Terms of Business

Safe Harbour Legal is a trading name of Legal Studio Solicitors, itself a trading name of MDLS Solicitors Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA ID 598793). Aaron Johnson practises through it as a consultant solicitor. In these terms "the firm" means MDLS Solicitors Limited. The regulatory authorisation, the client account, the professional indemnity insurance and the review of complaints sit with the firm. The legal work itself is done by Aaron.

MDLS Solicitors Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 08599445).

As the SRA Transparency Rules require, this website carries, and Aaron provides on request, the firm's regulatory status, the complaints procedure, prices for the main services, and details of the professional indemnity insurance. You can check the firm's regulation status at the SRA website.

Aaron provides legal services in the following areas:

• Will writing and estate planning
• Probate and estate administration
• Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Trusts and asset protection

The scope of work for your matter is confirmed in a client care letter sent to you before Aaron starts work. He acts only on matters within his areas of expertise. Where your matter falls outside them, he refers you to a colleague within the firm or to another specialist.

Aaron accepts instructions in writing: by email, by letter, or through the client portal (LawConnect). He confirms the following in a client care letter before he begins work:

• The scope of the instructions and the work to be carried out
• The agreed fee and any likely disbursements
• The estimated timescale for completion
• The name and status of the person handling your matter
• The name of the supervising solicitor
• How to raise a complaint if you are dissatisfied

Who does the work: Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP, does the work himself; the matter is supervised within MDLS Solicitors Limited. Your client care letter names the supervising solicitor.

Work does not start until you have confirmed your instructions and, where it applies, identity verification has been completed.

Under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, the firm is required by law to verify the identity of every client before Aaron can act. This usually means:

• Photographic ID: passport or driving licence
• Proof of address: a utility bill or bank statement dated within the last three months

Identity is verified electronically where possible, through eCos, or by certified copies of the documents. For some transactions Aaron also has to verify the source of funds.

Aaron cannot proceed with your matter until satisfactory identification has been provided.

When the right applies

Where you instruct Aaron without meeting him in person (by phone, email, video call or through this website), the contract is a distance contract. Where you instruct him at a home visit, or anywhere other than the firm's business premises, it is an off-premises contract. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you a right to cancel in both cases.

The 14 days

You may cancel within 14 days of the day the contract is made, without giving a reason. The contract is made on the day Aaron accepts your instructions, which is normally the day you sign or return the client care letter.

How to cancel

Tell Aaron in a clear statement that you are cancelling: by email to aaron@safeharbour.legal, or by post to the registered office of MDLS Solicitors Limited in section 1. You may use the model cancellation form in section 7, but you do not have to. Your notice is in time if you send it before the 14 days end.

Work started within the 14 days

Aaron does not start work within the 14 days unless you expressly ask him to, and that request is recorded in writing, normally in the client care letter. If you ask him to start and then cancel within the 14 days, you pay a proportionate amount for the work reasonably done and the disbursements incurred up to the point of cancellation. Once the service has been fully performed at your express request, with your acknowledgement that you lose the right to cancel once it is complete, the right to cancel no longer applies.

After the 14 days, section 21 (Termination) applies instead.

Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel the contract. Copy the wording into an email, or print this page and post it.

Aaron gives a fixed-fee quote for every service. You should know exactly what your legal work will cost before you commit. As the SRA Transparency Rules require, the prices for the main services are published on the fees page.

• No hourly billing: your fee is agreed in writing before work begins
• No hidden costs: the fee in your client care letter covers the scope of work described
• Disbursements quoted separately: third-party costs, such as the probate application fee, the Office of the Public Guardian's registration fee, Land Registry fees, bankruptcy searches and statutory notices, are explained and quoted before work begins
• Scope changes: if work is needed beyond the original scope, Aaron discusses and agrees a revised fee with you before going on

Fees are quoted exclusive of VAT. VAT is charged at the prevailing rate (currently 20%), and the VAT-inclusive figure is shown alongside every fee on the fees page and in your client care letter.

Aaron agrees payment terms with you before work starts. Typically:

• Fixed-fee matters: payment may be asked for in stages or on completion
• Disbursements: payable as they are incurred
• Invoices: payable within 14 days of issue

Aaron aims to give a high standard of legal service, and handles your matter himself from the first conversation to the final signature. He will:

• Give you regular updates on the progress of your matter
• Respond to your communications within one working day
• Explain the legal issues and your options in plain English
• Tell you promptly about any significant development
• Estimate the likely timescale at the outset and tell you if it changes

Before accepting instructions, Aaron carries out a conflict check against the firm's records, as the SRA Code of Conduct requires. If a conflict of interest is found, he tells you and, where possible, discusses how it can be managed. In some cases he cannot act, and refers you to another solicitor.

