relied on by you in relation to any other matter or transaction or by
any other person or entity without our consent in writing first had and obtained.
22.1 We have and retain ownership of and copyright in, all advices and other documents prepared in the course of our
engagement other than documents prepared by external agents. You may use this material in relation to the matter for which
they were prepared but must not reproduce or otherwise use them in relation to any other transaction or matter or provide
them to any other person or entity unless we first agree in writing.
Costs Assessment
23. If you, a third party payer or anyone else entitled to do so applies for an assessment of any bill pursuant to the provisions of
the LPA, you agree that any discount of that bill is ignored for the purposes of the assessment, whether the discount was
gratuitous or pursuant to this agreement, and whether or not the bill has been paid.
23.1 If pursuant to an assessment of costs under the provisions of the LPA our fees and charges are reduced by an amount equal
to or less than the amount of any discount offered by us, you agree to pay our costs of concerning in relation to and arising
out of the assessment on the same terms as set out in this agreement as if the assessment were the matter herein described.
Compliance with laws
24. The Anti-Money laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), Regulations and Rules.(AML laws) may place
obligations on us to identify you and report certain transactions and suspicious matters to the appropriate regulatory authority;
for example, receiving your money into our trust account and/or dealing with that money on your behalf with financial service s
institutions such as banks. You agree to provide to us any information we require for those purposes in a timely manner and
you authorise us to provide information as required by law to any statutory authority or financial institution for the purpos es of
identifying the source of funds (whether for you or for others) and the purpose of any transaction.
Termination of retainer
25. You may terminate our engagement by giving us written notice at any time. If you do so, you remain obliged to pay our fees
for work done and for other charges in accordance with the provisions of this agreement.
25.1 We may terminate your instructions:
(a) by giving you reasonable notice, except where our engagement is for a fixed period;
(b) if any payment (including payment of a bill or money in advance) due by you or any of you to us is not paid on the
due date;
(c) if you do not provide timely, accurate and proper instructions;
(d) if, by continuing to act for you, we would be required to act contrary to any legal, regulatory or professional conduct or
obligation;
(e) if we become aware of, or there is any change in the financial or legal status of, any third party payer (as defined in
the LPA); or
(f) on any other just ground.
25.2 Termination by us on any of those grounds does not prejudice or otherwise affect the operation of this agreement or any lien
or charge created by it.
Apportionment of liability
26. If you claim compensation, damages or contribution from us for loss or damage arising from acts or defaults (including
negligence) on our part and some or all of that loss or damage was due to or contributed to by:
(a) your own acts or defaults or by the acts or defaults of other persons for whose actions or defaults you are
responsible; or
(b) the acts or defaults of one or more other persons, not being partners, employees or agents for whose conduct we are
responsible;
then we will be liable only for that proportion of the loss or damage which our acts or defaults bear relative to the totality of the
conduct of all persons causing or contributing to the loss or damage.
26.2 Where any law relating to proportionate liability applies to a claim against us, this clause does not seek to exclude the
operation of that law but will continue to operate to the extent that its operation not inconsistent with that law.
Privacy
27. The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and other legislation applies when we collect, use and disclose information or an opinion about an
individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion (personal information) .
You agree that we may manage your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy available on our website
(mrlegal.com.au) as amended from time to time.
Other
27.1 This agreement will remain in force even though you may enter into a further agreement or agreements with us. To the extent
that this agreement conflicts with any subsequent agreement, the terms of the subsequent agreement shall prevail.
27.2 You agree that we store all documents you supply to us electronically. Unless a document is both original and a Will,
duplicate certificate of title or similar document, we may destroy all documents (including originals) you supply to us once they
have been stored electronically. We may dispose of documents stored by us electronically after the expiration of 7 years fro m
and including the date of our last bill to you for the matter. We may always keep a copy of your documents. If you require
access to your documents you agree to access them via the internet and pay our reasonable costs of giving you this access
or any agreed fixed fee . Internet access will be made available for a period of no more than 2 years.
