Payment Terms

Payment within 14 days of the date of an invoice is requested unless otherwise agreed.

Notice of withdrawal of trust money

If money has been paid into Lander & Rogers' trust account for you, we hereby notify you that we will withdraw money from the trust and apply it towards payment of our legal costs that are owed, in accordance with the relevant legal profession regulations.

If you dispute our legal costs

If you have any concern about our legal costs or our legal services, please do not hesitate to speak to the billing partner responsible for your matter. If we cannot satisfactorily resolve your concern, you may have various avenues open to you.

In VIC and NSW
Provided that you are not a 'commercial or government client' (as defined in the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Uniform Law), you have the following rights:

(a) If we have not provided you with an itemised invoice you may request one within 30 days after the date on which the legal costs become payable. However, if you request an itemised bill and the total amount specified in the itemised bill exceeds the amount previously specified in the lump sum bill for the same matter, then we may be able to recover the higher costs should the matter proceed to a costs assessment under s198 or a binding determination under s292 of the Uniform Law.

(b) Under Division 1 of Part 5.2 of the Uniform Law you may make a complaint to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner in NSW or the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner in Victoria. Except in exceptional circumstances you must make the application within 60 days after the legal costs have become payable or where you have asked for an itemised bill, within 30 days after the itemised bill was provided.

(c) You may apply for costs assessment under s198 of the Uniform Law, provided that the matter is not already the subject of a cost dispute before the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner in NSW or the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner in Victoria. Except in exceptional circumstances you must make the application within 12 months of when the bill was given or a request for payment was made, or where there was no bill or request made, when the legal costs were paid.

In Qld
Provided that you are not 'sophisticated client' as defined in the Legal Profession Act 2007 Qld (Act), you have the following rights:

(a) If we have not provided you with an itemised invoice, you may request one within 28 days after the date on which the legal costs become payable. However, if you request an itemised bill and the total amount specified in the itemised bill exceeds the amount previously specified in the lump sum bill for the same matter, then we may be able to recover the higher costs should the matter proceed to a costs assessment.

(b) You may make a complaint to the Queensland Legal Services Commissioner. Except in exceptional circumstances you must make the application within 60 days after the legal costs have become payable or where you have asked for an itemised bill, within 30 days after the itemised bill was provided.

(c) You may apply for costs assessment under division 7 of the Act, provided that the matter is not already the subject of a cost dispute before the Queensland Legal Services Commissioner. Except in exceptional circumstances you must make the application within 12 months of when the bill was given or a request for payment was made, or where there was no bill or request made, when the legal costs were paid.

Family Law Matters
If we have not provided you with an itemised invoice, you also have a right to request such an invoice within 28 days of receiving our invoice under division 19.6.1 of the Family Law Rules 2004.

GST

Under the Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, which imposes a GST of 10% on many supplies, we have treated some of our services to you as GST-free (zero rated) where the following facts apply:

a) you are not a resident of Australia for the purpose of Australian income tax;
b) either you do not carry on business in Australia through a fixed presence in Australia of your own or an agent OR you do carry on a business in such a way, but the Australia presence is not related to our supply of services; and
c) you have acquired our services on your own account and not on behalf of, or as agent for, another party.

If this is not correct, please advise us immediately. If any GST is payable by us, we reserve an additional amount by way of GST.

Interest on unpaid fees

We may charge interest on any legal fees and disbursements (including GST) that remain unpaid for 30 days or more after we give you the invoice and that interest will accrue until payment in full is received. That interest will be charged at a rate 2% higher than the Cash Rate Target as fixed by the Reserve Bank of Australia as at the date of the invoice.

Disposal of records

Unless otherwise agreed, after seven years from the date of closure of your matter, all documents relating to it will be destroyed.