Thank you for asking me to provide legal services for you. Before starting work on your matter, I am required to set out in writing the general terms on which Australia Conveyancing Pty Ltd (“AC”), an incorporated South Australian legal practice, will act for you.

1.1. This letter is referred to as the Terms of Engagement. The purpose of the Terms of Engagement is to advise you of the basis on which I will act for you in this matter;

1.2. In fulfilling my obligations under the Terms of Engagement, I will take instructions from you.

You can accept the Terms of Engagement by signing this letter and returning it to me, or by instructing me (by email or letter) to start our work under these Terms of Engagement. Once accepted, the Terms of Engagement form the agreement between me and you.

The scope of the work to be carried out by me under these Terms of Engagement is outlined in the Client’s Letter of Instruction.

My engagement is limited solely to providing conveyancing services, and we do not undertake to provide advice or assistance in any other legal matters not directly relevant to the conveyance of land. By engaging our services, you expressly acknowledge and agree to the following terms:

4.1. AC will exclusively act as your conveyancer for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of land or any other real property interest specified in the conveyancing instructions provided by you;

4.2. I emphasise that we are not providing legal advice beyond matters directly associated with the conveyance of land. Our services are limited to specific tasks required to complete the conveyancing process;

4.3. Should you require advice on any other legal matter unrelated to the conveyancing process, we will refer you to Henry Lloyd Davis Pty Ltd or another legal firm specialising in the relevant area of law;

4.4. By engaging AC for conveyancing services, you acknowledge that you have been informed of our limited scope of engagement and have understood the exclusions and limitations; and

4.5. You further agree not to hold us liable for any losses, damages, claims, or liabilities arising from the reliance on our services for matters outside the scope of conveyancing.

Our conveyancers who may perform work for you from time to time are not solicitors, and any statements made by them should not be treated as general statements and not legal advice.

I will provide you with an estimate of my fees. My estimate is subject to the following factors:

5.1. the complexity of the matters involved in performing the work;

5.2. the extent of the communications I have with you in relation to the work;

5.3. the number of drafts necessary to complete the work in accordance with your instructions;

5.4. the number and complexity of issues that arise during the course of the work that were not evident at the time of the estimate; and

5.5. the approach of other parties involved in the matter and the amount of communication with them that is necessary to perform the work.

Please note that this is my estimate only and should not be regarded as a fixed quote. The actual costs you incur will be based on the work actually done and the expenses actually incurred. Further estimates will be provided along the way.

The Principal, conveyancers and law clerks have relevant hourly charge rates set according to their experience, skills, and qualifications, and having regard to the nature of the work to be undertaken. Law clerks have not yet completed their law degrees or graduate diploma requirements, and the legal work performed by them is done under my direct supervision.

7.1. I charge in units of 6 minutes. The time I charge includes time spent on your matter and includes interviews, considering and preparing documents or correspondence, telephone calls, attending meetings, undertaking research, and travelling in the course of undertaking work for you and on your matter;

7.2. Our rates of charge for time spent differ from those set out in the Scales of Fees published by the Supreme Court of South Australia. Although time charging is common there may be other legal practitioners who would be prepared to act for you and charge according to the scale. You are entitled to seek independent legal advice regarding this or any other condition of the Terms of Engagement;

7.3. Our rates are likely to result in a higher charge than if the Court Scale of Fees were used and other lawyers might be prepared to do the work for a lesser fee;

7.4. You are also liable for disbursements (that is – out of pocket expenses including Barrister’s fees, except if agreed upon);

7.5. I will charge the following hourly rates exclusive of GST:

for the work performed by the Principal: $500.00; and

for the work performed by a law clerk: $300.00;

7.6. I will notify you of any new hourly rates I propose to charge. You are not obliged to accept such proposed rates, but if you do not accept them, I am entitled to cease acting for you. If you do accept the new rates, either expressly or by paying bills expressly calculated by reference to those new rates, they will be binding on you.

