These are the terms and conditions on which McManus & Co Pty Ltd (t/a McManus Conveyancing and McManus & Co Lawyers) will provide you with conveyancing services.
You will be taken as to accepting our fees, together with our terms and conditions by continuing to instruct us in this matter.
Financial Advice
Please note, our retainer does not extend to providing you with financial advice regarding the commercial viability of the transaction, its tax implications or other financial advice. Should you require such advice, please speak with your accountant or seek the advice of a financial adviser.
How we work
We will primarily contact you by email, if possible. You agree to provide a secure password-protected email account and access it on a secure computer. We may also contact you by phone or letter depending on the circumstances and the information that is required to be conveyed. If you have preference as to how you would like to be contacted, please let us know as soon as possible so that we may so far as possible accommodate your wishes. Please also note that all incoming and outgoing phone calls with our office may be recorded for file-noting purposes. Please let us know at the beginning of each phone call if you do not consent to the call being recorded.
We use a variety of technology, including third-party cloud-based platforms, to store documents, communicate with clients and government departments, complete electronic settlements and undertake other activities.
We exercise due care and diligence in our use of such third-party platforms and technology services to ensure that their security and management standards meet or exceed applicable security standards.
Unfortunately, however, all third-party cloud-based platforms and technology services are at risk of cyber-crime attacks and cannot be guaranteed as completely secure. We provide you with the following links to the privacy policies of our most frequently used tools and platforms that we use for estate planning purposes:
- LEAP legal software to manage our files and practice generally
- VXT to record and automatically transcribe our phone calls so that we can focus on you during our time together, rather than on making file notes
- Jotform to collect information from our clients before buying, selling or transferring a property so that we can make sure we have all the necessary information to get their matter started ASAP
- Microsoft 365 for emails (Outlook); document production (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), presentations (PowerPoint), interoffice communication (Microsoft Teams), diagrams (Visio)
- Zoom and Teams for webmeetings and recordings and transcriptions of those meetings
- Dropbox Sign for electronic signing
- Dropbox for large documents
- Acuity for appointment scheduling
- PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) for electronic completion of property transactions
- Loom for training videos
- LexisAI for legal research
By working with us, you agree to our use of these services to store your files, communicate with you and carry out other necessary tasks related to your conveyance.
Please note, all conveyancing transactions (with very limited exceptions) are now required to be conducted electronically. We are subscribers of PEXA, the online platform with which we conduct electronic conveyancing and Duties Online, the electronic lodgement portal for the State Revenue Office. More information is available at www.pexa.com.au and www.sro.vic.gov.au.
What we need from you
For us to be able to provide accurate, timely advice & assistance, we need you to give us accurate and prompt instructions to the best of your knowledge.
Legal Professional Privilege & Confidentiality
In accordance with legal professional privilege, all communications between you and our law firm are generally protected and confidential. However, it is important to note that this privilege may be lost if privileged information is shared with third parties who are not protected by this confidentiality, such as your financial planner, accountant, other lawyers, medical professionals or support persons (agents).
While your agents may play a key role in assisting you, their involvement does not extend the same legal protections afforded to your communications with our law firm. Therefore, any discussions or documents shared with your agents may be discoverable by third parties, including in legal proceedings.
If you share, upload or provide our advice or any document provided by us as part of our work to a third party (including any AI technology, platform or agent) for any purpose, it will breach your confidentiality and you risk waiving your right to legal professional privilege.
Our advice and documents are tailored to your specific circumstances and should not be uploaded to or processed by AI tools (including for summarising or rewording), as this may compromise confidentiality and alter the meaning of the advice. If this occurs, we reserve the right to cease acting.
We strongly recommend consulting with us before sharing any legal advice or privileged communications from us with any third party (including your agents) to ensure your confidentiality is maintained.
Please note, we are subject to statutory obligations, including reporting obligations, that might include reporting your confidential information and terminating our engagement.
Your documents
At the conclusion of your matter, any original documents provided by you or obtained on your behalf will be returned to you by express post at your cost. Should you wish to collect the originals, please let us know prior to your matter finalising.
We will retain all documents relating to your matter electronically for no more than seven (7) years. You authorise us to destroy any hard copy documents (except for original deeds, wills, leases and agreements) prior to the seven (7) years provided that we retain an electronic copy of same for the seven (7) year period. You authorise us to destroy any documents relating to your matter seven (7) years after the date of our final account.
If you request a copy of your documents within the seven (7) year period, they will be provided to you in electronic, not hard copy form.
Conflicts of interest
We will not act, or continue acting, where there is a potential or actual conflict of interest. In rare circumstances, we may continue to act if and only if all parties are aware of the potential for conflict and agree in writing to us continuing. If, during the course of your matter, we become aware of any potential or actual conflict we will immediately bring this to your attention and we ask that you do the same.
Anti-Money Laundering and Identity Verification
McManus & Co Lawyers is regulated under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act). This Act requires us to carry out identity verification and customer due diligence checks before providing certain regulated services - commonly known as “Know Your Client” or KYC checks.
Most conveyancing services are a "designated service" under the AML/CTF Act. Common examples include a sale, purchase, or transfer of land.
If your matter involves a designated service, we are required by law to complete KYC checks before we can commence or continue that work. This means we may need to:
· verify your identity using acceptable identity documents (such as a passport or driver licence);
· where a company or trust is involved, identify and verify the beneficial owners — that is, the individuals who ultimately own or control the entity;
· collect information about the nature and source of the funds or assets involved; and
· conduct ongoing checks throughout the matter if your circumstances change.
We use a secure digital platform (InfoTrack) to conduct these checks. Where possible, we will send you a digital identity verification link to complete the process quickly and conveniently.
We must complete these checks before we start work on the designated service component of your matter. This means for most conveyancing works, we won’t be able to make a start until KYC is complete. We will ask you to undertake the KYC checks as soon as we are engaged and strongly recommend you provide the requested information as soon as possible to help us keep your settlement on track.
There are some circumstances under the AML/CTF Act where we are not able to tell you the specific reasons we are requesting certain information. If that happens, please know this is a legal constraint - not a reflection on you personally.
By instructing us in a matter that involves a designated service, you consent to us collecting, verifying, and retaining your personal information for the purpose of meeting our AML/CTF obligations, including disclosing that information to AUSTRAC if required by law. We keep records for a minimum of seven years, in accordance with our legal obligations. Your information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable privacy legislation.
Ending our engagement
You may end our engagement by written notice at any time.
We may end our engagement and cease to act for you by written notice:
• If we consider we have a conflict of interest;
• If you fail to provide us with prompt and timely instructions;
• If you fail to comply with obligations of disclosure;
• If you fail to accept advice we (or counsel) give you;
• If you fail to accept an offer of settlement which we think is reasonable;
• If you give instructions that are deliberately false or intentionally misleading;
• If you engage another law practice to advise you without our consent;
• If we consider that the mutual trust and confidence between the lawyer or conveyancer and the client has irretrievably broken down;
• If you fail to pay as required;
• If we consider continuing to act for you would require us to breach our ethical or professional responsibilities; or
• For other just cause.
If we cease to act for you:
• The law may prohibit us from providing reasons for terminating the retainer where we do so to avoid breaching our ethical or professional responsibilities;
• We will not incur any liability as a result;
• We will remove our name from the court record in any court proceedings;
• You will receive a final account which will include all outstanding legal costs;
• You must pay our legal costs up until the date when we cease to act; and
• We retain the right to keep your documents until we are paid.
Jurisdiction
The Uniform Law as applied in Victoria is applicable to legal costs in this matter.