TO:
SOL-LAW
I/we have read
the attached costs letter and I/we desire that You should act for me/us
in relation to the above matter or any proceedings in connection therewith.
I/we hereby instruct You to
act as my/our solicitors in the abovementioned matter subject to the following
conditions :- 1
June, 2003
receipt of which I hereby acknowledge;
2. I/we agree to pay You Your professional fees herein
in accordance with the abovementioned Fee Schedule as amended and for any
disbursements You properly incur herein. “Disbursements”
includes but is not limited to photocopies, and/or facsimiles (charged in
accordance with your Fee Schedule as amended hereunder) and any other out of
pocket expenses incurred by you in representing me/us.
3. Billed time covers not only time that is necessary
for You to spend on my/our behalf in conducting this matter but also other time
including file administration, costs incurred by you in the recovery of your
fees and charges hereunder from me whether by legal process or otherwise for
work which I/we ask You to perform on my/our behalf.
4. Your time recording system is based on a minimum
amount of five minutes for any attendance.
5. You may alter any of Your charge rates or interest
rate charged under clause 8 (a) at any time on the giving of at least seven
days’ notice to me/us.
6. You may, at Your sole discretion, render progress
accounts for your professional costs and disbursements incurred in this matter
or may make calls upon me/us to deposit monies to Your Trust Account on account
of anticipated professional costs and disbursements herein.
7. Payment of any accounts (whether final or
otherwise) or calls for payment of monies under clause 6 must be paid/satisfied
within fourteen (14) days after the account/call
is forwarded/made.
8. You may :
(a)
charge interest on the outstanding balance of any account rendered to
me/us and not paid within 28 days of the date of issue at the rate of 18% per
annum calculated on daily rests commencing from the date of issue of the account
until payment.;
(b) charge me for any fees or charges
for any work performed by You or disbursements incurred by You
in recovering the balance of any account rendered to me/us whether by
legal process in the High Court or otherwise on an indemnity basis.
9. I/we acknowledge
that I have read and understood this agreement and the accompanying letter or
that the terms of these documents have been explained to me by the witness whose
signature appears below in my usual or customary language and that I have
understood the same and accept the terms and conditions of those documents.
10. I/we confirm and agree that : -
(a) I/we will reply to Your correspondence
and provide You with adequate instructions as required from time to time for the
conduct of this matter but in any event within 14 days from the date of any
correspondence by You to me/us calling for instructions; and
(b) it shall be my/our responsibility to
provide You with up to date residential, business, and postal addresses and
contact telephone numbers where I/we may be contacted or where messages for
me/us may be left;
(c) I/we may terminate Your retainer at any
time.
11. Should : -
(a)
You be unable to contact me/us on any of the contact telephone numbers or
the addresses which I/we provide to You; or
(b)
I/we fail to provide You with such contact telephone numbers and
addresses within 14 days of the date when instructions were first taken by you;
or
(c)
I/we fail to reply to Your correspondence or instruct You as required; or
(d)
I/we fail to pay any final or progress accounts or calls for payment are
not paid or satisfied within 14 days of the date of the rendering of such
accounts or the making of such call upon me/us;
then, in any such case, upon Your acceptance of same in writing addressed to
me/us at my/our last known address, the same shall constitute my/our termination
of my/our instructions to You in this matter on and from the date of such
failure or Your inability to contact me/us.
12. I/we further acknowledge that in the event of termination of
Your instructions in this matter for whatever cause, You shall be entitled to
suspend all work in respect of this matter or any other matter in which You
represent me and exercise a lien over all files, documents, security documents
or papers which You hold on my/our behalf in respect of any matter whatsoever
until such time as Your professional fees and disbursements for acting for me/us
in all such matters to that point in time (including the costs of recovery of
same on an indemnity basis) and interest thereon are paid in full.
13. You may at Your option require me/us to provide security for
Your professional costs and expenses over any property I/we own by way of
mortgage, charge lien or otherwise or to have my/our obligations under this
Agreement guaranteed by another person(s) acceptable to you.
14. I/we hereby authorise and direct You : -
(a) to expend such monies from Your
Practice Account as You deem necessary for statutory duties and charges and any
other out of pocket expenses and outlays which You deem necessary for the
conduct of this matter ;
(b) from time to time to transfer from Your
Trust Account to Your Practice Account or to pay directly from Your Trust
Account to the person entitled thereto any monies held by You in Your Trust
Account on my/our behalf on any account whatsoever in payment of Your
professional costs and any statutory duties and charges and any other out of
pocket expenses and outlays incurred or payable in relation to the above matter;
(c) payment in terms of this
authority shall be deemed to be payment of the total moneys to me/us and the
receipt of the recipient of such moneys by parties other than me/us shall be a
sufficient discharge to You.
