Terms of service

At Lawyerlink, we believe in keeping things honest and transparent. That's why we've clearly outlined our services and terms for you. Here's what you can expect from this agreement:

• Key definitions: To help you understand our terms.
• Scope of service: Detailed explanations of the services we offer and important limitations.
• Subscription management: Information on how to manage your subscription and account.
• Important notices: Key information regarding the use of our services, including essential limitations and responsibilities you should be aware of.

By taking the time to go through these terms, you'll have a clear understanding of what we offer and how we can support your business. We also have a handy guide, that sets out everything about the scope of our service to supplement these terms. Please have a look at it here. 

If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We're here to help! You can email us at support@lawyerlink.co with any queries.

By clicking 'accept' during sign-up, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy and Cookie Policies.

1. Key definitions

Business entity: This is the business as registered and subscribed with us. A Business Entity could be a Sole Trader, Partnership, or Limited Company.

Business representative: The Business Representative is the person officially authorised to act on behalf of the business entity. This could be the owner, director, or any other executive or manager who has been given the authority to sign up for our services.

Business owner: This would be a sole trader, a partner in a partnership, or shareholder of a limited company who is over the age of 18. 

Client Hub: Once you join us, you’ll get access to our Client Hub. There, you can connect with our in-house solicitors whenever you need. You can make appointments, participate in your legal matters, manage your profile, and manage your payment through our secure payment partner, Stripe.

Subscription fees: The fees for your subscription are based on the plan you chose, which is determined by your business’s turnover. You can choose to pay your annual subscription either in monthly instalments or upfront for the full year. A 10% discount applies for annual payments. 

Subscription services: You are entitled to all our services, as listed in the scope of service, starting from the moment you accept these Terms and have paid for your subscription.

Subscription sign-up: This is how you started your subscription, either online or through a meeting with one of our Sales Representatives or team members.

Subscription term: Your subscription runs on an annual basis, so when you subscribe, you commit to a yearly contract. This means you are responsible for paying the full year's fees, whether you choose to pay monthly or annually.

Subscription plans: Our subscription plans are clearly set out on our website and are based on the plan you subscribed to, which is determined by the turnover of your business. We value honesty in our relationship, so if it seems like you’ve chosen the wrong fit on purpose, we will unfortunately cancel your subscription without a refund and stop services.

Lawyerlink: That’s us! This is the registered brand name of our legal subscription service. Officially, it's a product of Lawyerly Ltd (Company number 15697410).

Lawyerly: That’s the official name of our company—Lawyerly Ltd (Company number 15697410). We make sure your legal subscription is serviced professionally. Just so you know, we’re not a law firm and don’t fall under the Solicitors Regulation Authority, we may employ Solicitors who are registered by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Please read our legal service statement for more information about this.

Solicitors: A solicitor is a professionally qualified individual authorised to practise law by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Solicitors are uniquely permitted by law to be employed directly by companies like ours, in addition to working within traditional law firms. They are responsible for providing legal advice, preparing legal documents, and representing clients, with their work governed by strict regulatory standards.

Stripe: All your credit card payments are securely handled by Stripe Payments UK Ltd (Company number 08480771) on our behalf.

You: When we refer to "You" or "Your," we mean the business entity, business representative, or business owner registered with us.

Us: When we say "Us," "We," or "Our," we are referring to Lawyerlink and Lawyerly Ltd.

2. Scope of service

We provide proactive, personalised legal services designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. Below is an outline of what’s included in our subscription services.

1. Proactive legal management

At Lawyerlink, we are proactive legal partners, offering services to give you the legal confidence you need to focus on growing your business. This includes:

• Legal advice and guidance: Clear answers to your legal questions, with virtual consultations available through our Client Hub.
• Legal risk planning: Helping you prepare for potential legal challenges by identifying and mitigating risks.
• Litigation oversight: Lawyerlink provides non-representational advice to help you navigate the litigation process effectively. While we won't represent your matters in court, much like your own in-house legal department, we will assist you in selecting, appointing and liaising with external counsel to handle your litigation, at your own cost.

2. Employment law services

We guide you through employment law to help you create a compliant, fair, and healthy workplace. This includes:

• Drafting and reviewing employment contracts.
• Guidance on redundancy, disciplinary actions, and employment disputes.
• Drafting key HR policies to support compliance and a positive workplace culture.
• We draft the following policies:
  • Disciplinary and grievance policy
  • Equal opportunities policy
  • Sickness and absence policy
  • Flexible working policy
  • Health and safety policy
  • Anti-harassment and bullying policy
  • Maternity, paternity, and parental leave policy
  • Whistleblowing policy

3. Commercial contracts

We draft and review business contracts to ensure they are clear, enforceable, and protect your business relationships. Each contract is tailored to your business's unique requirements, focusing on clarity, and ongoing support for maintaining healthy contractual relationships. This applies to:

• Sales agreements, service contracts, NDAs, and other day-to-day operational agreements.
• Customising terms and conditions for your website or e-commerce business.
• Advice on contract breaches and legal remedies.

