Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

This is the website of Osborne Clarke, a UK partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 58540). A list of the partners and their professional qualifications is available for inspection at our offices. The material contained in this website is provided for general purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice.

These terms and conditions govern your use of the Site and by accessing the Site you agree to be bound by them. Please note that if you are an existing client of Osborne Clarke, or if you become a new client of Osborne Clarke, our services are subject to separate terms and conditions: these will be provided to you.

If any provision in these terms and conditions shall be held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, then such provision or part of it shall, to the extent that it is illegal, invalid or unenforceable, be deemed not to form part of these terms and conditions and the legality, validity and enforceability of the remainder of these terms and conditions shall not be affected.

We may change these terms and conditions at any time without notice by updating this page and if you continue to access or use this Site we will consider that you have accepted any changes.

The information contained in this Site is not directed to, nor intended for distribution or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where the publication or availability of this Site or such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation. You should not access the Site or information on this Site if you know that your access would contravene applicable local, national or international laws.

Definitions

References to "you" or "your" are references to any person accessing the Site and references to "we", "us" or "our" are references to Osborne Clarke as appropriate.

References to the "Site" refer to one or more of osborneclarke.com; osborneclarke.co.uk; osborneclarke.it, osborneclarke.de and/or osborneclarke.es

Please note that when we refer to "Osborne Clarke" we are referring to one or more of the member entities of Osborne Clarke Verein, a Swiss verein which does not itself provide legal or other client services. These member entities are:-

(1)     Osborne Clarke (operating in England, Germany and the USA), a general partnership established under the laws of England and Wales whose principal places of business are 2 Temple Back East, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6EG, UK and Innere Kanalstr. 15, D-50823 Köln, Germany;

(2)     Osborne Clarke S.L.P (operating in Spain), a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Spain whose principal place of business is Planta 20, Avenida Diagonal, 477 Torre de Barcelona, E-08036, Spain; and

(3)     SLA Studio Legale Associato (operating in Italy), a partnership established under the laws of Italy whose principal place of business is Corso di Porta Vittoria 9, Milan 20122, Italy.

Each of the above member entities is a separately constituted and regulated legal entity or partnership which provides legal and other client services in accordance with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. Further details of the member entities that provide legal or other services to clients in each country can be found here.

The use of the name "Osborne Clarke" and words or phrases such as "international legal organisation", "firm", "law firm" or "practice" used in relation to Osborne Clarke Verein or its member entities are for convenience only and do not imply that the Verein or all or any of the member entities are in partnership together or accept responsibility for each other's acts or omissions.

Legal responsibility for the provision of services to clients is defined in written engagement terms entered into between a client and the relevant member entity (which, for the avoidance of doubt will not be Osborne Clarke Verein). Such engagement terms should be relied upon in determining liability for the services provided. Unless explicit written agreement is given by both member entities involved, no Osborne Clarke member entity is responsible for the acts or omissions of, nor has any authority to obligate or otherwise bind, any other Osborne Clarke member entity.

Information Security and Data Protection

Please remember that internet communications are not secure unless the data being sent is encrypted. We cannot accept any responsibility for the unauthorised access by a third party and/or the corruption of data being sent by individuals to Osborne Clarke. Some countries prohibit transmission of encrypted data over telephone lines. You should not encrypt data transmitted if you know that doing so would contravene applicable local, national or international laws.

By submitting any personal information to us on this Site, you specifically confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to our obtaining, processing and disclosing personal and financial information relating to you solely for the purposes detailed in and otherwise in accordance with our Privacy Policy and in these terms and conditions.

Our liability to you

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we accept no responsibility for any loss, which may arise from reliance on information contained in this site or other sites, which may be linked to our site from time to time.

Although we endeavour to ensure that the content is accurate and up-to-date, we give no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any such information. Users of the site should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from any action.

Contact Us

Should you have any questions about the services we offer, please get in touch with one of our lawyers listed in the 'Our People' section. If you have a general enquiry, or would like to provide some feedback, please click on the 'Enquiries' link at the bottom of the page.

Limitation of Investment Advice

The firm is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). If, while we are acting for you, you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide the necessary advice. However we are able, in certain circumstances, to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide. We are also included on the register maintained by the FSA so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority.

This register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/

Complaints

The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society's representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society and the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) is the independent complaints handling body of the Law Society.

