These Terms of Business apply to all work we carry out for you. They should be read together with our Engagement Letter (also called a Scope Letter). If there is any inconsistency, the Engagement Letter takes priority for your matter.
1. Our Service
What we do
We provide legal services for family law matters in Scotland. This includes advice on separation and divorce, child arrangements, Minutes of Agreement, financial provision on divorce, cohabitation claims, protective orders, and related court and negotiation work.
How we work
- We will agree the scope of work with you in writing and confirm who will be responsible for your case.
- We aim to deliver clear, practical advice, progress matters efficiently, and keep you updated.
- We will tell you about important developments, likely timescales, and any expected delays.
2. Scope and Important Exclusions
Tax, pensions and financial planning
Unless we expressly agree in writing, we do not provide specialist advice on tax (including Capital Gains Tax), pensions tax treatment, investment strategy, accountancy, or financial planning. These issues can significantly affect outcomes in family cases. If we identify that such issues may be relevant, we will tell you and recommend that you obtain independent specialist advice. We can liaise with your chosen adviser if you wish.
What is and is not included
- We will carry out the legal work described in your Engagement Letter.
- Any additional tasks or new issues will be treated as a variation and may require a further agreement on scope and fees.
- We do not advise non-clients or third parties and owe duties only to you as our client.
3. Communication
How we will contact you
We may contact you by letter, email, telephone, video call, or secure portal. Tell us if you do not want a particular method used. Please keep your contact details up to date and let us know promptly if they change.
Electronic communications
Email and other electronic communications carry risks, including interception or unauthorised access. We use appropriate safeguards, but cannot guarantee absolute security. Let us know if you require encrypted alternatives.
4. Confidentiality and Conflicts
Confidentiality
Information you provide is confidential. We will not disclose it unless you agree, we are permitted or required by law or regulation, or disclosure is necessary to carry out your instructions.
Conflicts of interest
We cannot act where there is a conflict of interest. If we identify a conflict or a potential conflict, we will discuss next steps with you and may have to cease acting.
5. Fees, Outlays and Payment
Our fees
Our fee basis will be set out in your Engagement Letter or fee estimate. Where work is charged at an hourly rate, your Engagement Letter will tell you the hourly rate of each person who will work on your matter. Different rates apply to solicitors of different seniority, and to paralegals and trainees. Further information is available on our fees and funding page, although the rates that apply to your matter are those set out in your Engagement Letter and in any later notice we give you under this section.
How we record our time
Time is recorded in units of three minutes, which is one twentieth of an hour. Any piece of work lasting less than three minutes is recorded as one unit. A short email or a brief telephone call will therefore usually be charged as a single unit. Longer pieces of work are charged by reference to the time actually spent, rounded up to the nearest whole unit. For example, a task of four minutes is charged as two units.
A worked example
At an hourly rate of £300, one three-minute unit is £15.00 plus VAT. Reading and noting a short email would therefore be charged at £15.00 plus VAT, being £18.00 in total. Hourly rates and unit charges in these terms are quoted exclusive of VAT, which is added at the rate in force when the work is done. Our fixed fees, where they apply, are stated inclusive of VAT.
Annual review of our rates
We review our hourly rates once a year, with effect from 1st May, to reflect inflation, the seniority and experience of the people acting for you, and the cost of running the firm. Rates are reviewed for all matters, including matters already in progress and matters opened under an earlier version of these Terms.
We will always tell you before a new rate applies to your matter
If a review takes place before your matter has concluded, we will write to you at least 30 days before the revised rate takes effect. We will tell you what the new rate is, what the previous rate was, and the date from which the new rate will apply.
A revised rate applies only to work carried out on or after the date we have notified to you. We will not apply a revised rate to work already done, and we will not seek to recover any difference in respect of earlier work.
If you do not wish to continue on the revised rate, you may end your instructions under section 11. You will remain responsible for our fees and outlays at the previous rate for all work carried out up to that point.
If we do not give you notice in accordance with this section, we will continue to charge at the rate last notified to you until proper notice has been given. If a revised rate is applied to your account in error before notice has been given, we will correct the account and reissue it at the rate last notified to you.
Outlays (disbursements)
Outlays are third-party costs we must pay on your behalf, for example court fees, expert reports, searches, and service of documents. You are responsible for these. We pass outlays on to you at cost, without addition. We may require payment in advance before incurring outlays.
Fixed charges for steps of process
Some steps in court work are charged at a fixed amount for the step rather than by reference to time, for example lodging and intimating a motion. Where a fixed charge applies, it is shown as such on your invoice, no time is recorded against it, and the annual review of hourly rates does not affect it. Fixed charges are reviewed at the same time as our hourly rates and on the same notice.
Payments to account and interim billing
We may ask for payments to account and issue interim invoices. This helps manage costs and keep your matter moving.
When payment is due
Invoices are due for payment within seven days of issue unless stated otherwise on the invoice. You can pay by bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
If an invoice is not paid, we may suspend work and retain papers until payment is received. If we hold money for you, we may apply it to outstanding invoices before releasing any balance.
Urgent work
Where you ask us to prioritise your matter urgently, or where the circumstances require work to be done outside normal office hours, an uplift of up to 20 per cent to our normal fees may apply. We will tell you before any uplift is applied.
If you are unhappy with an invoice
Please tell us. We do not charge you for querying an invoice. If we cannot resolve the matter between us, you are entitled to have any account independently assessed by an Auditor of Court, a process known as taxation. The Auditor reviews the file and fixes a fee that is fair and reasonable. You should be aware that the Auditor may increase a fee as well as reduce it, and that the cost of the process, usually three or four per cent of the fee determined, falls on us if the account is found to be excessive and on you if it is found to be reasonable. You may also raise a complaint about our fees under section 12.
