Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions

This is the terms and conditions of Kenneth M. Greener Ltd trading as Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors having their registered office at 1 New Street, Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire ML9 3LT and being a company registered in Scotland under company number  SC 229918.

Applicable Law

These terms and conditions are governed by the Law of Scotland and are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.

Contacting Us

Our offices are open from 9am to 5.15pm Monday to Friday.  Lunch is taken from 1pm to 2pm. Our postal address is above noted and our telephone number is 01698 793366 and our fax number 01698 793358. We may also be contacted by email and a specific email address will be given to clients as a form of communication.

Copyright and Third Parties

All copyright in documents we produce is reserved to us.  Advice given and documents prepared are for your use only and may not be copied or used by any third party without our express written consent

Fees

Our charges will be fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the matter in which we are instructed, taking into account particular factors such as the complexity, skill and responsibility involved, the time spent by us, the timescale within which work is required and the value of any property or value of transaction involved. Unless a fixed fee is agreed, which may increase if the scope of work or our assumption of facts change, we will charge by reference to our hourly rate of £200, which is broken down into ten six minute units.  We do not differentiate between a meeting and a telephone conversation except for brief telephone conversations as follows:- 1 to 3 minutes, 0.5 units, 4 to 6 minutes, 1 unit, 7 to 12 minutes, 2 units, 12 minutes and over charge as time.

In correspondence every 125 words equate to 1.25 units or if lengthy according to time engaged.  Letters of acknowledgement or confirmation sent are charges at 0.5 units.  Draft self proving documents and deeds, initial writs, accounts of charge and discharge and the like are charged on the time taken to prepare the drafts plus a printing charge of 0.5 units per 250 words or part.  Inventories, court pleadings, motions and the like are charged at 5 units per 250 or part unless based on a style when they are charged by time engaged in revising plus a printing charge of 0.5 units per 250 words or part.  Transfers, minutes of meetings, statements, separation agreements, inventories of productions, transfers, routine and procedural motions and the like are charged at 3 units per 250 words or part. Where appropriate we are entitled to charge a percentage addition to our fee where the responsibility for the management of the transaction is greater than normal. This can vary between 0.25% and 1.0% of the transaction value.  In executry matters this fee will be chargeable on the moveable estate, however a similar responsibility fee will also be applied to the sale or transfer of heritable property in an estate.  In executry matters a commission fee will be allowed on each item of moveable estate realised.  The commission is calculated at 1% of the first £30,000 and 0.5% thereafter. Posts and incidents are thereafter added at the rate of 5% of the fee for the work undertaken.

Perusing documents and productions received is charged by time engaged.  Preparation for court appearances and travel, whether to court or elsewhere, is charged as an attendance. 

In the event that you require access to your file once placed in storage there is a charge for this of £30 plus VAT per file to cover retrieval costs.

Admin fees for underpaid postage on letters you send us are charged at 1 unit at paralegal rate plus postal outlay.  Photocopies are 13p per copy and mileage is charge at 55p per mile.

Our hourly rates are:-

Solicitors – £200 plus VAT

Paralegal – £120 plus VAT

Admin Staff – £90 plus VAT

In all executory cases, and with our discretion in all non-legal aided cases, our file will be passed to a Law Accountant or Depute Auditor of Court for feeing, the costs of which will be borne by the client.  Where you require a detailed breakdown of our fees this can be prepared but at your expense. Sometimes we will need confirmation of your ability to fund the transaction and we may request a deposit.  At all times we seek to charge a fair and reasonable fee for the work that we do on your behalf.  If you wish an upper limit set, then please do not hesitate to be in touch with us to discuss this. 

Estimates

When requested we shall give an estimate of fees at the outset of the transaction.  However, because each transaction is unique and has its own set of circumstances it is very difficult accurately to predict the final fee until the conclusion of the transaction.  We will therefore proceed with the transaction in accordance with your instructions. Any estimate that may be given will be the fee we expect based on our experience of the work you have asked us to do.  If the work turns out to be more complicated or takes longer than we anticipated, we may have to increase our estimate.   If we do we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible. 

Payment of Fees

We should point out that payments to account will be requested from you and/or interim fee notes rendered if the transaction is likely to take some time until completion. Prompt payment is requested to prevent large unpaid bills accruing. From time to time we will have to make payments to third parties on your behalf (outlays). We are not in a position to make payment of these outlays to third parties or to incur such a debt on your behalf until you have paid these to us in the first instance. In such cases it is important that you let us have your payment for these sums immediately upon request failing which we will be unable to obtain same which may delay or even prejudice your transaction.