4. Commercial leases

We ensure your commercial leases protect your business interests by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating key terms. This includes:

• Drafting and reviewing lease agreements.
• Advice on break clauses, rent reviews, and exit strategies.
• Assistance with lease assignments, subletting, and variations.
• Informal lease dispute resolution.

5. Intellectual property (IP) protection

We help you protect your business’s intellectual property by offering guidance on trademarks and copyrights. This includes:

• Trademark application and registration: One trademark application and registration in one class as part of your subscription.
• Trademark searches: Conducting standard searches within the UK. 
• Copyright protection: Advice on protecting your original works.
• Monitoring: Help on setting up alerts to spot IP infringements.

6. Debt recovery assistance

We provide pre-litigation legal support to recover unpaid debts over £1,000, helping maintain cash flow and client relationships. This includes:

• Issuing Letters Before Action to request payment.
• Resolving disputes for significant debts backed by a written agreement.

7. Dispute resolution

We help resolve business disputes quickly and cost-effectively, aiming to avoid litigation where possible. This includes:

• Guidance on resolving contract disputes, supplier/client conflicts, and employment disputes.
• Virtual meetings to facilitate dispute resolution.

3. Limitations of service

While we provide comprehensive legal support, there are certain services that are outside the scope of our subscription. Below are the key limitations:

1. Reserved legal activities

These are regulated by law and can only be performed by regulated law firms:

• Right of audience: Representing clients in court.
• Conduct of litigation: Managing legal proceedings on behalf of clients.
• Reserved instrument activities: Preparing legal documents for property transactions.
• Probate activities: Administering a deceased person’s estate.
• Notarial services: Certifying and authenticating documents for legal use abroad.
• Administration of oaths: Formally swearing oaths or declarations.

2. Other limitations to our legal service subscription

• Payroll services: We do not manage or provide advice on payroll or tax-related payroll issues. A payroll or tax specialist should be consulted for these matters.
• Pension scheme management: We do not manage or advise on setting up employee pension schemes. A pension advisor should be consulted.
• Employment tribunal representation: We do not represent clients in employment tribunals, but we can refer you to trusted external solicitors.
• Immigration law: We do not provide advice on employment matters related to immigration, such as visa sponsorship or immigration compliance.
• Multiple trademark applications: Our subscription covers one trademark application. Additional applications are available at an extra cost.
• Patent applications: We do not assist with patents. For patent-related matters, we recommend consulting a specialist.
• Complex contracts: We do not advise on tax structuring, financial auditing, or handle large-scale or specialised agreements such as franchise agreements or large-scale construction contracts. For these, we recommend seeking specialist legal advice.
• Contract management: We do not manage contract renewals, deadlines, or ongoing obligations. Our focus is on providing legal support for standard business contracts, ensuring compliance and clarity in everyday agreements for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Third-party contracts: We do not draft or review contracts where your business is not a direct party, unless there’s a material interest.
• International legal services: Our services are limited to UK law. For international matters, we recommend seeking local experts in the relevant jurisdictions.
• Debt collection for small debts: We do not act as an in-house debt collector for small debts. Our services focus on unpaid debts (over £1,000) backed by a signed legal agreement.
• Tax advice: We do not provide tax structuring or advice. A qualified tax advisor should be consulted for tax matters.
• Mediation or arbitration services: We provide informal pre-litigation dispute resolution but do not act as mediators or arbitrators. We can refer you to external professionals if needed.
• Health and safety risk assessments: While we draft health and safety policies, we do not conduct on-site risk assessments or audits. A health and safety consultant should be engaged for this.
• Full lease negotiations: We provide guidance on key lease terms, but we do not handle the entire negotiation process.
• Partner and shareholder disputes: As we represent the business, we cannot take sides in disputes between partners or shareholders. However, we can offer a professional legal opinion and assist with settlement agreements if required.
• Unspecified services: Your subscription will be limited to the services expressly mentioned herein and will not include any other services.

4. Termination and fair use

We want to provide you with the best possible service. To make sure we can do that, we ask that you use our services reasonably.

1. Fair use guidelines

Your use of our services should be in line with the subscription’s purpose. Excessive or unreasonable requests, like frequently asking for services outside the subscription scope, could result in termination.

2. Service exclusivity

The subscription services are exclusively for the business that signed up for them. Subscriptions may not be shared or used by any other business, including affiliates or third parties.

3. Termination of services

If we find that your usage exceeds fair use or violates the exclusivity of your subscription, we may need to review and potentially terminate your subscription. We also reserve the right to end services if there’s any legal action against us or any disrespectful behavior towards our staff. Before taking any action, we will reach out to discuss the situation and seek a resolution together. If your subscription is terminated for any reason, all services, including any ongoing work, will cease on the termination date.

