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Resources

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Regulatory Information
Contract Confirmation
Corporate Social Responsibility
Fraudulent Emails and Cyber Crime
Money Laundering
Methods of Payment
Terms of Engagement
Complaints Policy
Pricing Policies

Berlad Graham LLP makes every effort to ensure that the firm is governed and regulated to excellent standards in accordance with the Law Society’s policies. We are accredited under the Lexcel quality standard mark,  which is awarded to firms who achieve excellence in compliance and practice management.

We believe in transparency and providing our clients with accessibility to valuable information to place you in the best possible position when it comes to decision making.

In this section we set out important regulatory information including our Cancellation terms, Complaint procedure, Cookies policy, Privacy notice,  Pricing policies, Terms of engagement and Website terms of use. We also provide useful information to assist you in protecting yourself against cybercrime and fraudulent emails purporting to be from Berlad Graham LLP.

Use the navigation on the left, or scroll down this page to read more.

Regulatory Information

Berlad Graham LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in England and Wales (Company number: OC366951). It is an approved Alternative Business Structure “(ABS)” with its registered office at Boundary House, Cricket Field Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1QG. 

Berlad Graham LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (563203). The SRA Code of Conduct is available via the SRA website.

Any reference to a partner means a member of Berlad Graham LLP, which includes a lawyer and a non-lawyer partner. A list of members is available for inspection at our registered office.

Berlad Graham LLP has compulsory indemnity insurance, the details of which are available for inspection at our registered office.

Our VAT number is 121 0344 79.

Berlad Graham LLP is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Contract Confirmation

To Berlad Graham LLP, Boundary House, Cricket Field Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1QG . Tel: 0330 175 5655 Fax: 01895 590222

Email: info@bglaw.co.uk

I/we [*] instruct Berlad Graham LLP to commence work on: provision of legal services during the 14–day cancellation period.

I/we [*] understand and acknowledge that if I/we [*] subsequently cancel during the 14–day cancellation period, I am/we are [*] required to pay for the work you have done on a pro-rata basis. This will be an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed, until I/we [*] told you that I/we [*] wished to cancel, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.

I/we [*] further understand and acknowledge that I/we [*] will lose the right to cancel and will have to pay in full once the contract had been fully performed (ie you complete the work) even if this happens within the cancellation period.

Name of client(s):                                       

Address of client(s):                                   

[Signature of client(s)]:                          

Date:                                                             

[*] Delete as appropriate

Corporate Social Responsibility

Berlad Graham are fully committed to embracing corporate and social responsibility.

Our people

We truly value diversity in our workplace.  We recruit and develop our people based on merits only. We offer flexible working patterns and holidays.  Looking after our people’s needs and wellbeing both work related and personal is always paramount.

Our community

We have always endeavoured to get involved in social and commercial activities in the community. We understand the importance of education and training the new generation and actively provide work experience opportunities to local school students to expose them to the legal profession. We make every effort to engage with local communities and businesses, attending local business events and encouraging referrals within the community.  We have hosted and sponsored several local events, encouraging local attendance.

Our Environment

The firm is committed to reducing its carbon footprint where at all possible. As a cloud-based firm we encourage our lawyers to work from home and cut down unnecessary commuting and pollution. We further encourage the electronic filing of documents and operating a paperless environment wherever possible

Pro bono advice

We recognise that sometimes access to justice is difficult and may clients cannot afford legal costs.  We offer free advice and take cases pro bono at our discretion.

Charitable Work

At Berlad Graham we donate each year to charities of our choice and have a donation scheme with gift aid.  We participate in charitable events aimed at raising funds and encourage our consultants in participating in similar activities locally.

Fraudulent Emails & Cyber Crime

As a solicitors firm, our clients may be targeted by fraudsters who send emails in which they mispresent themselves as being members or lawyers of Berlad Graham LLP. We set out a guide below to ensure you are aware of what to look out for when receiving emails and what steps to take if you are concerned.

What is a scam email?

Criminals often use scam emails purporting to be from law firms and solicitors. The purpose of the scam email is to trick you into giving them your money or personal details such as your bank account number and login details.

What to look out for?

The scam email may look like it is a genuine email from Berlad Graham LLP and it is important to be vigilant:

  1. Check the email address of the sender to ensure it is exactly the same as the email addresses on our website. Fraudsters may create email accounts which are similar to ours but with a slight spelling variation.
  2. Compare the name in the ‘from’ line to the email address of the sender. If the name is completely different, it is not from Berlad Graham LLP.
  3. Compare the email address of the sender and the signature – it should be from the same person.
  4. We will never send emails from any Google or Hotmail accounts.
  5. Look out for any spelling mistakes. Fraudulent emails are often poorly written but please note that some may appear professional .
  6. We will never ask you to pay any money by clicking on a link – please be very careful of any email which requires you to click on a link as it may contain a virus or malware.
  7. We will never inform you of a change of our bank details by email or provide our account details . Please refer to our client care letter for our bank account details or call the firm on the number provided on our website.

Reporting and what to do if you receive a scam email?

If you receive a fraudulent email or are unsure as to whether it is legitimate, please do not respond to the email or click on any links within it. Please bring the email to our urgent attention by calling us on 0330 175 5655

You should also ensure that your anti-virus software is up to date to prevent your personal information from being stolen.

Further information can be found on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website and Action Fraud.

Money Laundering

Identity documents

Clients Resident in the United Kingdom

You will need to provide evidence of your true full name and your current permanent address including the post code.