I will charge you for any out-of-pocket expenses (I call them disbursements) that I incur in connection with your matters. Examples of out-of-pocket expenses are search fees, registration fees, stamp duty, agent’s fees, storage retrieval fees, special postage or courier fees, bulk photocopying costs and taxi fares. Disbursements will either be itemised on our accounts or invoiced separately.

8.1. Should I see a need to incur expenses on your behalf which are unusual as to their nature or extent (including, in court matters, expenses which are unlikely to be recoverable from the other side if you win and obtain a costs order), I will provide you with advice and seek your specific instructions before incurring such expenses.

8.2. Disbursements are incurred by me as your agent. If a disbursement is subject to GST, you need to pay the GST.

Goods and Services Tax (‘GST’)

In addition to the rates referred to above, you are liable to pay an additional amount to reimburse me for the GST payable (if any) on any supply I make to you in the course of providing legal services. You will also if requested, let me have the information I need to calculate the GST payable (if any) in respect of the supply of legal services to you.

You have the right to:

10.1. negotiate a costs agreement with me;

10.2. receive a bill of costs from me;

10.3. request an itemised bill of costs after you receive a lump sum bill from me;

10.4. be notified of any substantial change to the matters disclosed to you regarding the legal costs;

10.5. request written reports about the progress of your matter and the costs incurred in your matter;

10.6. contact me to discuss the legal costs;

10.7. in the event of a dispute in relation to legal costs:

10.7.1. raise the matter with me;

10.7.2. apply to the Supreme Court for costs to be adjudicated within six months after:

10.7.2.1. the bill was given or the request for payment was made to you or a third-party payer; or

10.7.2.2. the costs were paid if neither a bill was given, nor a request was made;

10.7.3. apply to the Supreme Court within six years for the costs agreement to be set aside if you believe that the agreement is not fair and reasonable;

10.7.4. make a complaint to the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner (if you believe there has been overcharging) within three years of receiving the relevant invoice;

10.8. accept or reject any offer I make for an interstate costs law to apply to your matter; and

10.9. notify me that you require an interstate costs law to apply to your matter.

For more information about your rights, please read the fact sheet titled Legal Costs – Your Right to Know. You can ask me for a copy or obtain it from the Law Society of South Australia (or download it from its website).

You have the right under Clause 7 of Schedule 3 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA) to be notified of any substantial change to the matters to be disclosed to you under Clause 9 of Schedule 3, including any substantial change to the estimated costs of work.

It might be necessary for me to engage a legal agent in your matter (such as a solicitor, barrister, country or interstate lawyer or costs consultant) who may be needed to act on your behalf.

12.1. I am a Principal of Henry Lloyd Davis Pty Ltd and CoPilot Australia Pty Ltd. From time to time, I may use the services of either of these legal practices without incurring additional costs on your part;

12.2. A barrister may be engaged to provide an opinion or to present your case in Court;

12.3. Interstate or country lawyers may be engaged to attend to things that need to be done at a relevant location; and

12.4. Costs consultants may be engaged to work out your entitlement to (or liability for) legal costs.

For a typical conveyance I will charge on settlement of the property. However, if the scope of work extends beyond a typical conveyance, then I will send you invoices fortnightly for the work I have done unless otherwise agreed between you and me. You agree to pay all interim and final invoices within 14 days, otherwise, I may choose to stop working on your matter.

Interest at the Reserve Bank of Australia Cash Rate Target (as of the date the bill is issued) plus 2% will be charged on overdue accounts. Interest begins to run on our accounts once they have remained unpaid for 14 Also, if an account remains unpaid after that time, I may terminate the Terms of Engagement.

Where I act for two or more people or entities in a matter, each of the clients is individually responsible for payment of the entire account whatever arrangements may be made between them.

15.1. You agree that you are personally liable for the costs and disbursements even if the matter involves my acting for other persons and/or organisations;

15.2. If you provide me with instructions for or on behalf of a third party or jointly with another party, you will be personally liable to pay for our services in accordance with the Terms of Engagement, irrespective of the liability of any third or other party to pay our fees.

