Legal Services Terms & Conditions
Introduction
Westminster & Partners Legal Services is a legal consultancy providing commercial advisory services to startups. These terms and conditions set out the basis on which we provide our services to you. By engaging our services, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
Services
1.1 Our services are limited to commercial advisory services. We do not offer legal services in certain reserved areas, including appearing in court, conducting litigation, lodging certain property documents, conducting probate, administering oaths, and notarial activities. As such, Westminster & Partners does not operate in these areas. We find these areas are rarely applicable to our business clients seeking commercial advisory services.
1.2 We will use reasonable care and skill in providing our services to you.
1.3 We may engage third-party service providers to assist us in providing our services to you, subject to our confidentiality obligations to you.
Fees
2.1 We will provide you with a fee estimate for our services, which will be based on the scope of work and complexity of the matter.
2.2 We will charge our fees on a time-spent basis, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
2.3 We may request a deposit or interim payment for our services.
Confidentiality and Privilege
3.1 We will keep confidential all information and documents provided to us by you, subject to our professional and legal obligations.
3.2 We may disclose your confidential information if required by law or if necessary to provide our services to you.
3.3 When working with traditional law firms, advice provided is considered “privileged”, meaning that correspondence between a client and solicitor can be withheld from a court or third party in connection with litigation proceedings. As a legal consultancy, certain advice we provide may not be privileged. However, this does not affect our confidentiality obligations to you, and our engagement letter confirms that any advice or discussions we have will be kept confidential. Given that Westminster & Partners do not operate in court-related or litigious matters, privilege is rarely an issue relevant to our kind of legal work.
Insurance and SRA CF
4.1 Westminster & Partners is not required to have professional indemnity insurance that meets the SRA’s minimum terms and conditions (MTCs) set out here.
4.2 Westminster & Partners clients will not be eligible to make a claim under the SRA Compensation Fund, which is available to clients of regulated firms where their money has been stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise not properly accounted for; or in certain other limited circumstances. Considering we do not hold funds in escrow for clients in any transactional matters, this is not a pertinent risk to our clients.
Intellectual Property
5.1 Any intellectual property created by us in the course of providing our services to you will remain the property of Westminster & Partners Legal Services.
5.2 You may use any intellectual property created by us for the purposes of your business.
Limitation of Liability
6.1 Our liability to you in connection with our services will be limited to the amount of our fees paid by you.
6.2 We will not be liable for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable or is outside of our control.
6.3 We will not be liable for any indirect, consequential, or special loss or damage, including loss of profit or business interruption.
6.4 Nothing in these terms and conditions excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or fraudulent misrepresentation.
Termination
7.1 Either party may terminate our engagement by giving written notice to the other party.
7.2 Upon termination, we will provide you with a final invoice for our services rendered
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
8.1 These terms and conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
8.2 Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms and conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Conclusion
By engaging our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions will supersede any prior agreements between us relating to the subject matter of our engagement.