Constitution
Bird & Bird LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000.
Professional qualifications
All members of Bird & Bird LLP are solicitors of England and Wales, registered foreign lawyers or exempt European lawyers.
Bird & Bird practices the law of England and Wales and not that of any other part of the United Kingdom, except to the extent that any particular law may apply throughout the United Kingdom.
Regulatory authority
Bird & Bird LLP is authorised and regulated as a recognised body in the United Kingdom by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA") to undertake reserved work and immigration work. The SRA is the successor regulator in England and Wales to The Law Society of England and Wales as from 1 July 2007.
Professional regulations
The SRA’s applicable professional rules and code of conduct may be found at http://www.sra.org.uk/handbook/ in the English language.
Value Added Tax
United Kingdom GB 927 5739 83.
Payment terms for our invoices
It is our practice to invoice at regular intervals, normally monthly, and it is a condition of our accepting your instructions that we will submit interim invoices, and that interim and final invoices will be paid in accordance with our terms of payment. Any variations to this practice, which we may agree with you, will be set out in the terms of our engagement. We reserve the right to terminate our engagement if any interim invoice is not paid by the due date.
Unless otherwise agreed with us, invoices are payable on delivery of our invoice. In the event of non-payment within one month after the date of delivery of the invoice, we reserve the right to charge interest on the outstanding amount of the invoice to the maximum permitted by the Judgment Debts (Rate of Interest) Order 1993 (as modified or replaced from time to time). Interest at such rate will accrue from one month after the date of the delivery of the invoice to the date of payment.
Complaints: general
We have a written complaints procedure for matters that concern England & Wales and will supply you with a copy on request at any time. In particular:
- if you as a client have queries or concerns about the conduct of a matter or about our invoice, you should raise these in the first instance with the partner responsible for the matter or your client relationship partner. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service and wish to contact someone unconnected with the file, please contact our Complaints Officer or email us at complaints@twobirds.com;
- it is the role of the Complaints Officer to investigate complaints about the conduct of a matter or about our invoice, which you have not otherwise been able to resolve, and to notify you of the action taken; and
- you may also have a right to object to the invoice by applying to the court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.
The Complaints Officer for Bird & Bird, London is currently Allan Sanderson. For other offices complaints may be addressed initially to the managing partner at the address specified under Office Locations in their web site.
Complaints: individuals
A statutory scheme is available to clients of the London office who are individuals and small businesses, charities, clubs/associations or organisations, a trustee of a trust etc (please refer to www.legalombudsman.org.uk to check whether you fall within the Legal Ombudsman's jurisdiction) as follows:
- as an individual or small business etc, if you remain unhappy about the outcome and it relates to a matter that concerns England and Wales, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman's contact details are: PO Box 15870, Birmingham B30 9EB; telephone 0300 555 0333; enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; and www.legalombudsman.org.uk;
- ordinarily, the Legal Ombudsman expects clients to use the firm's complaints procedure before making a complaint to the Ombudsman. However the Ombudsman may accept a complaint, in circumstances where a complaint made to the firm's Complaints Officer has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of being made or the Ombudsman considers that there are exceptional reasons to consider the complaint sooner;
- otherwise, you may make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of having received a response from the firm's Complaints Officer, resulting in your complaint not having been resolved to your satisfaction;
- further time limits apply, ordinarily requiring a client to refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the alleged act/omission or one year from when a client should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint without having taken advice from a third party, whichever is the later;
- if you object to the invoice by applying to the court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 it will preclude you from making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
Bird & Bird (Services) Limited
Bird & Bird (Services) Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 3717269. Its registered office is at 15 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1JP. Bird & Bird (Services) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird & Bird LLP, provides staff and related services to Bird & Bird LLP and does not provide services directly to clients.
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