You have the right to terminate my services at any time.

16.1. Upon good cause, such as failure to comply with the Terms of Engagement or if in our view the necessary relationship of confidence between you and me no longer exists, I have a right upon reasonable notice to terminate the Terms of Engagement and cease acting for you, and in litigation matters apply to be removed from the Court file as your legal practitioner;

16.2. All fees and disbursements incurred prior to termination by either you or me are then immediately payable by you;

16.3. If I have undertaken work for you on a lump sum fee basis, then you must pay that part of our lump sum fee that I reasonably estimate has been incurred in respect of the legal services provided to you up to the date of termination, plus disbursements;

16.4. Subject to any court order to the contrary or consequent agreement to the contrary, you agree that I am entitled to retain all amounts of money, papers and records relating to this matter until our bills are fully paid.

Any confidential information I obtain from you will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone unless it is done in the course of carrying out our engagement, disclosure is required by law, or the information ceases to be confidential. I am not required to disclose to you or use for your benefit any confidential information I have obtained from, or on behalf of another client.

I retain copyright and other intellectual property ownership rights in the work that I do for you. All file notes and documents drafted by me in the course of providing legal services under the Terms of Engagement remain our intellectual property.

I will store your files electronically using cloud-based file storage services for seven years following the completion of the matter.

19.1. If you require me to retrieve any of your files stored by me after the completion of the matter, you agree that I may charge you a reasonable fee for the work required to locate, retrieve, and provide those files to you;

19.2. You authorise me to destroy (delete) any of your files retained by me after seven years following the completion of the matter.

It is a condition of the Terms of Engagement that you will reply to correspondence, return phone calls, respond reasonably to requests for instructions, and pay accounts or pay money into trust when reasonably required. If you do not work with me in these ways, then I may terminate the Terms of Engagement. In such circumstances, you agree that you will file a notice of acting in person in any current court proceedings in which I have been acting for you.

You authorise me to obtain your consumer credit information from a credit reporting agency. If you do not pay the accounts in accordance with the Terms of Engagement, you acknowledge that I may refer the fact of non-payment to a credit reporting agency which in turn may exchange that information with credit providers.

This clause sets out the limitations that apply to my liability to you should you have reasons to make a claim against me.

22.1. If any loss you sustain is caused or contributed to by your breach of the Terms of Engagement or negligence, then my liability for your loss will be reduced in accordance with the provisions of any applicable statute, or otherwise to such extent as is just and equitable having regard to the extent to which such loss was caused or contributed to by your breach of the Terms of Engagement or your negligence;

22.2. My liability for any loss or damage suffered by you arising out of the services I provide (including liability for any negligent act or omission or misrepresentation of mine), is limited to the amount to which I am entitled to be indemnified under the following:

22.2.1. The compulsory professional indemnity insurance required to be held by me under the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA); and

22.2.2.Any additional insurance (including but not limited to professional indemnity) held by me;

22.3. The term ‘liability’ includes liabilities arising in tort, contract, by virtue of any statute or otherwise;

22.4. The term ‘loss or damage’ includes loss or damage incurred directly, indirectly, or consequentially but excludes any loss or damage arising from any fraudulent or unlawful conduct on our part;

22.5. You agree to release me from all claims arising in connection with the provision of services under the Terms of Engagement to the extent that my liability would exceed the limit on my liability under this clause;

22.6. Nothing in the Terms of Engagement excludes, restricts, or modifies the application of the provisions of any statute (including the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) where to do so would contravene that statute or cause any of the terms of the Terms of Engagement (including these Standard Terms of Engagement) to be void;

22.7. The Terms of Engagement are the only communications governing our relationship. Subject to this section, I will have no liability for any other statements or representations concerning our relationship with you. All representations to exercise reasonable care or render our services with due care and skill, which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or custom, are expressly excluded. If any representations are of importance to you, you should ensure they are expressly set out in the Terms of Engagement before accepting them.

The Terms of Engagement are governed by South Australian law. All parties consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Australia with regard to any dispute arising under or out of them.