Terms of Engagement

These Terms of Engagement set out the basis on which KD Legal provides legal services to you. They form part of the costs agreement between you and KD Legal, and should be read together with the costs agreement and engagement letter we provide for your specific matter.

If anything in these terms is unclear, or you have a concern at any time, please contact us so we can discuss and resolve it.

Engaging KD Legal

KD Legal is a legal practice based in Perth, Western Australia. When you ask us to act for you and we accept your instructions, a costs agreement is formed on these terms. We are only able to act for you on the basis of these engagement terms.

The services we provide

The legal services we will provide are described in the engagement letter for your matter. We provide only the services set out in that letter. If your matter requires work beyond that scope, we will agree the additional work, and any further costs, with you first.

We will keep you informed about the progress of your matter, including the steps involved and the likely timeframe.

Your instructions and authority

We act on your instructions. By accepting our offer you authorise us to act for you and to take the steps reasonably necessary to advance your matter, without needing to ask for your consent to every individual action.

We take instructions only from you, unless you tell us in writing that another person is authorised to instruct us. Please give us clear and timely instructions, in writing where we ask for them, and provide good access to relevant documents and to any people we need to consult.

Our fees and how we charge

You agree to pay KD Legal for the legal services we provide. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, we charge on a time basis, calculated by reference to the time our practitioners and staff spend on your matter at their applicable hourly rates. The rate depends on the seniority and experience of the person doing the work and is set out in your costs agreement. Travelling time is charged at a reduced rate.

Where we agree a fixed fee for particular work, it will be recorded in your costs agreement.

Our hourly rates may change from time to time. If we propose to change the rates that apply to your matter, we will notify you in writing before the change takes effect.

Disbursements and practice charges

In addition to our fees, you are responsible for disbursements and expenses we incur on your behalf, such as fees charged by experts, government agencies, courts, and other third parties.

We also charge for certain practice costs incurred on your matter, for example document production, photocopying, and a file opening fee. The charges that apply are set out in your costs agreement.

GST is payable on our fees and on disbursements where it is required by law.

Estimates of legal costs

We will give you an estimate of the total legal costs and disbursements likely to be incurred on your matter, so far as we reasonably can. Because every matter is different and costs depend on factors outside our control, an estimate is a guide only, not a quote or a cap. We will update our estimate as your matter progresses.

Money in advance

We may ask you to pay money in advance on account of our fees and disbursements. Money paid in advance is held in our trust account and applied to your invoices in accordance with the law.

Billing and payment

We may send you invoices at intervals while your matter is ongoing, including interim invoices for work done. Each invoice is payable within 14 days of the date it is provided to you.

You must pay each invoice even if the legal services for your matter are not yet complete. If an invoice remains unpaid, we may charge interest and may stop acting for you.

Your rights about costs

You have a number of rights in relation to our costs, including that:

• if we give you a lump sum invoice, you may request an itemised invoice setting out the legal services provided and the cost of each;
• you may ask us at any time for details of the legal costs and disbursements incurred on your matter up to the date of your request;
• if there is a dispute about our costs, you may seek the assistance of the Legal Services Complaints Committee (LSCC); and
• you may apply to the Supreme Court of Western Australia to have a costs agreement set aside in the circumstances allowed by law.

Our duty to you

We owe you a duty of care and will act in your best interests to advance your matter. We will represent your interests to the exclusion of the interests of any other party, subject to our overriding professional and ethical duties to the Court and the law. We are not required to do anything that is unlawful or that would breach our professional conduct obligations.

Conflicts of interest

We check for conflicts of interest before and during your matter. If a conflict arises that prevents us from continuing to act for you, we will discuss it with you and, where necessary, stop acting.

Confidentiality, privacy and technology

Information you provide to us is treated confidentially and, where it applies, is protected by legal professional privilege. Our handling of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, and our use of artificial intelligence and cloud based tools is governed by our AI & Cloud Tools policy. Both policies apply to your engagement, and we may update them from time to time.

Ending the engagement

You may end your engagement with us at any time by written notice. You remain responsible for the fees and disbursements incurred up to the date the engagement ends.

We may stop acting for you in the circumstances permitted by the professional conduct rules, for example if you do not pay our invoices, if you reject a change to our rates, or if mutual confidence and trust between us breaks down. We will give you reasonable notice where we are able to.

When the engagement ends, we are entitled to keep your files and documents until all invoices have been paid.

Documents and copyright

When your matter is complete we will, on request, return the documents you are entitled to. We retain copyright in the documents we prepare, and they may not be reproduced without our written permission.

Concerns and complaints

If at any time you are not completely happy with our service, please tell us so we can address it. In the first instance, please raise your concern with the practitioner responsible for your matter, or with our Managing Principal. You also have the right to seek the assistance of the Legal Services Complaints Committee (LSCC).

Changes to these terms

These terms are binding on you and on KD Legal. They may only be varied in writing.

Governing law

These terms, and the costs agreement formed when you accept our offer, are governed by the law of Western Australia.

Contact us

If you have any questions about these terms, please contact us using the details on our contact page.