About these Standard Terms of Business: Where we enter into a legally services arrangement with you that expressly provides that the arrangement is subject to the Arnotts Technology Lawyers Pty Ltd – Standard Terms of Business, as set out on this webpage, the terms and conditions on this webpage govern your engagement of Arnotts Technology Lawyers Pty Ltd and constitute a legally binding contract between you and Arnotts Technology Lawyers Pty Ltd (we, us, our) (“Legal Sevices Contract”) unless you and we negotiate a separate written agreement with you for the engagement. Please note that we are happy to consider any reasonable amendments that you wish to make to these Standard Terms of Business prior to the Legal Services Contract being entered into.
Your rights: It is your right to: (a) negotiate a costs agreement with us; (b) negotiate the method of billing (e.g. task based or time based); (c) request and receive an itemised bill within 30 days after a lump sum bill or partially itemised bill is payable; (d) seek the assistance of the designated local regulatory authority (the NSW Commissioner) in the event of a dispute about legal costs; (e) be notified as soon as is reasonably practicable of any substantial change to any matter affecting costs; (f) accept or reject any offer we make for an interstate costs law to apply to your matter; and (g) notify us that you require an interstate costs law to apply to your matter.
How to accept these Standard Terms of Business: You may accept these Standard Terms of Business by: (a) expressly confirming your acceptance; (b) providing us with any instructions about your legal matter after we supply you with the URL for these Standard Terms of Business; or (c) by making payment to us for the legal services that we supply. By accepting these Standard Terms of Business you are entering into a Legal Services Contract with us on the terms and conditions set out on this webpage
Arnotts Technology Lawyers Pty Ltd - Standard Terms of Business
Last updated: 19 May 2025
Hourly ratesOur professional fees are calculated in 6 minute intervals. Our hourly rates are as follows (ex GST):
- $875.00 for a partner
- $675.00 for a senior associate
- $575.00 for an associate or lawyer
- $325.00 for a paralegal or law clerk
Our hourly rates apply to all time that we spend on your matter, except where we otherwise agree in writing.
We reserve the right to increase our fees by CPI each year. Due to increases in the cost of doing business, we may also review our rates from time to time by any other amount – if that is the case we will notify you of the new rates at least 30 days before they come into effect.
Expenses and disbursementsWe will not charge you for photocopying, printing, secretarial, typing, office stationery and other general office expenses we incur in the course of carrying out your instructions, unless substantial expense is incurred. If that is the case, we will discuss with you any estimated expenses prior to incurring them.
We will charge you for all disbursements related to your matter that we incur, such as (where applicable) search fees; enquiry fees; court filing fees; process servers; clinical records from hospitals; medical reports; experts’ reports; witnesses expenses; travel expenses, transcripts; barrister’s fees and other disbursements incurred in the course of carrying out your instructions. Where applicable, we will inform you of these expenses and disbursements as well as any other payments required to be made, as soon as is reasonably practicable. Disbursements will be payable at the same time as our professional costs are payable.
Billing and payment arrangementsWe will send you our invoices by email. We may at any time decide not to incur fees or expenses in excess of the amount that we hold in trust on your behalf or for which credit is approved. If you do not pay the funds into our trust account that we request, we may suspend or terminate your engagement of our law practice by written notice to you.
Our usual policy is to issue a tax invoice on a monthly basis but we may issue tax invoices on a more frequent basis depending on the nature of the work. If you have transferred funds into our trust account, of it we have received any other funds in relation to your matter into our trust account, you authorise us to pay our professional fees, internal expenses and disbursements within 7 days of our invoices from those funds, unless you object to us doing so. You authorise us to receive directly into our trust account any judgment or settlement amount.
Any invoice we issue will be considered a request for payment.If we issue a tax invoice that is not paid from funds in our trust account, you must pay the tax invoice 7 days from the date of the tax invoice. Interest at the maximum rate prescribed in Rule 75 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (“Uniform General Rules”) (being the Cash Rate Target set by the Reserve Bank of Australia plus 2%) will be charged on any amounts unpaid after the expiry of 30 days after a tax invoice is given to you.
The Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (“the Uniform Law”) provides that we cannot take action for recovery of legal costs until 30 days after a tax invoice (which complies with the Uniform Law) has been given to you.
Fee estimatesWe will provide you with fee estimates if and when required. Some of the variables which may affect and change the costs estimates we provide include:
(a) the number and duration of telephone calls or other communications;
(b) your prompt and efficient response to requests for information or instructions;
(c) whether your instructions are varied;
(d) whether documents have to be revised in light of varied instructions;
(e) the lawyer or other persons with whom we deal and the level of co-operation of the lawyer’s clients and other persons involved;
(f) changes in the law; and
(g) the complexity or uncertainty concerning legal issues affecting your matter.
Please note that estimates are not fixed quotes. The total costs may exceed any estimate. While an estimate is based on information at hand and instructions and our understanding from you as to what services are required, our costs may exceed an estimate if further information becomes available or circumstances change which affect these matters. In this event we will provide you with a revised estimate as soon as practicable. Where there is a significant change in your matter then as far as possible we will advise the impact of the change on the legal costs.
