ashfieldsolicitors.com is a website operated by Ashfield solicitors. We are a VAT registered firm of solicitors based in South Kensington London.

Applications and terms of website use

These legal notices apply to your use of www.ashfieldsolicitors.com, which is owned and operated by Ashfield Solicitors of 109 Gloucester Road, London, SE7 4SS. These terms and conditions set out the terms of use on which you may make use of the website www.ashfieldsolicitors.com (our “Website”), whether as a guest or as a registered user. By using the site, including by accessing, browsing or submitting data to the Website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. By using our website, you indicate that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to abide by them. If you do not accept these terms in full, then you do not have permission to access the contents of the Website and, therefore, should cease using it immediately.

Accessing our Website

Access to our Website is permitted on a temporary basis, and We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service We provide on our Website without notice (see below). We will not be liable if for any reason our Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of our Website, or our entire website, to all users.

If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use.

You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our Website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our Website through your internet connection are aware of these terms and that they comply with them.

Material on our Website

The material on our Website is for general information only and you must take appropriate professional advice before taking or refraining from action based on any material on our Website. Ashfield Solicitors accepts no liability whatsoever for any reliance upon the contents of this Website. Whilst you may access other websites from our Website, and our Website may refer to other websites, Ashfield Solicitors accepts no liability in connection with any other website.

Intellectual property rights

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our Website, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved. You may print off one copy and may download extracts of any page(s) from our Website for your personal reference and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to material posted on our Website.

• You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Authors of any material on our Website assert their moral rights. This licence does not cover content owned by anyone other than Ashfield Solicitors nor does it allow copying of the structure, look and feel or program code relating to our Website. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of material on our Website must always be acknowledged.
• You must not use any part of the materials on our Website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
• If you print off, copy or download any part of our Website in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our Website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

Reliance on information posted

The material on our Website is not intended to be and does not amount to advice on which reliance should be placed. We, therefore, disclaim all liability and responsibility to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Our Website changes regularly

We aim to update our Website regularly and may change the content at any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to our Website, or close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our Website may be out of date at any given time and We are under no obligation to update such material.

Our liability

The material displayed on our Website is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, We and third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:

• all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity; and
• any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user in connection with our Website or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our Website, any websites linked to it and any materials posted on it, including, without limitation any liability for loss of income or revenue; loss of business; loss of profits or contracts; loss of anticipated savings; loss of data; loss of goodwill; wasted management or office time; and for any other loss or damage of any kind, however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable.

The above exclusions do not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Our relationship

We will not be your instructed solicitors and there shall not be a solicitor-client relationship merely through your visit to our Website or by you giving us information via our Website. We will only be formally instructed as your solicitors once We have corresponded on a specific matter and We have sent you, and you have accepted our terms of engagement.

Regulatory information

Ashfield Solicitors is a sole practitioner law practice registered in England and Wales and authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, ID: 599342. Ashfield Solicitors and our solicitors are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales. See sra.org.uk.

Professional indemnity insurance

Ashfield Solicitors maintains compulsory professional indemnity. This insurance covers all of the practice carried out from Ashfield Solicitors’ offices and will extend to acts or omissions wherever in the world they occur.

Viruses, hacking and other offences

You must not misuse our Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not upload illegal or defamatory content and you must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our Website, the server on which our Website is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to our Website. You must not attack our Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities, and We will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our Website will cease immediately. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our Website or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

Links

You may not link our Website to any other website. We do not make any warranties, representations or undertakings about the content of any other website which may be referred to or accessed by hypertext link from our Website and We do not endorse or approve any content of such third party websites. Any websites wishing to establish a link with our Website must contact us and may only affect such link once they are in receipt of written authority from us.

Jurisdiction and applicable law

The English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to our Website. These terms of use are governed by English law.

Variations

We may revise these terms of use at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes We make, as they are binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in these terms of use may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our Website.

Your concerns

If you have any concerns about material which appears on our Website, please contact info@ashfieldsolicitors.com.