It is our normal policy to only accept cash payments of up to £500 however we will accept cash of up to £1,000 by prior arrangement. Our preferred payment method is by bank transfer. You may pay our fees by credit card however this facility cannot be used to pay other monies we may require from you or expenses.

Commission

In the course of our business, we may from time to time receive commissions from third parties in respect of aspects of our clients’ business.  We have taken account of these commissions in fixing our fee structure and no accounting will be made to clients on an individual basis.  The Solicitors (Scotland) (Conduct of Investment Business) Practice Rules in force from time to time will be applied.

Expenses in Court Actions

In disputed matters and litigation files it is not possible to estimate the cost of your case with any accuracy. We can only give an indication of the average costs of such matters. It is vital to bear in mind that any such indication can only ever be an estimate of cost, based on the extent of work which it is possible to predict in an “average” case of that nature. Actual costs are dependent on many unpredictable factors such as, for example, the amount of advice you require (remembering that this is charged by the time taken); the amount of time we require to be at court on your behalf; new information arising which materially alters the nature or extent of the dispute; or unexpected areas of dispute on which you require additional advice. An estimate of cost will in any event be based only on the information available at the time. It should never be regarded as a quotation unless we specifically advise you to that effect in writing. Please do not hesitate to ask for an interim account, confirmation of our charge-out rates or an estimate of the costs incurred to date at any time.

An element of the fees and outlays incurred by you may be recoverable from a defeated opponent, but awards of judicial expenses granted by the courts are not generous and will never amount to the full cost of your solicitor’s fees and outlays in an average case. As a result, you are liable for our fees and outlays incurred on your behalf whether or not you are successful in an action – unless a separate fee arrangement including a “no win no fee” arrangement is entered into – but a rebate will be given for any expenses recovered from your opponent.  Please bear in mind that you remain liable for the total amount of our fees and outlays whether or not you are able to recover judicial expenses from your opponent. If you instruct us to do so, we will do our best to recover expenses from an opponent where awarded, but it is sometimes impossible to do so, or ceases to be cost effective as it may cost you more in solicitor’s fees and outlays than the award is worth or the opponent may be without funds, or legally aided. We do not accept that payment of our fees and outlays should be delayed until expenses are recovered from an opponent. In addition, the fees and outlays incurred in the recovery of expenses from your opponent is a separate matter and is not included in our fees for, or those recovered in, the Court action. 

Do not lose sight of the fact that, if you are unsuccessful or if you decline to pursue the matter to a conclusion, which you are free to do, you may become liable for your opponent’s costs. As indicated above, your liability is unlikely to be for the total fees and outlays incurred by your opponent but it may nevertheless amount to a substantial sum.If at any time you are in any doubt regarding these matters you should contact the solicitor responsible for your case in writing.

Expenses in claims where no Court Action is raised

Except in claims where Insurance Companies or the Motor Insurers Bureau agree to pay them, expenses cannot be recovered if no action is raised.

File Destruction

Unless you otherwise instruct, once completed, your file will be destroyed in accordance with the Law Society of Scotland’s current guidelines.  The guidelines state that files must be kept by us for different periods of time depending on the type of transaction.  We store your file in a variety of formats including electronic and physical storage in our warehouse or in a warehouse facility provided by third parties.  There is a one off charge for this of £10.00 per file to cover these necessary storage costs.  In the event that you require access to your file once placed in storage there is a charge for this of £25 per file to cover retrieval costs.

Handling Client’s Money

This is covered by the Law Society’s rules to which we strictly adhere. We cannot pay out money until we are in receipt of cleared funds.  Any cheques must therefore be received by us at least seven working days prior to settlement. Please note that our offices can only accept cash up to a maximum of £1,000 and we prefer all payments from clients to be either by cheque or by BACS/CHAPS transfers to our Client Account, details of which we can supply on request. All cheques we receive on your behalf require to be cleared through our bank before we can pay you.  The cheque clearance time is seven working days.

The Law Society’s rules also provide that in certain cases we require to account to you for interest on funds held. If this is the case then we will pay you 2.5% below the Bank of Scotland plc base rate net of tax where the base rate is greater than 2.5%.  When the base rate is 2.5% or less we will not be required to account to you for interest on funds held by this firm on your behalf.