6. Client Responsibilities
- Provide full, accurate and timely instructions and all relevant documents.
- Tell us promptly about any change in your circumstances.
- Consider obtaining independent specialist advice where we recommend it, for example on tax or pensions.
- Meet agreed deadlines and attend appointments or hearings as required.
If you do not do these things, your matter may be delayed or your position prejudiced. We are not responsible for losses caused by missing or incomplete information or delays outside our control.
7. Client Money and Interest
Funds we hold for you are kept in a client account. Interest is calculated at the rate actually earned on the client account and may be paid where the amount exceeds £50. Interest is paid gross and may be taxable. If funds are received in a foreign currency, we will convert them at the bank’s prevailing rate unless you instruct otherwise in advance. We are not responsible for losses arising from bank failure, though statutory protection schemes may apply.
8. Anti-Money-Laundering and Identity Checks
We must verify identity and, where relevant, the identities of people connected to you, for example company directors, trustees and beneficiaries. We may carry out electronic checks with credit reference or fraud prevention agencies. If satisfactory evidence is not provided, we cannot act.
We may also have to report suspicions of criminal property to the authorities and may need to suspend work pending consent. We cannot tell you if a report is made.
9. Using Third Parties and Experts
Where appropriate, we may recommend or instruct third-party experts or agents, for example surveyors, accountants, pensions on divorce experts, and counsel. We will take care in selection and will discuss costs with you. They are responsible for their own advice and services. You are responsible for their fees and outlays.
10. Your Data and Privacy
How we use your personal information
We process personal data to provide legal services, comply with our legal obligations, manage our business, and keep you informed about relevant legal updates or services. You have rights over your data, including access, correction and, in some cases, deletion or restriction. Full details are set out in our Client Privacy Notice.
Marketing consent
We may contact you with information about legal issues or our services that may interest you. You can opt out at any time by telling us.
File storage and retention
We keep client files for a period we consider reasonable for your matter and in line with legal or regulatory requirements. We may store files electronically or in paper form. After the retention period, files may be securely destroyed. If you want original documents returned, please tell us when you provide them.
11. Ending Instructions
You may end your instructions at any time by telling us in writing. We may also cease acting for reasonable cause, including where fees are unpaid, instructions are not provided, or a conflict arises. When instructions end, you are responsible for our fees and outlays up to that date and for reasonable handover costs. We may retain papers until amounts due are paid.
12. Feedback and Complaints
We are committed to providing a high standard of legal service. If something has gone wrong, or if you are unhappy with any aspect of our service or our fees, we want the opportunity to put matters right, and we will treat your concerns seriously and courteously.
Raising a concern
In the first instance, please raise your concern with the solicitor who is handling your matter. Many concerns can be resolved quickly and informally at this stage.
If you have done so and remain dissatisfied, please contact our Client Relations Partner, Brian Rooney, who is responsible for dealing with complaints. You may raise your complaint in writing or by telephone. So that we can investigate fully, it is helpful if you set out what you are unhappy about, what you consider should have happened, and what you would like us to do to put things right.
Where a complaint concerns Brian Rooney himself, it will instead be handled by our alternate Client Relations Partner, Ann Marie Chalmers, Head of Litigation, so that no complaint is ever considered by the person it is about.
How we will deal with your complaint
A copy of this complaints procedure is available in writing on request. If you ask us for a copy, we will provide one within 28 days.
The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may take it to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (the SLCC). The SLCC is the independent body that receives complaints about legal practitioners in Scotland, and its service is free. Nothing in this procedure prevents you from approaching the SLCC, and we will not discourage you from doing so.
Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Capital Building, 12–13 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2AF
Telephone: 0131 201 2130
The SLCC operates time limits for bringing a complaint. In general, a complaint must be made to the SLCC within three years of the date on which you were last provided with the service you are complaining about, or, in the case of conduct, within three years of the matter complained about occurring. The SLCC will disregard any period during which you were excusably unaware of the matter. The SLCC will normally expect you to have given us a reasonable opportunity to resolve your complaint first. As these limits may change, we recommend that you check the current position with the SLCC directly.
Complaints are generally treated as falling into one of two categories. A service complaint is about the standard of the service you received, that is, how your matter was handled. A conduct complaint is about the professional conduct or behaviour of a solicitor. The SLCC is the single point of entry for both. It investigates service complaints itself and, where it accepts a complaint as raising a conduct issue, refers that to the relevant professional body, which for solicitors is the Law Society of Scotland.
13. Force Majeure
We are not responsible for any delay or failure in performing our obligations caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to industrial action, acts of God, epidemic or pandemic, interruption of utilities or communications, or changes in law or regulation.
14. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The version that applies to your matter is the version in force when we accept your instructions, unless we agree otherwise with you in writing. The current version is always available on this page.
This does not affect the annual review of our hourly rates and fixed charges under section 5. That review applies to every matter, including matters opened under an earlier version of these Terms, and is subject in every case to the notice we must give you before a revised rate takes effect.
15. Law and Jurisdiction
Our contract with you is governed by the law of Scotland. Any dispute may be brought in the Scottish courts.
16. Our Regulator and Insurance
Rooney Family Law Ltd is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, Atria One, 144 Morrison Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8EX. Our professional rules are the Law Society of Scotland Practice Rules, available at www.lawscot.org.uk. We carry compulsory professional indemnity insurance under the Master Policy arranged by the Law Society of Scotland. Details of our cover are available on request.
Rooney Family Law Ltd
2 Candymill Lane, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, ML3 0FD
Email: enquiries@rooneyfamilylaw.co.uk
Telephone: 01698 815620