Standard Terms of Engagement

Services

1.1   The services which we are to provide for you are outlined in our engagement letter.

Financial

2.1   Aotearoa Disability Law does not currently charge a fee for service.

Confidentiality

3.1   We will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that we acquire during
the course of acting for you. We will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:
a   to the extent necessary or desirable to enable us to carry out your instructions; or
b   to the extent required by law or by the Law Society's Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.

3.2   Confidential information concerning you will, as far as practicable, be made available only to those within our firm who are providing services for you.

3.3   We will not disclose to you confidential information which we have about any other client.|

Conflicts of Interest

4.1   We have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Law Society's Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers.

Duty of Care

5.1   Our duty of care is to you and not to any other person. Before any other person may rely on our advice, we must expressly agree to this.

Termination

6.1   You may terminate our retainer at any time. That means that if you don’t want us to act for you anymore, you can tell us and we will stop.

6.2   We may terminate our retainer in any of the circumstances set out in the Law Society's Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers. That means that we can stop acting for you. If we can no longer act for you, we will explain why and try to help you to find another lawyer.

6.3   Bullying and Harassment Zero Tolerance Statement: At ADL we are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful working environment for our staff and people associated with our community law centre. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and harassment in any form. This statement serves as a reminder about the standards of behaviour expected when interacting with ADL.

Retention of files and documents

7.1   You authorise us (without further reference to you) to destroy all files and documents for this matter (other than any documents that we hold in safe custody for you) 7 years after our engagement ends, or earlier if we have converted those files and documents to an electronic format.

General

8.1   These Terms apply to any current engagement and also to any future engagement, whether or not we send you another copy of them.

8.2   We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will send you amended Terms.

8.3   Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand law.