When handling transactions we will sometimes receive money on your behalf. It is our policy to deduct our fees and outlays from any funds passing through our hands whilst at the same time giving you a full accounting.

Client Money

Client money held by us that belongs to you (for example money received on account of costs, mortgage funds, sale proceeds or compensation paid to us on your behalf)is referred to in these Terms and Conditions of Business as “client monies”. Client monies are held by us as an ancillary part of our retainer and our main consideration is to keep those monies safe and readily available for their intended purpose. Client monies are usually placed in a general client account with deposit-taking institutions in accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules 2011. If you wish to know the name of the deposit-taking institution(s) in which your client monies are held please ask us. If any designated account is opened to hold specifically designated client monies in your name we reserve the right to make a charge to cover any bank fees that we incur, together with a reasonable administration fee. Subsequent transfers between the designated account and our general client account(s) will be subject to similar charges.

Losses due to banking failure

We shall not incur any liability caused by the act, omission, fraud, delay, negligence, insolvency, collapse or default of a deposit-taking institution or financial clearing or payment system (save to the extent of any negligence on our part). In the event of any client monies being lost due to the collapse of a deposit-taking institution individual clients or small companies may be able to recover compensation under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme. In such a case you would be deemed to be a depositor in the relevant Bank or Financial Institution (as if the client monies belonging to you had been deposited in your own name). If the client monies belong to a company those monies would be deemed to have been deposited by that company or corporate body. Any guarantees or other safeguards applicable to such deposits would apply to you in relation to those monies. You should note that the current Financial Services Compensation Scheme limits compensation to a maximum sum which is liable to change from time to time. Any existing monies held by you in the same deposit-taking institution (eg in a personal account) would be aggregated with these client monies in ascertaining whether the relevant compensation limit had been reached. Some deposit taking institutions have several brands and the guarantee and compensation limit applies to the individual institution as opposed to the separate brands. You should check either with your bank, the Financial Conduct Authority or a financial advisor for further specific information

Our Duty of Confidentiality and Disclosure

We have an overriding duty of confidentiality to our clients including prospective and former clients. Where we have a duty to disclose information to a client that duty does not require us to disclose or have regard to any information which is subject to a duty of confidentiality owed to another current, prospective or former client. Where we are aware that we hold confidential information relating to one client which may be in some way material to another matter or client, such information will remain confidential regardless of any duty of disclosure that we may owe to such other client. We will only continue to act for both such clients where we are permitted to do so in accordance with our regulatory requirements. If you acquire any information from us which we notify you is the subject of a duty of confidentiality owed to a third party you agree to keep such information strictly confidential and not to disclose it without our prior written consent. If all relevant clients agree, and we consider it to be appropriate, we may put in place information barriers which restrict the passing of confidential information within our firm and protect the relevant clients’ respective interests. Where the establishment of such an information barrier is agreed we will not be required to disclose confidential information of one client to another client even though that information may be material.

Outstanding Monies

With the exception of executory cases where a bond of caution has been obtained, you are entitled to change solicitors at any time but you are responsible for fees, outlays and any other outstanding payments due to us until the time of change.  We are entitled to hold any deeds, files or other papers until payment in full.

How Long Will It Take

The nature of legal work, particularly court work, often makes it difficult to estimate precisely how long something will take to complete.  Please remember that quite often the speed with which work can be completed is affected by the co-operation (or lack of it) we receive from other parties. We can only control the speed of our own work.

Instructions

We will accept instructions in writing, by post, fax, email or verbally.  Where instructions are other than in writing we may either ask you to confirm your instruction in writing to us or we will confirm to you our understanding of your instruction.   In that case our understanding will be deemed correct unless we are immediately corrected by you. If there is any change in your instructions you must tell us immediately. If we are to take instructions from someone other than yourself or, if you are a limited company, from someone other than your managing director, you must confirm this to us in writing.

Legal Aid

Where legal aid or legal advice and assistance is available to cover the work we are doing for you, we shall assess your eligibility for the appropriate cover and we will explain the nature of the cover available to you and assist you in completing all the necessary forms. If you are in receipt of legal aid or legal advice and assistance any money recovered on your behalf will have to be paid to the Scottish Legal Aid Board in the first instance and may be subject to clawback. Where you instruct us to carry out work which is out with the scope of your legal aid certificate such work will be undertaken on a private fee paying basis.

