Business Terms

The fundamental aim of our practice is to provide our clients with a first class legal service focused on helping them to achieve their objectives as effectively and economically as possible. We are fully aware that our clients expect, and are entitled to get, value for the fees charged for the legal services provided. We have produced this document so that there may be clarity and openness on this issue and to inform you about our general business terms. Basis of Charge Estimates Delegation of Work Out of Pocket Expenses Billing Payment Anti Money-laundering compliance Deposits of Funds Comments and Complaints Confidentiality Data Protection Destruction of records Promotional material Basis of Charge If you have dealt with us before as a client, there may be well-established fee arrangements or understandings which make it unnecessary to have any review of the basis of charging as and when each individual new item of legal work begins. However, particularly with any new client, it is our policy at the start of any new piece of work, to review the fee arrangement for the particular case and plan the likely levels, and frequency of billing, as well as when we expect to be paid. We appreciate the importance of value for money and the need to budget for legal costs. We keep a record of the time that we spend on a case and this serves as a guide when calculating the fee. However, the urgency, complexity, novelty, importance or any other relevant aspects of the matter may also be taken into account. Expenses incurred by us in acting on your behalf such as counsels' fees, filing fees, phone, copying and fax charges will be charged to you and we will give you details of these. In litigation cases you should bear in mind that you are primarily responsible for the costs involved even when the outcome of the case is favourable to you. You should also be aware that if you are unsuccessful in a litigation matter you may be ordered to pay the other party's costs. In addition where a case is settled the terms of settlement will frequently include payment or part payment of costs. You should also note that an order for costs in your favour will not cover the entire fee payable and may, in certain cases, be difficult to enforce and that such enforcement will give rise to additional costs which are not generally recoverable. VAT is generally payable at 21%. Estimates We generally try to estimate in advance, to the best of our ability, the likely fees for any piece of work and the expenses involved. Some work, such as certain types of property work, is charged according to a scale of fees based on the value of the transaction. The fees likely to arise for other transactions or matters on which we are asked to advise may be more difficult to assess at the outset. However we will give you the best guide that we can and will review the position on an ongoing basis so that there are no unexpected charges at the end. Most cases or transactions involve contact with other lawyers and their clients. Even if a matter is, or at least initially appears to be, legally straightforward, the extent of the legal work required for it may not be wholly within your or our control. In the case of litigious or transaction matters the nature and extent of the work may be largely dictated by court procedure or by the positions taken by other parties or by you our client. In cases where you ask us to advise on a situation or on legal implications of different approaches to some problem you would need to take a view about the format or scope of work that is actually required, at least initially, since this will be highly relevant for any fee estimate. An initial general overview of an issue would require less time and legal resources to carry out than a comprehensive review of all possible scenarios. Delegation of Work We will ensure that the work we do is carried out by the people in the firm who have the skill and experience appropriate to the task. We will inform you of those who will deal with your case. We will use our considerable precedent bank and information technology facilities so that you get the benefit of our expertise on the most cost efficient basis possible. Out of Pocket Expenses We will normally discharge all usual small out of pocket expenses for you as they occur (e.g. fares and search fees) and recover them from you when we send you a bill. We will, however, need to be put in funds in advance to cover any more substantial expenditure such as the advice of counsel, accountants, actuaries, official registration fees, court fees etc. We may ask you to lodge a sum of money with us on account of such disbursements or on account of costs generally. Billing Our experience is that clients often find interim billing preferable so that they can monitor the fee situation on an ongoing basis. Where interim billing operates, bills would usually be issued on a quarterly basis or when an agreed level of costs have accrued. In very work-intensive matters a more frequent billing arrangement may be appropriate. In all cases we do our best to meet the particular billing requirements of individual clients. Payment We expect prompt payment of all bills, both interim and final, but will look into and deal quickly with any queries which you may have in relation to a bill. Anti Money-laundering compliance Irish lawyers are required to comply with anti-money laundering compliance procedures. To this end we may be obliged to ask you to provide us with identification documentation for our records. If documentation satisfactory to us is not provided, or if we have any reason to suspect that money laundering activity is involved, we may decline or cease to act on your behalf or otherwise observe our legal obligations. Deposits of Funds Unless we receive instructions to the contrary funds which we hold on behalf of clients are placed by us on deposit with a duly authorised credit institution. Where clients specify a particular institution with which they wish their funds to be placed we will of course implement this requirement. In neither case will we have responsibility for establishing the creditworthiness of the institution in question nor for the management of risk in relation to the deposit of funds in question. Comments and Complaints If you feel there is any way in which we can improve our service to you, please let us know. We keep under review our service to our clients and your suggestions may be very helpful. We hope that you will not have cause for complaint but, if you are dissatisfied please contact the relevant partner or our Chairman, John Cronin. Confidentiality All information in relation to clients is treated in the strictest confidence in accordance with the highest professional standards. Any advice provided by us is for your benefit alone and may not be used or relied on by third parties. Our duty of care is to you as our client and does not extend to third parties. Data Protection From time to time in the course of our relationship with you, we may need to process personal data about you or your employees, agents or representatives. Such processing may be carried out for the purposes of providing you with legal services you have requested, including the provision of legal advice, for administration and billing purposes and for other purposes which are reasonably incidental to the provision of legal services. All processing will be carried out in compliance with applicable law including the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003 (the "DPA"). In circumstances where you ask us to process personal data on your behalf we will process such data in accordance with your instructions and in compliance with the security obligations of the DPA. In certain circumstances, personal data may need to be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) to countries which do not have the same level of data protection as Ireland. Such transfer would only be carried out in accordance with your instructions and where necessary to provide you with the legal services you have requested. We may also process personal data for the purposes of sending you updates on legal topics which may be of interest to you and for the purposes of inviting you to client seminars. If you do not wish to receive such information or invitations, please e-mail bdg@mccannfitzgerald.ie and advise accordingly. Individuals have the right under the DPA, subject to certain exemptions, to access a copy of personal data held about them and to correct any inaccuracies in such data Destruction of records We reserve the right to destroy files and documents relating to completed transactions or business, six years after the file has, in our view, become inactive. Promotional material Unless you tell us to the contrary, we will assume that it is in order for us to indicate the fact that we represent you, in documents such as proposals for new work and marketing brochures demonstrating expertise in particular areas of practice. We also like to include specific reference to high profile transactions we have undertaken, where we are satisfied that the information is already available publicly, and to create tombstones relating to these transactions on our website and in other promotional material, and to use client logos from time to time for this purpose, and likewise we will assume that this is in order unless you tell us to the contrary. In addition we are, from time to time, asked for names of individual clients, usually in the context of satisfying potential clients that we have the necessary expertise in their area or industry to service their needs. We assume that we may reveal the fact that we act for you, unless you have indicated otherwise in writing.