15. I/we warrant that, where I/we am/are signing this agreement on
behalf of any other person or corporation, I/we am/are duly authorised by that
person/corporation to sign this agreement on his/her/its behalf.
16. I/we confirm all other instructions which You ask me/us to give
in Your enclosed letter(s) (if any).
17. This Costs Agreement shall take effect on and from acceptance
by You of a copy of this Costs Agreement duly signed by me/us and witnessed
accordingly with effect from the date You first commenced work in this matter
notwithstanding that You may have commenced work at a time prior to receipt of
this duly signed and witnessed Costs Agreement. I/we acknowledge that You are not bound to accept this Costs
Agreement from me/us.
18. I further acknowledge and agree as follows: -
(a) that due
to the domestic situation in Solomon Islands, You can not secure professional
indemnity insurance generally in respect of the work that You and each of Your
partners and employees may perform pursuant to this Costs Agreement without
paying a substantially higher premium than previously paid by You;
(b) that, by
virtue of the matters set out in clause 18 (a), You have elected that You will
not obtain any professional indemnity insurance for any work You perform for
me/us whether under and in accordance with this Costs Agreement or otherwise and
that this fact has been disclosed by You to me/us;
(c) that I/we
hereby indemnify and shall keep indemnified You and each of your partners,
associates, employees, agents, or administrators or either of them against all
actions claims suits demands, claims for damages costs or other loss or damage
which You and/or Your executors, administrators, or assignees or either of them
may suffer or incur by through or in any way whatsoever connected with or
otherwise arising in any manner whatsoever from any of the work that You and
each of Your partners and employees or agents may perform pursuant to this Costs
Agreement (save for claims based on fraud or breach of trust).
19. Should You agree to undertake any work for me/us pursuant to
this Agreement in respect of the matters specified herein (“the Original
Instructions”) and should this Agreement thereafter expire or be terminated
for any cause whatsoever, then clauses 2 to 15 (inclusive), and 18 to 22
(inclusive) of this Agreement shall nevertheless apply to and be binding upon
me/us in respect of any work performed by You pursuant to or in furtherance of
the Original Instructions or in respect of any other instructions given by me/us
to You at any time in this or any other matter either before or after my/our
signature of this Agreement notwithstanding that such work is performed by You
either before or after such expiration or termination.
20. Notwithstanding
any law to the contrary, I/we hereby agree that service of any legal process
instituted to enforce the provisions of this Agreement against me/us may be
effected by delivery to or by prepaid registered mail in either case addressed
to me/us at the “Client Billing Address” specified on page 3 hereof (or such
other address as I/we may, for the purposes of this clause 20, specify from time
to time by notice in writing to You).
21. In this Costs Agreement : -
“You” and “Your” means Sol-Law, Barristers Solicitors and Notaries of
Honiara.
“I/we” and “me/us” means the person whose name appears below opposite
the notation “Name of Client”
(“the Client”) and the Client's executors, administrators and assignees.
22. This
Costs Agreement is made in and is to be interpreted exclusively in accordance
with the laws of Solomon Islands.
CLIENT:
Attention:
MATTER DETAILS:
CLIENT BILLING
ADDRESS: (Clause 19)
DATED: The
day of
2002
SIGNED: for and on behalf of the above-named client
FULL NAME OF SIGNATORY: _________________________________________
POSITION HELD WITH CLIENT: ________________________________________
(if not the client personally)
Witness:
Name of Witness:
Address of Witness:
ACCEPTANCE ADVICE
Sol-Law
hereby accepts instructions in the above matter subject to the terms of the
above Costs Agreement.
Dated
SOL-LAW
........................................................................
(Partner)
TO:
SOL-LAW
I
of
hereby acknowledge
having read the abovementioned letter(s), Costs Agreement, and this Guarantee
and having understood the contents of those documents or that the terms of these
documents have been explained to me by the witness whose signature appears below
in my usual or customary language and that I have understood the same and accept
the terms and conditions of those documents. In consideration of Your accepting instructions from the said
Client to act in this matter in accordance with the terms contained in those
documents, I unconditionally guarantee to You the due performance by the Client
of the Client’s obligations under those documents.
Dated:
...............................................................
Signed:
...............................................................
Signature
of Guarantor
Name: ...............................................................
Witness:
...............................................................
Name: ...............................................
Address....................................................................
I,................................................................the
above named witness hereby certify that, prior to his/her signing the same, I
read over the above costs letter, Costs Agreement, and Guarantee to the
abovenamed Guarantor whose signature appears above in the Guarantor’s usual or
customary language and that the Guarantor appeared to understand the same and
accept the terms and conditions of those documents.
Dated: ...............................................................
Signed:
...............................................................
Name: ...............................................................
ACCEPTANCE
OF GUARANTEE
For
the consideration expressed in the abovementioned Guarantee, Sol-Law hereby
accepts the said Guarantee.
Dated
SOL-LAW
............................................................
(Partner)