Liability

Unless we agree otherwise in writing we shall assume that where we act for more than one person in a transaction but only one person gives instructions, that that person has the authority of the others to give such instructions.  Where we do act for more than one person, each person for whom we act is jointly and severally responsible for the instructions given to us and for payment of our fees and outlays in connection with that transaction.  If you do not understand what this means please ask us to explain.

Limited Companies

If we are given instructions by a Limited Company, unless otherwise agreed with you in advance, it is a condition of our accepting these instructions that the Directors are jointly and severally liable along with the company for payment of our fees and costs and any interest thereon.

Litigation

While responsibility for your file rests with the supervising partner, it may be dealt with by a paralegal assistant, trainee solicitor, assistant solicitor, or partner.  Paralegals and first year trainee solicitors cannot attend court so one of our solicitors, not necessarily the solicitor normally dealing with you, will appear in court when required.  The same solicitor may not personally attend every calling of the case. Your case will not be prejudiced by this process. Where you intend to be present at court, we will provide advance notice of the name of the solicitor who will be there with you.

Our Responsibilities

To Achieve your aims subject to the following limitations:

We will have no responsibility for advising on any tax implications of the transaction, (other than as stated in the Terms of Business letter, if so stated,) the value of the transaction or where appropriate the condition of the subject of the transaction.  You should consult your other professional advisers, e.g. accountants, financial advisers, surveyors, architects etc. on all issues other than strictly legal issues. 

In some types of legal work there are time limits and critical dates.  Whether we advise you of such dates or you know of them from any other source, we will have no responsibility to remind you of these critical dates or for taking action at or before critical dates on your behalf unless we have clear and precise instructions to do so provided no later than ten working days prior to critical dates to enable us to deal with the matter in advance of the critical date.

Your responsibilities

To give us instructions which allow us to do our work properly; not asking us to work in an improper or unreasonable way; not deliberately misleading us; co-operating with us when asked; providing any documentation or information to us promptly when requested; giving us, no later than ten working days prior to critical dates, clear and precise instructions; advising us of any change in your instructions or in your contact details including any change in your mobile telephone numbers, and also if you are going to be away on holiday or uncontactable during the course of your transaction; ensuring that any letter, fax, e-mail or other communication to us has been received by us; and paying our fees, including interim fees, when requested to do so; 

We may contact you by post, telephone or e-mail and it is therefore vitally important and your responsibility to advise us if there are any changes to these details.

Child cases

The courts expect parents to communicate directly with each other on all matters in relation to a child’s welfare which includes arrangements for contact, changes in contact and any other emergency issues which arise.  We can provide advice on the consequences of any action or failure to act but cannot take any responsibility for varying and adjusting contact arrangements other than in the course of court hearings.  You must therefore ensure that there is always a line of communication open between you and your opponent – via third parties if need be – so that the immediate needs and best interests of your child can be addressed.

Debt

The person who pursues recovery of a debt – the Pursuer – is entitled to ask the court for permission to arrest the assets of their opponent – the Defender – prior to conclusion of the case, which is known as “arrestment on the dependence”.  Where granted, this gives the Pursuer the right to do a number of things, the most critical of which are arresting – freezing –  whatever is in the Defender’s bank accounts and monies owned to the Defender in the hands of third parties, for example monies due to be paid to the Defender by a contractor in exchange for work already done.

It is possible for the Pursuer to ask the court to “inhibit upon the dependence” which, where granted, will result in a notice stating that the Defender’s heritable property – for example the Defender’s home  – cannot be sold  voluntarily .  An inhibition is not effective against forced sales – for example repossession – or where there is already a binding contract in place to sell the property – for example, where missives have been concluded for sale or a separation agreement has been signed – as the sale is no longer voluntary.

Please note that different banks have different rules on how they deal with an arrestment.  Some banks shut down the account until the money is released and others simply freeze the money in the account on the date the arrestment is served but allow the account to be operated as usual thereafter.  If you believe that someone is about to serve an arrestment, you should consider changing your primary account to a different bank. 

Employment

When dealing with dismissal, a strict time limit applies to cases which may proceed to an Employment Tribunal which means that an application must be received in writing within three months i.e. three months less one day from the last date of your employment. 

When dealing with a contractual claim against your employer – for example unpaid holiday pay and unpaid wages during a period of notice – then the time limit for making a compensation claim expires five years from the date the money became due. Such claims can be dealt by an Employment Tribunal provided a claim is lodged within three months i.e. three months less one day from the date the money became due. Failing this, a Court can process matters provided proceedings are raised within five years of the date of the alleged breach of your employment contract.