If you have any problem with the service we have provided for you in these areas then please let us know in accordance with our client care and complaints procedure. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, further complaints and redress mechanisms are provided through the SRA and the LCS as stated above.

The professional rules made by the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found at http://www.sra.org.uk/handbook/

Interest Policy

Please click here to read our interest policy.

Insurance

This firm maintains professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the rules of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Details of the insurers and the territorial coverage of the policy are available for inspection at our offices.

Copyright Notice

  1. The contents of these pages are © Osborne Clarke 2012. Reproduction or use of this content (in part or whole) is only permitted in accordance with the licensed terms below. Licensed Terms

In any event the copying of any article is only permitted if it is copied in full with no amendment or editing. Translation is permitted on the basis that you take full responsibility for the accuracy of the translation.

  1. License to copy for personal use

You may print copies of any item in hard copy for your personal use or for use by others within your organisation. You may also download any item to a local hard disk provided it is for your personal use or access by others within your organisation.

  1. License to copy for limited purposes

The supply of any copy to a third party is permitted for their personal use provided that:

a.     it is acknowledged that the Osborne Clarke website is the source of the material including the Osborne Clarke web address in the copy of the material

b.    the third party is informed that these licence conditions apply to him and he must comply with them

c.     it is not supplied as part of another work or publication

d.    it is not supplied directly in return for commercial gain.

Any requests to reproduce materials outside the scope of this licence should be addressed to our Corporate Communications team.

VAT Reg No. GB 138 1873 53

(Reviewed July 2012)

Interest Policy

The purpose of this document is to set out Osborne Clarke policy with regard to interest and banking arrangements in relation to money held on behalf of clients. For the purposes of this Interest Policy, Osborne Clarke refers to the UK partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 58540)

The over-riding objective of this policy is to achieve what Osborne Clarke believes is a fair outcome for both the client and the Firm.

When Osborne Clarke receives money from or on behalf of a client, it will be paid into a general client account with NatWest Bank (a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group) who is the Firm's primary banker.

The rate of interest paid to clients on money held in the general client account is in line with NatWest published rates on Client Deposit Manager Accounts.

Interest on general client money is normally calculated and applied on a quarterly basis on the dates set out below. Where client requirements demand the calculation and application will be made on agreed dates (e.g. closure of the matter).

  • 30 June
  • 30 September
  • 31 December
  • 31st March

Interest on money held in general client account will not be applied to specific matters if less than £5 in any quarter.

Interest is paid by NatWest to Osborne Clarke on the aggregate of all client money held in the general client account and, subject to any interest paid to clients as above, is for the benefit of Osborne Clarke.

Designated deposit facilities are maintained with a number of banks and may vary from time to time, Those banks currently used are NatWest, Bank of Ireland, Lloyds Banking Group and Santander.  Alternative arrangements can also be made at the client's request.

Client money may be moved from general client account to designated deposit accounts by Osborne Clarke (subject to a £250,000 minimum) or on client request in order to achieve a better rate of interest.

The rates of interest on designated deposit accounts will be a rate negotiated by Osborne Clarke with that particular bank.

All the interest on designated deposit accounts is for the benefit of the client and can be paid either monthly or quarterly or on closure.

Trust money will be held in either the general client account or in a designated deposit account and is subject to the same interest policy on those accounts as set out in this document.

Joint accounts held between Osborne Clarke and another law firm will be designated deposit accounts under the meaning of this policy and subject to the same conditions as set out above.

Osborne Clarke will ensure that funds are placed with a clearing bank which is authorised by the Financial Services Authority ('FSA') to accept deposits, and are held at a branch or head office in England and Wales unless instructed to hold the money elsewhere.

All client money, whether general client funds or designated deposited funds, will be held on instant access terms unless otherwise instructed.

In accordance with Law Society guidance, if the bank in which Osborne Clarke holds funds should fail we reserve the right to disclose to the FSCS the names and other details of clients whose money is held there in order for those clients to claim compensation up to the applicable limit, currently £85,000.

We will not be liable to you or any third party for any loss or damage suffered as a result of any act, omission, fraud, delay, negligence, insolvency or default of any bank, financial institution, clearing or payments system nor that of the directors, officers, employees, agents or representatives of any of the foregoing.

This policy will be reviewed from time to time to ensure the over-riding objectives are met.