5. How our subscription works

1. Your subscription

• Subscription services: You are entitled to all our services, as listed in the scope of service listed above once you have accepted these Terms and you have paid your subscription fee.
• Subscription term: Your subscription runs on an annual basis, so when you subscribe, you commit to a yearly contract. This means you are responsible for paying the full year's fees, whether you choose to pay monthly or annually.
• Automatic renewal: Your subscription and these Terms will automatically renew by charging your chosen payment method until you cancel.
• Tailor your plan: You can change your plan as your business grows or scales down. When you do this, your billing date will update to the day you made the change. This will then become your new billing date, and the date of your plan change. To change your plan, send an email to support@lawyerlink.co to help you with the process.

2. Subscription payments

• How you pay: You pay your Subscription Fees in advance by credit card, annually or monthly—it’s up to you!
• Credit card payments: If you're paying by credit card, Stripe Payments UK Ltd (Company number 08480771) will process these payments on our behalf. You’re authorising Stripe to debit your account as needed, based on amounts we communicate to you.
• Fee increases: We have a small fee increase each year on your sign-up anniversary, based on the UK's annual inflation rate. Such increase will be communicated to you before your subscription comes up for renewal.
• VAT details: Prices exclude VAT, but we’ll provide a tax invoice for each payment through our Stripe payment partner. VAT invoices are available through your Client Hub.
• Payment information requests: We will need to ask for your credit card or account details at times to process your subscription fees or manage your account.
• Renewals: We’ll remind you 7 days before your subscription renews, so you can make sure everything’s in order and decided whether you would like to opt-out or continue our partnership.
• Expiring card alerts: We’ll also let you know a month ahead if your payment card is about to expire, helping you avoid any interruptions.
• If your payment fails: You’ll have 14 days to clear any due payments. During this time, you can still manage your profile and billing, but please note:
  • You won’t be able to make new appointments with your solicitor or any support staff.
  • You can’t create new legal matters on the Client Hub.
  • Work on current matters will be paused until payment is received
• Retrying payment: If a payment doesn’t go through, we’ll try again 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days after your billing date.
• Cancellation: If payments aren’t made within the 14-day grace period, unfortunately, we’ll have to cancel your subscription.

3. Subscription cancelation 

• Cancellation: If you decide that Lawyerlink isn’t right for you, you can cancel your subscription by sending a cancelation request to support@lawyerlink.co. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your annual billing period, so you can continue to use the services until then.
• Changing your mind: If you change your mind about cancelling, you can revert your cancellation any time before your billing cycle ends, and this won’t change your billing date. Simply email us on  support@lawyerlink.co.
• Access post-cancellation: Even after cancellation, you’ll still be able to log in and view a history of your cases. However, you won’t be able to create new cases or make new appointments, and we will close all active cases and cancel any future appointments.
• Extenuating circumstances: Life happens, and we understand that. If you find yourself in unforeseen circumstances or if you or your business is facing undue financial hardship, let us know. We'll consider your situation and may offer options like suspending your subscription, setting up a payment plan, or waiving part or all of the remaining Subscription Fee. This will be at our sole discretion.
• Refunds if we end things: If for some reason we have to terminate these Terms and it’s not because of any fault of yours, such as non-payment or breach, we’ll make sure you get back what you’ve paid for but haven’t used. That’s our promise to you.
• Addressing breaches: If you ever feel the need to terminate these Terms because we’ve breached them, please give us a month to look into the issue. If we find that we're at fault, we will end your subscription and provide a refund from the date the breach occurred.

6. Subscription or service complaints

We are committed to providing premier legal services and treating all our clients fairly. However, we understand that sometimes things might not go as planned. If you're ever unhappy with our services, we encourage you to let us know as soon as possible so we can make things right. You can send us an email at support@lawyerlink.co.

Please include as much detail as possible to help us look into it faster and let us know what outcome you would like. 

After you submit a complaint:

1. We’ll log it in our central system.
2. You’ll receive an acknowledgment from us within three working days.
3. We’ll review your complaint, which might involve checking the relevant files and speaking with the solicitor involved.
4. We'll keep you updated with regular feedback.
5. If needed, we’ll invite you to discuss your concerns via an online meeting.
6. Finally, we’ll send you a written response detailing our findings and the steps we propose to resolve the issue, typically within 21 days from when we acknowledged your complaint.

If you're not satisfied with our initial response, you can escalate your complaint to our Director, Jackie Nagtegaal, via support@lawyerlink.co. Please do this within 10 days of receiving our response. We aim to resolve escalated complaints within 18 days of your request.