27.3 You authorise us to accept on your behalf service of any court process in relation to the matter described below.
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27.4 Each financial year we will review the terms of this agreement including the hourly rates and other charges set out in the
Disclosure Notice. If we propose to amend this agreement we will notify you in writing and ask you to agree to the
amendments.
27.5 This agreement may consist of a number of counterparts and the counterparts taken together shall constitute one and the
same instrument. Signed copies of this agreement sent by facsimile or email shall constitute a counterpart.
27.6 This agreement shall be binding upon each of you who has agreed to its terms notwithstanding:
(a) the failure of any other person named as a party to do so; and
(b) the avoidance or unenforceability of any part of this agreement or any instrument referred to therein.
27.7 We may decline to accept instructions if you and any guarantor fails to sign this agreement.
27.8 If there is more than one of you, this agreement binds you jointly and each of you severally. An instruction from any one of
you is to be taken as an instruction from all of you. We may communicate with you at the address specified below and if more
than one, the first address so specified.
27.9 Any provision of this agreement which is illegal, void or unenforceable is only ineffective to the extent of that illegality,
voidness or unenforceability, without invalidating the remaining provisions. If any provision of this agreement is found to be or
regarded as unfair or unreasonable by a Judge or Master of the Supreme Court then that provision shall, if capable of being
severed, be severed herefrom.
27.10 Those of you that are a sophisticated client as defined in the LPA agree that Division 8 of Part 10 of the LPA does not apply to
this agreement.
27.11 You promise that you have read and understood this agreement which incorporates the disclosure notice.
27.12 From time to time we may instruct agents to collect receivables on our behalf. You agree that we may supply t o any such
agent your email, street addresses and telephone numbers to enable them to communicate with you
27.13 Subject to your rights under a corresponding law as set out or referred to above, this agreement shall be deemed to have
been made in the Jurisdiction and shall be governed in all respects by the laws of that State and each party irrevocably:
(a) submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts within the capital city of the Jurisdiction;
(b) waives any objection to the venue of any legal process on the basis that the process has been brought in an
inconvenient forum;
(c) waives any immunity in respect of its obligations under this agreement that it may acquire from the jurisdiction of any
court or any legal process for any reason including the service of notice, attachment before judgment, attachment in
aid of execution or execution.
27.14 Macdonald Rudder, we, us, our all mean the partnership between Morton Stuart Macdonald and David Griffith Lang and any
other partnership of which they are both partners any company that carries on a legal practice of which they are or any of
them is, an officer. Client, you means the person or persons named below as the Client. Any definition in the disclosure
notice to which this agreement is attached shall apply to this agreement.
Guarantee
28. If you are, or one of you is, a company, each person who signs this agreement on your behalf and every other person named
below as a guarantor (and if more than one jointly and severally) (Guarantor) hereby guarantees to us that you will perform
your obligations to us and specifically to pay to us all money owed by you to us from time to time on any account or for any
purpose and further each Guarantor promises to indemnify us with respect to all fees and charges any of you owe to us with
the intent and to the effect that they are primarily liable to us for all money any of you owe to us from time to time as if they
were named as a party to this agreement. If there is more than one Guarantor and one or more of them do not sign this
guarantee, this guarantee will still bind each and every Guarantor who does sign this guarantee.
28.1 The Guarantor agrees that this Guarantee shall be a continuing guarantee for the whole of the moneys hereby secured and
shall not be avoided released or affected in any way by:
(a) Any agreement or arrangement made between you and us whether with or without the consent of the Guarantor or by
any alterations or variations to the rights or obligations of either of them;
(b) The granting of any time or other indulgence or forbearance by us to you whether or not the granting of such further
time or other indulgence imposes further liabilities on the Guarantor ;
(c) The fact of or notice of the death mental incapacity bankruptcy or liquidation of you or the Guarantor or any of them;
(d) Any composition or arrangement with or release of you or any composition or arrangement with or release of any one
or more of the Guarantor or any other surety or person by us whether the consent of the Guarantor or any of them to
any of the foregoing shall have been obtained or notice thereof given to him or not or any omission or delay on our
part;
(e) The fact that any money payable by you is not or may cease to be or any part thereof cease to be recoverable from
you or from any of the Guarantor or other person or that you be discharged from all or any of your obligations to pay
such money or any part thereof for any reason other than that the same have been paid;
(f) If you are a trustee of a trust, the fact that you do not have a right of indemnity against the assets of the trust;
(g) your liquidation or bankruptcy or our assent to any composition arrangement or scheme in respect of you or the
acceptance by us of any dividend or sum of money thereunder.