When dealing with redundancy, a strict time limit applies to cases which may proceed to an Employment Tribunal which means that an application must be received in writing within three months i.e. three months less one day from the last date of your employment.  Should no application be lodged within this time then you would lose any rights to claim compensation etc. from your employers.

Should your claim involve any other form of employment dispute, then a time limit of within three months (that is, three months less one day from the last date of your employment) will apply. Should no application be lodged within these time limits you lose any rights to claim compensation etc. from your employers. It is possible for an Employment Tribunal and the Court to waive these time limits but they will only do so in very exceptional circumstances. Given that the “last date of employment” is not always as clear cut as you might imagine, should you be in any doubt as to when this time limit expires, please contact us immediately. Finally, where you feel you have been constructively dismissed and required to leave your job as a result of your employer’s acts or omissions, it is necessary for you to tell us if you have submitted a grievance, and if you have not submitted one, why not, as this will have a considerable bearing on the prospects of your case.

Family – financial provision

In family financial provision cases your costs will be significantly lower than they would otherwise be if you provide us straight away with letters and statements showing the value of assets and liabilities at the date requested. If you can’t give us the information, we can get it but will charge you for doing so. We will also charge for reminding you if you delay in producing information or fail to respond to our letters within a reasonable time. 

Generally speaking, a balance has to be struck between how long it will take to conclude a dispute and how much it will cost.  For example, in a marital dispute, your costs will be lower where you negotiate a settlement through correspondence, complete a separation agreement to reflect that settlement and delay divorce proceedings until there are no children of either spouse who are under the age of 16 years of age than they would be if you start a divorce action immediately. Where there are grounds to raise divorce proceedings, it is possible to start a divorce action immediately and then negotiate.  Whilst the latter approach will often result in a quicker resolution, it is vastly more expensive than the former and therefore is not normally recommended.  Timescales also depend not only upon the co-operation of those involved but also the level of cost you are willing to bear. 

Reparation

The right to make a claim for compensation following personal injury has a time limit of three years which runs from the date of the accident other than in a very few exceptional circumstances as outlined later.  When dealing with a claim for a child, the right to make a claim for compensation following personal injury has a time limit of three years which runs from the date of the child’s 16th Birthday.  If you do not receive compensation for your injuries then a Court action must be raised and delivered to the person or persons responsible for that accident before this three year period expires, failing which your right to claim compensation will be lost completely.  This time limit is known as the “Triennium” and you should keep it firmly in mind. Whilst most cases resolve before the expiry of the Triennium, it is important that you understand the position from the start.

Some claims for compensation following personal injury have shorter time limits, for example claims arising out of air and sea travel are limited to within 2 years of the date of the accident.

Claims for damages other than personal injury have a time limit of five years from the date of accident/event/incident other than in a very few exceptional circumstances as outlined later. This is known as the “quinquennium” and you should keep it firmly in mind.  Some claims for damages have shorter time limits ;for example claims arising out of the carriage of goods by sea/rail/road is 1 year, and by air is 2 years, but each of these types of claim may require notification of a claim within a matter of days of the loss arising.

Where you are seeking damages for both personal injuries and loss of or damage to property we will generally refer to the triennium date as this comes first as it is generally necessary to deal with your all your claims in  one action.

Where an Insurance Company is involved and you receive compensation before a Court action starts, (“settlement”) the Insurance Company will usually pay most, if not all, of our fees and outlays.  Where compensation is awarded after a successful Court action, the Insurance Company will pay only a small proportion of our fees and outlays.  This is because of Court Rules- see “Expenses in Court Actions”. If the fees and outlays we receive following settlement or Court action are not enough to cover the fees and outlays we are entitled to recover from you, any shortfall will be deducted from the compensation.

MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS 2017

These regulations impose substantially heavier obligations on us for identification of clients than the previous regulations, involving not only verification of client’s identity but also identification of beneficial ownership and the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship, and regular reviews of the information. 