Equality and Diversity Policy

We at Ashfield Solicitors are committed to eliminating unlawful discrimination of the Protected Characteristics as provided in the Equalities Act 2010 (s4), be it due to:

age (s 5)

• gender reassignment (s7 and see also s16)
• marriage and civil partnership (s 8)
• race (s 9)
• religion or belief (s 10)
• sex (s 11)
• sexual orientation (s 12)
• pregnancy and maternity (s 18)

This in itself applies to our own professional dealings with clients, staff, other solicitors, barristers, and third parties. We shall endeavour to treat everyone fairly and equally and with the same courtesy and attention. We shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that we do not unlawfully discriminate under the terms of the Equalities Act 2010 and any other legislation in force from time to time relating to any form of discrimination, included in this would be employment and the provisions of goods, facilities or services.

As we provide legal services, we will treat all clients fairly, justly and equally and not discriminate against them. We will also, wherever possible, assist people whilst at the same time take into account the diversity of the individuals we represent. We will take steps to help develop procedures so that the legal services we provide are accessible to all. We will take into account the needs of the disabled and clients who are unable to communicate in English. We will devise appropriate policies to meet our clients’ needs; including women and men; members of religious groups; carers; the elderly; children; lesbians, gay or transgendered people, and ethnic groups or nationalities.

As an employer, all employees and job applicants will be treated fairly, justly and equally. Furthermore, we will eliminate the unlawful discrimination of any protected characteristic. This will include arrangements regarding recruitment and selection. Terms and conditions of employment, access to promotions, access to training opportunities, demotions, selection for redundancies, grievance and disciplinary processes, dress code, reference, bonus schemes, work allocation and any other employment-related activities. The firm as such observes all elements of:

• Promotion
• Recruitment
• Grievances and disciplinary procedures
• Training
• Terms and conditions of employment
• Redundancies, Resignations, and dismissals
• Training Plan
• Requests for flexible working hours

The firm identifies equality and diversity training needs. employees will be informed of this policy and training plan. The policy plan as such will include details of the sort of training that will be provided, who will be trained, when training will be provided and who is responsible in the firm for ensuring that training is delivered.

Our complaints policy

Any expression of dissatisfaction about the service you have received from Ashfield Solicitors  will be considered seriously and we will ensure that we respond promptly to any complaint. We set ourselves high standards and are committed to providing a professional, efficient ,courteous and  a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to address your concerns, resolve any mistakes or misunderstandings, put things right as far as possible and to improve our standards. Problems can arise in any working relationship. Most of these can be resolved quickly and informally at a very early stage. We will do our very best to resolve your concerns in this way, or by completing an investigation. If you have a complaint, please contact our Principal Solicitor at  Ashfield Solicitors, 109 Gloucester Road, London, SW7 4SS.

Informal Procedure and resolution 

If you have any concerns about the way your case is being handled, please contact the solicitor you normally deal with to let them know. They will try to address your concerns and speak to you about what can be done to resolve the problem and also confirm this in a letter or e mail to you. Our aim is to have that conversation with you within a week of your raising your concerns and to send you the follow up letter or e mail within two weeks. If more time is needed (because the solicitor handling your case needs to seek information from you or someone else in order to respond), the solicitor will write and let you know.

Formal complaint Procedure

• We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within three working days of receiving it. This initial letter will usually come from the solicitor handling your case.
• We will then investigate your complaint. We will review your case file and speak to the person handling your case, and other members of staff if appropriate.
• Within 14 days of sending, you the written acknowledgment we will invite you to a meeting to discuss and resolve your complaint. If you do not want a meeting or a meeting is not possible, we may instead offer you a chance to discuss the matter by telephone.
• Within three days of the meeting, or any telephone conversation we have with you instead of a meeting, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.
• In any case, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including our suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the written acknowledgment of your complaint.
• At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again request to review the decision.
• We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. When we do so, in the event we cannot settle your complaint with you, we will inform you that this is the case and inform you of any other relevant matters.
• The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. The Legal Ombudsman,  is an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act, who can investigate complaints about the legal service you have received from us. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
• Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint and
  • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
• You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:

–  Telephone: 0300 555 0333 Minicom: 0300 555 1777

–  Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

–  Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

–  Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

• If we have to change any of the timescales mentioned above, we will let you know and explain why.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

You may also contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (‘SRA’) if you have any concerns about a solicitor, or the firm. The SRA can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Contact the SRA at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN 0370 606 2555 or visit the SRA’s website here.