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Change
Client Information
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| Office
Hours |
| Our
office is open from 8.45 am until 5.15 pm Monday to Friday.
However, our staff members are happy to see clients outside
of these hours by prior appointment. |
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Confidentiality |
| All
communications between clients and our staff members are confidential.
We are not legally able to release information in relation to
your matter without your authorisation. |
| File
Destruction |
| Once
all of the work has been completed on your matter, your file
is closed and archived for a period of at least seven years.
After the expiration of this time, the files will be destroyed
without notice you. |
| Document
Storage |
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We
frequently hold important documents for our client's in our
strong room free of charge. |
| Our
Fees and Charges |
We
are required by Section 86 of the Legal Practices Act 1996 to
disclose information regarding our accounts and our costs and
disbursements to our clients. The information is set out below.
A client who engages or instructs Cosgriff Orchard Legal to
perform work on their behalf will be liable to pay our accounts.
If we are instructed to perform work on behalf of a company,
the directors of the company will be liable to pay our accounts. |
Accounts |
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We
generally bill our clients monthly or at the completion of
the matter. We would be happy to provide accounts more frequently
upon request.
We require our accounts to be paid within 14 days from the
date of issuing. If our accounts are not paid within this
time frame we may cease working on a file until our account
has been paid. We may also hold a lien over the file as security
for unpaid accounts. This means that we will not release a
file to a client, another solicitor or any other person until
our account has been paid. |
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Professional
Fees |
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1.
An hourly rate
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The
rate charged will vary according to the position of the person
performing the work. For instance, a Paralegal performing work
on your file will be charged at a lower hourly rate than a Solicitor.
The hourly rates are exclusive of G.S.T, and may vary. We will
inform you of any increases to hourly rate charges relating
to your file. You will also be charged for photocopying, faxing
and other office expenses. |
| 2.
An agreed sum |
Where
a sum is agreed as a fixed fee for performing services, we reserve
the right to seek payment of that amount prior to those services
being performed. Such services may include conveyancing matters,
standard Wills and Powers of Attorney, and pleas of guilty in
criminal proceedings. |
| Disbursements
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| In
most matters it is necessary for us to obtain services that
we cannot provide directly to our clients. Our clients engage
us to act as their agents in obtaining those services from other
service providers. These charges will not be marked up in any
way. You will be responsible for these payments made on your
behalf in addition to our professional fees. |
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As
lawyers, we are required to manage a Trust Account which is
independently audited regularly. Where money is held in our
Trust account on behalf of a client, we may only deal with the
money to pay our accounts and disbursements which have been
provided to the client, or as otherwise authorised by the client.
We reserve the right to require funds to be deposited into our
Trust Account prior to commencing work. |
| Complaints |
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Our
firm is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria and we are
regulated by Victorian Lawyers RPA Pty Ltd under the provisions
of the Legal Practice Act 1996. If you have any concern or problem
with the service we provide you should contact the personal
handling your file or Jennifer Orchard at our office. you also
have the right to make a complaint to Victorian Lawyers RPA
Pty Ltd at 470 Bourke Street, Melbourne. |
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Termination
of Services |
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You
have the right to terminate our services at any time. Likewise
we reserve the right to terminate any engagement. You will be
responsible for the costs incurred to the point of termination.
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