Individuals

The Government’s Money Laundering Regulations require us to be satisfied as to the identity of our clients and as to the source of any funds passing through our hands.  In order to comply with these Regulations, we require you to attend our office with a form of photographic identification such as a passport or driving licence together with a utility bill or bank/mortgage statement, dated within the past three months, showing your name and address.  In the event that this information is not produced to us within five working days of being initially instructed we reserve the right to carry out an electronic search against you at your home address.  The cost of carrying out our electronic identification process is £20 per person per search.  If the search is returned with a result which is not precise in terms of the current money laundering legislation you will still be charged for the cost detailed above.   We reserve the right to withdraw from acting for you if you fail to provide us with the information requested of you and required in connection with our Money Laundering Procedures to which we are bound by UK statute.

Private Companies

In order to verify a private company we need

1.     The company name, company number, address of the registered office and business address, all of which we can obtain from Companies House website. 

2.     The Memorandum and Articles of Association and the most recent published audited accounts.

3.     Confirmation that the person instructing us is authorised to do so by the company. Suitable confirmation would be a letter or meeting minute from a director other than the person dealing with this firm.

4.     We require to identify the beneficial owner(s) that is anyone owning 25% or more of the shares or voting rights. 

5.     In certain circumstances we will also need to identify individually one or more of the directors, and any authorised signatories. 

Partnerships

In order to verify a partnership we need

1.     The partnership name, address and business address. 

2.     The partnership contract, the names and addresses of the partners if different from the contract details, and the most recent audited accounts.

3.     Confirmation that the person instructing us is authorised to do so by the company.

4.     We require to identify the beneficial owner(s). That is anyone owning 25% or more of the partnership. 

5.     In certain circumstances we will also need to identify individually one or more of the partners, and any authorised signatories.

Trusts

In order to verify a trust we need

1. The full name of the trust.

2. The nature and purpose of the trust.

3. The country of establishment.

4. The names of all the trustees.

5. The name and address of any protector or controller.

6. A certified copy of the relevant sections of the Trust Deed to vouch 1-5.

7. The identity of the individuals who will be representing the trust in its relationship with us.

The requirements for identifying the beneficial owners of some trusts are extremely complex. These will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis.

We will write to you for the necessary information.  Please note that until all the necessary information has been obtained both on the initial enquiry and on any review as required by the 2017 regulations, we will not be able to commence acting or, in the case of a review, continue acting until we have the information. Please note that we are required by law to do this.  It is not something we choose to do or that we would wish to have to do if we had a choice but we do not.  Please co-operate with us to make the whole process as painless as possible and to keep the cost to you of dealing with these matters to a minimum.

Privacy Notice – Individual client’s personal data

Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors will be a “controller” of the personal information that you provide to us when you instruct us to act on your behalf unless otherwise stated in this privacy notice. When you become our client we will collect, store and use the personal information that you provide to us in your instructions and during the course of our solicitor/client relationship.  We may ask you for additional personal information during the course of our client/solicitor relationship, which shall be collected, stored and used in accordance with this privacy notice. We also collect, store and use the following personal information relating to you when you become our client from referrers such as estate agents, house builders etc.

We need to collect our clients’ personal information so that we can perform our contract with you.  We will use our clients’ personal information to:

• provide you with legal advice, including by, for example, communicating with you by email, letter and/or telephone, etc;
• represent you as your solicitors in connection with your transaction; and
• respond to and communicate with clients regarding your questions, comments, support needs or complaints, concerns or allegations in relation to our complaints and disciplinary procedures.

If you do not provide us with all of the personal information that we need to collect then this may affect our ability to provide you with legal advice and / or represent you as your solicitors.

We also process our clients’ personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interests to:

• promote our services by sending clients communications in relation to other services that we provide;
• update our clients on matters relevant to the services that we provide such as providing articles and notifications of changes in legislation that may affect their decision making and planning;
• inform our clients of Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors’ activities and achievements; and
• to collect information in relation to performance improvement such as client feedback forms and questionnaires

When we process your personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to us using your personal information for the above purposes.  If you wish to object to any of the above processing, please contact us by email at kenneth@kmglaw.co.uk or in writing.  If we comply with your objection, this may affect our ability to undertake the tasks above for the benefit of you as a client.  You also have the opportunity to unsubscribe from our communications.

We are under a legal obligation to process certain personal information relating to our clients for the purposes of complying with our obligations under, for example:

• the Law Society of Scotland requirements for solicitors;
• the fulfil our legal obligations to confirm your identity in relation to the Anti Money Laundering Regulations 2017;
• FSA;
• GDPR; and
• Revenue Scotland for example to collect LBTT and ADS

We may ask you if we can process your personal information for additional purposes.  Where we do so, we will provide you with an additional privacy notice with information on how we will use your information for these additional purposes.