Please note: Any complaints sent directly to our Director without first allowing our complaint support team to investigate it, will be referred back to our complaint support team for initial investigation and feedback before our Director will attend to it.

Should you still feel unresolved after our final review, you have the right to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if it concerns a solicitor registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and employed by Lawyerly Limited. Here are the details you'll need:

• Postal Address: PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
• Phone: 0300 555 0333
• Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
• Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within a year of the act or omission you’re concerned about, or within a year of when you realized there was an issue.

7. Important acknowledgements

1. Authority and compliance

• Authority: You confirm that you over 18 years of age and are duly authorised to engage us and instruct on behalf of the Business Entity you represent. 
  
• Compliance with laws: You confirm there are no legal restrictions preventing you from agreeing to these Terms.

2. Your obligations

• Accuracy of information: You agree to provide us with information that is true, correct, and complete.
• Necessary consents: You are responsible for obtaining any necessary consents, licenses, and permissions required for us to provide legal services, at your cost, and must provide us with the necessary documentation.
• No infringement: You agree not to infringe on any third-party rights in your dealings with us.
• Disclosure of legal proceedings: You confirm you are not the subject of any criminal proceedings, and you must immediately notify us in writing if this changes.

3. Regulatory terms and conditions

• Money laundering: To comply with Anti Money Laundering regulations, we may need to verify your identity shortly after you accept these Terms, which we would do using an appointed third party.
• Document retention: We will retain your documents for six years as per the Limitation Act of 1980, or as otherwise required by law.
• Document storage: We store your files and confidential information securely on cloud-based platforms accessible via our Client Hub.
• Usage restrictions: You are not permitted to reuse, resell, copy, transmit, or distribute the documents for commercial purposes or to third parties without our prior written consent.
• Copyright ownership: Copyright of our documents belongs to us. We grant you a license to use these documents for your personal or business use as specified in these Terms.
• Third party rights: Nothing in these Terms grants or is intended to grant any enforceable rights to any third parties not party to this agreement.

4. Liability and risk management

• Liability: Our liability to you for damages resulting from our services is limited to the maximum coverage of our indemnity insurance, except where it would be unlawful to limit our liability.
• Consequential loss: Neither party will be liable for any Consequential Loss, which includes indirect losses such as loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill, opportunity, or data, whether under statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), indemnity, or otherwise.
• Mitigation and control: If one party is partly responsible for a problem or if something beyond the liable party's control causes the issue, the liability will be reduced accordingly.
• Refusal of service: We may refuse to provide services if we lack the necessary expertise or jurisdictional qualifications, if there is a potential legal or commercial conflict, or if we cannot assist you professionally, ethically, or lawfully.

5. Privacy and data protection

We are committed to protecting your personal information in line with our legal obligations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and our Privacy Policy, which you agree to familiarise yourself with and let us know if you have any objection to the way we intend processing your data.

6. User generated content

• Ownership and license: Content you post or upload remains your property. By sharing it, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, display, and distribute it for platform-related purposes.
• Permissions and restrictions: You confirm that your content does not infringe any rights, including intellectual property. Inappropriate, unlawful, or infringing content is prohibited.
• Content removal: We may remove content that violates these terms or applicable laws.

7. Confidentiality

• Safeguarding your information: We commit to protecting your confidential information by taking all reasonable steps necessary.
• Disclosure to third parties: We may share your information with third parties only when necessary for the proper conduct of your matter, when permitted or required by law, when you opt to be referred to a specialist, when processing your payment or if the information has ceased to be confidential.

8. Third party services

• Referrals: Upon your request, we can provide contact details or refer you to third-party specialists. You are free to decline any third party service or referral.
• Disclaimer: We do not guarantee the quality or accuracy of advice or services provided by third parties and disclaim all responsibility for any loss, damage, cost, or expense incurred because of third-party services.
• Commissions and benefits: We may provide or receive commissions or benefits in connection with referrals of potential clients to or from referral partners.

9. Modification

• Modifications to the Terms of Service: Lawyerlink reserves the right to modify these Terms of Service. Any changes will be communicated to clients via email, detailing the updates. Modifications will take effect at the client’s next annual renewal date. Clients will have the option to accept the updated terms by renewing their subscription, or, if they do not agree with the changes, they may choose to end their subscription by opting not to renew.

10. Severance

• Unenforceable provisions: If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, invalid, or unlawful, it will be either interpreted in a manner intended to preserve its legality or severed from these Terms if necessary. The remainder of these Terms will continue to be valid and enforceable.

11. Jurisdiction

• Legal framework: These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
• Jurisdiction: Each party irrevocably agrees to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales for any matters arising out of or relating to these Terms.

Thank you for choosing Lawyerlink.

We're delighted to have you with us. Our team is dedicated to providing you with proactive legal services tailored to your needs. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to reach out to us at any time by sending an email to support@lawyerlink.co.