Evidence of your personal identity can be proved by:

  • Current signed passport
  • EU member state identity card
  • Residence Permit issued by the Home Office together with own country’s passport
  • Current EU or UK photocard driving licence
  • Armed Forces ID card
  • Current full UK driving licence (old version)
  • In exceptional circumstances, if none of the above are available a Birth Certificate or Inland Revenue tax notification will suffice

Evidence of your address can be provided by the following

  • Confirmation from the Electoral Register
  • Recent utility bill or bank statement or mortgage statement with your current address (preferably not more than three months old)
  • Local Authority rates bill for the current year
  • Current UK driving licence (but only if not used as evidence of ID)
  • Local Council rent card or tenancy agreement

You will need to produce these documents when you attend our offices for your first face-to-face meeting with a solicitor. If for any reason you are unable to attend a face-to-face meeting, then the following additional evidence is required:

  1. A certified copy of either a passport or new style photocard driving licence or EU identity card provided by a solicitor who has had a face-to-face meeting with you and confirms that the photograph is of you; and
  2. An original document giving evidence of your address

Clients Resident in the EU

The requirements for producing documents are as for UK clients. In the event that you are unable to attend a face-to-face meeting at the office with your solicitor, you are required to produce the same documents listed for UK clients in items 1. and 2. above.

Clients Non-Resident in the UK or EU

Special requirements apply which depends on the individual circumstances of your case. A minimum requirement would be a certified copy of your passport from a local lawyer together with a reference from a known financial institution, for example a bank.

Methods of Payment

As part of our philosophy of providing exceptional customer service to our clients we have a range of payment methods to assist you in keeping control of ‘your’ money.

Payments can be made by:

  • Electronic transfer straight from your bank to ours

This is for your benefit as it’s at no cost to you and your liability is discharged immediately. Our bank details are provided in our retainer letter and can be provided upon request.

  • Credit/debit card

We accept the following credit cards:

Visa
Visa
Mastercard
  • Cheque 

Please note that a cheque will take at least five working days to clear and we will not be able to rely on these funds until after this time.

To always ensure our clients are fully aware of the way in which Berlad Graham works, and to protect you, please see the terms under which we produce our invoices. 

In view of the fact that this bill may be required for production to HM Revenue and Customs in connection with VAT payments, we have kept to a minimum the details of work undertaken on your behalf so that confidentiality is maintained.  If you require further details of the work carried out we will be pleased to supply the same on a separate statement.

Payment is due to us within 14 days of our sending you a bill. Interest will be charged on a daily basis at 4% above Lloyds TSB Base Lending Rate from time to time from 28 days after delivery by us of the bill.

If the matter cannot be resolved you may be able to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.  You may also have the right to have the bill Assessed by the court under sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

We shall be entitled to charge interest on the outstanding amount of the bill in accordance with Article 5 of the Solicitors (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009.

Terms of Engagement

Click below to download our terms of engagement

Download our Terms of Engagement

Complaints Policy

Our complaints policy

  1. We are committed to providing an excellent standard of service to all our We value feedback from clients greatly because it helps us to continually improve our service. If you are not satisfied with the level of service provided or have any other complaints, we would like to know about it as soon as possible so that we can address your concerns.
  2. We define a complaint as ‘an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction which alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, distress, inconvenience or other detriment’.

Our complaints procedure

  1. If you have any cause for complaint, please email or write to the fee earner acting on your matter in the first instance, copying your email to info@bglaw.co.uk. Please set out a brief explanation of:

i. Why you feel dissatisfied with the service you have received

ii. If there is anything in particular that you would like us to do to resolve your concerns

  1. The fee earner will respond to your concerns and queries in writing.

  2. If you are not satisfied with the fee earner’s response, please contact Noor Khan, the partner responsible for handling complaints, on 0330 175 5655 or info@bglaw.co.uk. At this point, the complaint will follow the formal Complaints procedure which is set out below.

Acknowledgment

  1. We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days of your formal notification of complaint, as set out in paragraph 5. We will request any further information we may require in order to investigate your complaint.

The investigation

  1. If we have requested you to provide further information in our acknowledgment letter, we will wait for that information to arrive before we take any further action. 

  2. Upon receipt, we will investigate your complaint as efficiently as possible. As part of the investigation, we will consider the evidence available to us, including the information on your file, information provided by you and information provided by the relevant fee earner who was working on your matter.

Our findings

  1. We will write to you with our findings and any proposals to resolve the matter within 14 days of receiving the further information, unless your matter requires longer to investigate, in which case we will aim to revert to you within 21 days. The findings will be provided in writing unless we had agreed to provide our findings in a meeting.

  2. Following the receipt of our findings letter, you will have 14 days to provide any comments on our findings if you wish to do so.

Our final decision 

11. We will consider any comments you may have made and revert to you with our final decision within 7 days of your comments. If we require longer to consider your comments, we will write to you to inform you of the timeframe.

If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our Final Response, or in the unlikely event that you have not received a Final Response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman about our service. The Legal Ombudsman will normally expect you to have exhausted this complaints procedure before referring to them. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints independently and accessing the service will not affect how we handle your case (if ongoing). Time limits apply to the service. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

12. The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are:

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

Telephone: 0300 555 0333

Email address: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

13. The Legal Ombudsman service considers complaints about the quality of legal services that clients receive. In the unlikely event that you have concerns about a solicitor’s conduct, it may be appropriate for you to contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA – Telephone: 0370 606 2555 Website: sra.org.uk – or write to them at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN).  We do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns.

14. If your complaint is about our bill, you can complain about or challenge the bill. You can challenge the bill by applying for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about the bill you have applied to the court for assessment of the bill.

15. Other ADR services providers exist that are competent to deal with complaints in the legal sector, including ProMediate. However, the firm believes that the Legal Ombudsman offers our clients the most appropriate forum to seek resolution of their concerns. Therefore, we have not adopted an alternative ADR procedure and do not agree to use another ADR organisation.

If we need to change any of the above timescales for any reason, we will let you know and provide a revised timescale.