and we shall be at liberty to regard the Guarantor in all respects as principal debtors and shall not be obliged to take action
first against you.
29. The Guarantor (and if more than one, each of them) hereby charge all of their right, title and interest in and to all real estate
which they or any of them now have or at any time hereafter may have to secure their obligations under this agreement
provided that if the Guarantor owns more than one property and satisfies us on reasonable grounds that we do not need to
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lodge a caveat over property specified by the Guarantor to adequately secure their said obligations, we will not lodge a caveat
over that property.
29.1 The Guarantor further acknowledges and declares that the obligations of the Guarantor hereunder shall not merge or be
deemed to have merged in any judgement obtained by us against you and the Guarantor shall remain liable to us in the terms
of this Guarantee notwithstanding that we may in the meantime obtain a judgement against you Purchaser.
29.2 Any payment made to us and later avoided by the application of any statutory provision shall be deemed not to discharge the
Guarantor’s liability and in any such event the parties are to be restored to the rights which each respectively would have h ad
if the payment had not been made.
Please sign below to acknowledge that you have read and understood the above and have compared the scales of costs to the
charges set out above and return this agreement to us.
We encourage you to take independent legal advice before entering into this agreement
Schedule
Name of Client: Error! No document variable supplied.
Address of Client:
Work telephone:
Home telephone:
Mobile:
Email address:
Description of matter: Error! No document variable supplied.
Solicitor with conduct: Error! No document variable supplied.
Required on account: $Error! No document variable supplied.
Estimate of legal costs Please see above (usually clause 7 of the disclosure notice)
NB: Directors and agents who sign this agreement are personally liable under this agreement
Signed by or on behalf of the Client on the day of 2011
________________________________ ________________________________
Signature of Client/Director Signature of Client/Director
Mobile number:___________________ Mobile number:___________________
I Stuart Macdonald inserted an
image of my signature in
________________________________ ________________________________
execution of this offer for
Print name Print name
Macdonald Rudder
________________________________ ________________________________
Signature of Client/Director Signature of Client/Director
Mobile number:___________________ Mobile number:___________________
________________________________ ________________________________
Print name Print name
PAYMENT OF FEES
Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer
To pay bills: Macdonald Rudder General Account
BSB 306089 Account No 5011866
Please quote our reference on the invoice
To pay money into our trust account: Macdonald Rudder Trust Account
BSB 306-089 Account no 5011858
BankWest - 108 St Georges Tce Perth WA
Please quote our reference (if known), otherwise your last name or company name
Pay by credit card
The credit card holder named below hereby irrevocably authorises Macdonald Rudder to pay for all money owing by Error! No
document variable supplied. to it from time to time on any account, and/or required on account of costs and disbursements by
Macdonald Rudder from time to time and a merchant service fee equal to 1.75% of that amount by charging the credit card specified
below or such other credit card as the card holder named below supplies to Macdonald Rudder from time to time and warrants to
Macdonald Rudder that the credit card will have sufficient credit of clear funds to pay for money that is due and payable by the Client
to Macdonald Rudder in relation to the matter described above.
Card Type: Expiry Date: /
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□ □ □ □-□ □ □ □
Card No: CVN No
□□□□*
□ □ □ □-□ □ □ □
Card Holder Name: Signed by Card holder
*3 or 4 digit no on the back of card