Disputes about costsIf you have a dispute in relation to any aspect of our legal costs you have the following avenues of redress: (a) in the first instance we encourage you to discuss your concerns with us so that any issue can be identified and we can have the opportunity of resolving the matter promptly and without it adversely impacting on our business relationship; (b) you may apply to the Manager, Costs Assessment located at the Supreme Court of NSW for an assessment of our costs. This application must be made within 12 months after the bill was provided or request for payment made or after the costs were paid. If you request an itemised bill and the total amount of the legal costs specified in it exceeds the amount previously specified in the lump sum bill for the same matter, the additional costs may be recovered by us only if: (x) when the lump sum bill is given, we inform you in writing that the total amount of the legal costs specified in any itemised bill may be higher than the amount specified in the lump sum bill, and (y) the costs are determined to be payable after a costs assessment or after a binding determination under section 292 of the Uniform Law.
Instructions and assumptions about legal document drafting and negotiationWe prepare legal documents using the experience that we have developed from providing legal services for many years. However, we recognise that all of our clients are different, as are their products, services and business strategies.
Where you engage us to draft or negotiate any legal document, including any contract, deed or other legal document, we will draft and negotiate the document based on the instructions that you have provided to us for the relevant drafting or negotiation, and otherwise, based on our assumptions that we have about how you would like us to draft and negotiate the document.
Unfair contract termsWhere you engage us to draft any legal document, we will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that the document does not include unfair contract terms, but only if that is expressly agreed in writing to be part of the Legal Services Contract between you and us. The unfair contract terms laws impose significant penalties and consequences on parties for having unfair contract terms in relevant agreements – please contact us if you would like further information about the unfair contract term laws or read about the unfair contract term laws here.
TerminationHow you can terminate the engagement
You may terminate your engagement of our services by written notice at any time. Upon termination for any reason you will be required to pay our costs incurred up to the date of termination (including if the matter is litigious, any cancellation fees or other fees such as hearing allocation fees for which we remain responsible). If the matter is a fixed fee matter for the drafting of any document, upon termination for any reason you will be required to pay our costs (pro rata, based on the percentage of the work that we have carried out), whether or not we have delivered the document or any draft of it to you.
How we can terminate the engageme nt
We may cease to act for you or refuse to perform further work, including:
(a) if any of our tax invoices remain unpaid;
(b) if you do not within 7 days comply with any request to pay an amount in respect of disbursements or future costs;
(c) if you fail to provide us with clear and timely instructions to enable us to advance your matter, for example, compromising our ability to comply with Court directions, orders or practice notes;
(d) if you refuse to accept our advice;
(e) if you indicate to us or we form the view that you have lost confidence in us;
(f) if there are any ethical grounds which we consider require us to cease acting for you, for example a conflict of interest;
(g) for any other reason outside our control which has the effect of compromising our ability to perform the work required within the required timeframe; or
(h) for just cause.
Retention of your documentsOn completion of your work, or following termination (by either party) of our services, we will retain your documents for 7 years. Your agreement to these terms constitutes your authority for us to destroy the file after those 7 years. The authority does not relate to any documents which are deposited in safe custody which will, subject to agreement, be retained on your behalf indefinitely. We are entitled to retain your documents while there is money owing to us for our costs. You will be liable for the cost of storing and retrieving documents in storage and our professional fees in connection with this. Without affecting any lien to which we are otherwise entitled at law over funds, papers and other property of yours:
(a) we shall be entitled to retain by way of lien any funds, property or papers of yours, which are from time to time in our possession or control, until all costs, disbursements, interest and other moneys due to the firm have been paid; and
(b) our lien will continue notwithstanding that we cease to act for you.
PrivacyWe will collect personal information from you in the course of providing our legal services. We may also obtain personal information from third party searches, other investigations and, sometimes, from adverse parties. We are required to collect the full name and address of our clients by Rule 93 of the Uniform General Rules. Accurate name and address information must also be collected in order to comply with the trust account record keeping requirements of Rule 47 of the Uniform General Rules and to comply with our duty to the courts. Your personal information will only be used for the purposes for which it is collected. Depending on the nature of your matter the types of bodies to whom we may disclose your personal information include the courts, the other party or parties to litigation, experts and barristers and third parties involved in the completion or processing of a transaction. We do not disclose your information overseas unless your instructions involve dealing with parties located overseas. If you do not provide us with the full name and address information required by law we cannot act for you.
Litigation costsIf we act for you in a litigious matter, even if you are successful in proceedings and have a costs order in your favour it is unlikely that you will recover all of the costs you must pay us from another party. If you do have a costs order in you favour, it may still be necessary to seek to enforce such costs order e.g. through the assessment system. This can be time consuming and costly. The possible costs associated with such potential enforcement proceedings are not dealt with in this document, but will be advised to you should the relevant circumstances arise. It is also possible that you cannot recover the costs from the other party (for example if the party goes into liquidation or becomes bankrupt); nonetheless you will still have to pay us. If you lose the litigation, then you will likely have to pay the costs of the other party – either an amount you can both agree on or if no agreement can be reached then an amount of costs assessed by a costs assessor as payable. However, the Court generally has a discretion in relation to costs orders.
LiabilityOur liability is limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Confidential informationAt all times we will seek to maintain the confidentiality of your information. However, we may be permitted or required by law to disclose confidential information. We may also, on a confidential basis, provide your information to third parties where we consider it is appropriate for the proper conduct of your matter. We may list you as a client on our website and in our other marketing material.
Overseas law No tax or financial advice GST Governing lawSome of our Satisfied Clients
Startups, SMEs, Public Listed Entities, Multinational Corporations and Government