Aaron and the firm owe you a duty of confidentiality under the SRA Standards and Regulations. Information you give is not disclosed to anyone else without your consent, except where:

• Disclosure is required by law or regulation
• Disclosure is necessary for the proper conduct of your matter (for example to HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the Office of the Public Guardian, or the Land Registry)
• A report has to be made under anti-money laundering legislation

Where money has to be held on your behalf (for example to pay disbursements such as the probate application fee, Land Registry fees or the Office of the Public Guardian's fee), it is held by MDLS Solicitors Limited in a designated client account, kept strictly separate from the firm's own money, under the SRA Accounts Rules.

The firm gives you clear information about any money held on your behalf and accounts to you promptly for every client money transaction. Interest on client money is dealt with under the SRA Accounts Rules and the firm's interest policy, which is available on request.

If you are not satisfied with the service, tell Aaron Johnson first. If the complaint cannot be resolved with him, the firm, MDLS Solicitors Limited, reviews it: contact Ian McCann (Solicitor and CEO) on 0113 247 3800 or at ijm@legalstudio.co.uk. There is no charge for making a complaint, for Aaron's investigation of it, or for the firm's review.

If the complaint is still not resolved, you may refer it to the Legal Ombudsman (PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH; 0300 555 0333; enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; legalombudsman.org.uk). You must normally refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the final written response, and within one year of the act or omission complained about, or within one year of when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. Concerns about professional conduct can be reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority at sra.org.uk.

The full process, including the eight-week timescale, is in the Complaints Procedure.

MDLS Solicitors Limited maintains professional indemnity insurance under the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules. The level of cover meets the SRA's mandatory minimum requirement. The policy covers claims arising from work carried out under the firm's authorisation, including work done by Aaron as Safe Harbour Legal.

Details of the insurer, the level of cover and the territorial coverage are available on request from Aaron at aaron@safeharbour.legal.

The total liability of the firm and of Aaron to you in respect of any matter does not exceed the minimum level of the firm's professional indemnity insurance cover (details available on request), except in cases of fraud or where liability cannot lawfully be limited.

The Limitation Act 1980 sets the time limit for bringing a claim for professional negligence, which is usually six years from the date of the alleged breach of duty.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

MDLS Solicitors Limited is the data controller for your personal data, and Aaron handles it day to day, under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the SRA Standards and Regulations.

For how your personal information is collected, used and protected, see the Privacy Policy.

When your matter is complete, the firm stores your file securely for at least the following periods:

• Wills: the original is held indefinitely, or until you ask for it to be transferred; the file is kept for 15 years from completion of the matter
• Lasting Powers of Attorney: 6 years from completion of the matter
• Probate: 12 years from completion of the matter
• Trusts: 15 years from completion of the matter

After the retention period, files may be securely destroyed without further notice. Original documents (such as a signed will) are returned to you or stored as separately agreed. Aaron does not destroy a document he knows to be the only copy without contacting you first.

The copyright in the documents prepared in the course of your matter belongs to MDLS Solicitors Limited. You have an irrevocable licence to use them for the purpose for which they were prepared. This does not apply to documents that by their nature belong to you, such as a signed will or a registered Lasting Power of Attorney.

Aaron and the firm treat clients, colleagues and third parties equally, and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, in line with the Equality Act 2010 and the SRA Principles.

The firm's equality and diversity policy is available on request.

Either you or Aaron may end the engagement at any time by written notice. You remain liable for fees and disbursements incurred up to the date the engagement ends.

If you end the engagement, the firm may retain documents on which it has a lien for unpaid fees. Aaron sends a final invoice for the work done and the disbursements incurred to date.

Neither Aaron nor the firm is liable for delay or failure to perform where it results from events beyond their reasonable control, including natural disasters, pandemics, government action, failure of IT systems outside their control, or industrial action.

These terms, together with the client care letter issued for your matter, are the entire agreement between you and the firm for the provision of legal services.

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

If any provision of these terms is found invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.

MDLS Solicitors Limited (trading as Legal Studio Solicitors) is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You can check the firm's regulation status at sra.org.uk.

SRA ID: 598793