We may be required to share personal information with statutory or regulatory authorities and organisations to comply with statutory obligations.  Such organisations include for example – the Law Society of Scotland, HMRC, Registers of Scotland, Revenue Scotland, Smartsearch, and National Crime Agency etc.  for the purposes of handling complaints, inheritance tax, to register deeds, Land and Building Transaction Tax submissions, AML electronic verification checks and reporting of illegal activities.

We may also share personal data with our professional advisors for the purposes of taking advice. We may also share limited personal data (Salutation, forename, Surname and email address) for legitimate purposes as outlined above to which you have the right to object to this sharing.  They are subject to written contractual conditions to only process that personal data under our instructions and protect it.

Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors employ third party suppliers to provide services, including IT, payroll, pensions, storage facilities etc.  These suppliers may process personal data on our behalf as “processors” and are subject to written contractual conditions to only process that personal data under our instructions and protect it. In the event that we do share personal data with external third parties, we will only share such personal data strictly required for the specific purposes and take reasonable steps to ensure that recipients shall only process the disclosed personal data in accordance with those purposes. Your personal information is stored on our electronic filing system and our server based in the UK; and is accessed by our staff for the purposes set out above.  We also store paper files in our Stonehouse office and at an outside storage facility. We keep our clients’ personal data for timescales dictated by law and recommended by The Law Society of Scotland.  We will review and possibly delete your personal information following a period of this recommended time after you have ceased to be our client.

You can exercise any of the following rights by writing to Data Protection Officer, Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors, 1 New Street, Stonehouse, ML9 3LT:

• you have a right to request access to the personal information that we hold about you by making a “subject access request”;
• if you believe that any of your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you have a right to request that we correct or complete your personal information;
• you have a right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information for specific purposes; and
• if you wish us to delete your personal information, you may request that we do so.

Any requests received by Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors will be considered under applicable data protection legislation.  If you remain dissatisfied, you have a right to raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk

Personal data that we collect

We collect data to operate effectively to provide the service that you expect.  You provide some of this data directly when we ask you for information such as your home address, contact details, bank details.  You are consenting to the use of your personal information, when you initially engage us to act on your behalf.  We may also obtain data from third parties. 

How we use the Personal data

We use the personal data we collect to provide the products that we offer on your behalf.  We do not knowingly collect data that is not required.  We also use the data to communicate with you. We may on occasion use the data collected from browsing the Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors website to inform you of relevant products or information.

Reasons we share personal data

We share your personal data as necessary to progress and complete any transaction that you have engaged us to carry out.  We also share data when required by law with other organisations for the purpose of fraud protection. We gather and use this information in line with the Lawful Bases as detailed in the general Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Contractual purposes
• Legal obligation
• Legitimate interests

How to make a request about the information that we hold

You can make an access request at any time in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, amended to the GDPR, 25th May 2018.  Your subject access request (SAR) can be made by contacting us at Data Protection Officer, Kenneth M. Greener Solicitors, 1 New Street, Stonehouse ML9 3LT

Where and how we store your personal data

We take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of the personal data that we hold.  Data is stored electronically and in hard copy.  Data is stored in accordance with the relevant timescales for holding such data and is stored on and off site. Electronic communications sent to or by us may be monitored for business purposes and to ensure compliance with legal or regulatory requirements. We have taken reasonable steps to ensure our electronic and communications systems are secure and operational. However we cannot guarantee such security or operation and we shall not incur any liability arising from:

• The use of email communication, including where such electronic communications are intercepted, delayed, corrupted, not received or received by persons other than the intended addressee.
• Viruses or other malware or malicious programs.
• Interruptions to the operation of our system.
• Third parties gaining unauthorized access to our systems.
• The use by you of electronic storage systems out with our own systems, such as removable or cloud based systems.
• Third parties obtaining unauthorized access to information held outside our systems or during the transmission of such information.

If You Are Not Happy With Our Service

If you are not happy with the quality of the service we have given you, or the amount our fees, please discuss your concerns first with the partner responsible for your work.  If you are still not happy, or if you prefer to do so, please raise the matter with our Client Relations Partner, Kenneth Greener at 1 New Street, Stonehouse.  He will make sure that any complaint you make is fully investigated and that you get a detailed response, normally within 10 working days. If you are still not satisfied, you have the right to take the matter up with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission at The Stamp Office, 10-14 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG.