Service Agreement
SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES
THIS AGREEMENT is made on the day of 2009.
BETWEEN: The Director General, NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General, Legal Representation Office, Level 8, 75 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW 2000
AND:
(“The Practitioner”)
1 RECITALS
1.1The Director General has established panels of external legal practitioners to supplement the provision of legal services by in-house legal officers of the Legal Representation Office.
THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
2 DEFINITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT
2.1 .‘Agreement’ means this document including any annexures, appendices and schedules referred to therein.
2.2 .‘Assigned matters’ mean matters allocated to the Practitioner by the Director or Office Manager under the terms of this Agreement
2.3‘Director General’ means the Director General of the NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General or his/her delegate
2.4‘Director’ means the current holder of the position of the Director, NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General, Legal Representation Office or such other person as delegated by the Director General to perform any function of the Director.
2.5 ‘ICAC’ means the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
2.6‘Legal Services’ means the provision of legal representation and/or legal advice relating to matters undertaken.
2.7‘LRO’ means Legal Representation Office.
2.8‘PIC’ means the Police Integrity Commission.
2.9‘Practitioner’ or ‘Panel Member’ means a practitioner holding a current practising certificate who has tendered for and been selected to the LRO panel.
2.10‘Records’ mean all files, paper records, documents, materials, e-mails and other electronic records pertaining to a matter.
2.11‘Tax Invoice’ means an invoice issued in compliance with relevant legislation and the Director General’s requirements.
3 ENGAGEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE
3.1The Director may, during the currency of this Agreement, assign to the Practitioner legal representation of witnesses summoned to appear at the PIC or the ICAC or persons with an interest in Special Commissions of Inquiry.
3.2The parties agree that upon the Practitioner accepting the assignment, the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall apply.
3.3The Director is not bound to assign the Practitioner a matter or any number of matters during the term of this Agreement.
3.4The Director may assign a matter to any panel member or, at the discretion of the Director, to a practitioner not a panel member.
4 DURATION OF AGREEMENT
4.1The term of this Agreement will be for three (3) years from the date of execution of this Agreement (‘initial period’) unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
4.2At the Director General’s discretion and subject to satisfactory performance, the term may be extended for a further two (2) years from the expiry of the initial period, in which event the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall continue to apply.
5 CONFLICT OF INTEREST
5.1The Practitioner warrants that:
(i) the Practitioner has no conflict of interest in performing the Legal Services under the terms of this Agreement; and
(ii)the Practitioner will notify the Director as soon as practicable after becoming aware of any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest in any matter assigned to the Practitioner by the Director.
6 CONFIDENTIALITY
6.1 Subject to this Agreement and any compulsion of Law, the Practitioner warrants that the Practitioner and any person employed by the Practitioner, will keep all information provided by the Director General or his/her representative confidential and will not, without the prior written consent of the Director General, at any time issue any statement or communication or make any representation directly or indirectly in connection with any matter assigned to the Practitioner to any person or entity other than those which are necessary to perform the services under the terms of this Agreement.
7 STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ASSIGNMENT
7.1For each and every separate matter which is assigned to the Practitioner the LRO’s standard terms and conditions of assignment shall apply. These conditions are set out at:
(i)Annexure A – Solicitor/Advocate
(ii)Annexure B – Counsel.
7.2The Practitioner will render a separate tax invoice for each matter undertaken addressed to NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General, Legal Representation Office.
7.3Subject to the terms of this Agreement, payment will be made to the Practitioner within thirty (30) days of the receipt by the LRO of a tax invoice in the approved format and containing the relevant information.
7.4The Practitioner agrees to provide all necessary banking details to enable payment by Electronic Funds Transfer.
8 RECORDS AND AUDITS
8.1 The Practitioner must protect and keep safe and secure at all times, all records provided by the Director to the Practitioner and all records relating to the matters undertaken by the Practitioner.
8.2 The Practitioner will, at the completion of the matter or if required to do so prior to completion of the matter (including for auditing purposes), produce all records to which the Director is entitled.
8.3 The Practitioner is entitled to access any records forwarded under clause 8.2 provided that the Practitioner meets the costs of doing so.
9 REPORTS
9.1 The Practitioner will provide verbal and written reports to the Director upon request.
9.2 The Director reserves the right to request and receive from the Practitioner, additional, amended or ad-hoc reports as may be reasonably required to comply with any business or audit requirements.
10 DIRECTOR GENERAL’S OBLIGATIONS
The Director General will:
10.1 subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, pay the Practitioner for services rendered at the applicable rates and within the said time frames; and
10.2notify the Practitioner in a timely manner of any relevant changes to policies, practices or procedures.
11 PRACTITIONER’S OBLIGATIONS
The Practitioner will:
11.1 maintain a current practising certificate;
11.2 have and maintain appropriate levels of Professional Indemnity, Workers Compensation and Public Liability Insurance Policies;
11.3 comply with all the standards, terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Director General’s guidelines, policies and procedures that may apply from time to time and at all times act honestly and in good faith in dealings with the LRO;
11.4 put effective mechanisms in place for the Director General to communicate any concerns or dissatisfaction in the provision of services or performance standards, ensuring such issues are expeditiously and satisfactorily resolved;
11.5 comply with professional rules made and published by the Law Society of NSW or the Bar Association and with the Code of Conduct and Ethics published by Director General and the NSW Premier’s Department;
11.6 advise the Director in writing within seven (7) days of changes to address and other contact details;
11.7notify the Director immediately and in writing, of any criminal, bankruptcy or professional disciplinary proceedings that have been commenced against the Practitioner;
11.8 if requested by the Director, put reasonable measures in place to use secure electronic facilities for lodgement of documents or similar technological solutions; and
11.9if requested by the Director, co-operate in conducting client surveys relating to work undertaken for the LRO.
12 TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT
12.1The Practitioner may terminate this Agreement at any time by notice in writing to the Director. In such an event, the parties will negotiate a reasonable period and undertake the hand over of matters in a timely manner.
12.2In the event that Director General fails to meet his/her obligations under the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Practitioner may give the Director General at least fourteen (14) days’ notice of his/her intention to terminate this Agreement and of the grounds on which the notice is based.
12.3The Director General reserves the right to remove the Practitioner from the panel at any time where the Practitioner fails to meet his/her obligations under the terms and conditions of this Agreement and there is evidence of a significant or continuing breach, unethical or improper behaviour or where there has been a significant deterioration in the financial position or standing of the practitioner, firm or consortium. In such an event the Director General will give the Practitioner at least fourteen (14) days’ notice of his/her intention to terminate this Agreement and of the grounds on which the notice is based.
12.4The Director General will be required to pay the Practitioner’s charges for work done and for expenses incurred up to the date of termination.
12.5Termination of this Agreement by either party is without prejudice to any accrued rights or remedies available to either party.
13PREVIOUS AGREEMENTS
13.1 This Agreement supersedes any prior agreement or understanding (whether verbal or written) between the parties relating to the provision of the legal services.
THIS AGREEMENT WAS ENTERED INTO ON THE DATE FIRST MENTIONED AND SIGNED AS SET OUT BELOW
Signed by the Practitioner:)
)
in the presence of:)
)Witness
Signed by and on behalf of)
the Director General:)On behalf of the Director General
in the presence of:)
)Witness
Annexure “A”
Terms and Conditions
Solicitor Advocate
This document sets out the terms and conditions of your engagement. Payment will only be made for items listed here or included in subsequent written approvals.
Attendance before the Commission
I have approved in this matter an hourly rate of $200.00 plus GST up to a maximum of $1,200.00plus GST per day. This rate will be payable for all days that your client has leave from the ICAC/PIC to be represented before it, the evidence directly affects your client and you do in fact appear. Unless previously authorised by this Office, the representation must be provided by you personally.
The rate of remuneration includes all preparation and incidental attendances. Travelling, telephone, facsimile and photocopying charges will not be paid without prior approval.
You are not permitted to request or receive any payment from the client in relation to your representation of the client at the PIC. The daily rate applies even when you are representing more than one client.
Special Approvals
I authorise the following attendance:
Up to 3 hours preliminary conference at the rate of $150.00 plus GST per hour per client.
Disbursements
You are authorised to incur total disbursements to an all inclusive maximum of $500.00 on the following per client:
- medical reports reasonably necessary to obtain;
- experts reports reasonably necessary to obtain.
All other disbursements require prior approval from this Office. Receipts will be required for all disbursements.
Submissions
In the event that written submissions are required, prior written approval shall be sought from this Office. The number of hours approved will be determined on a case by case basis. An hourly rate of $150.00 plus GST will apply.
This Office is not responsible for costs awarded against your client in any proceedings or your client’s personal costs of attending before the Commission, or any other incidental expenses.
No responsibility is accepted by this Office for costs not directly related to your client’s appearance before the Inquiry. In particular, this grant does not cover work related to any litigation arising out of the Inquiry.
Terms and Conditions
Counsel
This document sets out the terms and conditions of your engagement. Payment will only be made for items listed here or included in subsequent written approvals.
Attendance before the Commission
I have approved in this matter a daily rate of $1,200.00 plus GST. This rate will be payable for all days that your client has leave from the ICAC/PIC to be represented before it, the evidence directly affects your client and you do in fact appear. Unless previously authorised by this Office, the representation must be provided by you personally.
The rate of remuneration includes all preparation and incidental attendances. Travelling, telephone, facsimile and photocopying charges will not be paid without prior approval.
You are not permitted to request or receive any payment from the client in relation to your representation of the client at the ICAC/PIC. The daily rate applies even when you are representing more than one client.
Special Approvals
I authorise the following attendance:
Up to 3 hours preliminary conference at the rate of $150.00 plus GST per hour per client.
Disbursements
You are authorised to incur total disbursements to an all inclusive maximum of $500.00 on the following per client:
- medical reports reasonably necessary to obtain;
- experts reports reasonably necessary to obtain.
All other disbursements require prior approval from this Office. Receipts will be required for all disbursements.
Submissions
In the event that written submissions are required, prior written approval shall be sought from this Office. The number of hours approved will be determined on a case by case basis. An hourly rate of $150.00 plus GST will apply.
This Office is not responsible for costs awarded against your client in any proceedings or your client’s personal costs of attending before the Commission, or any other incidental expenses.
No responsibility is accepted by this Office for costs not directly related to your client’s appearance before the Inquiry. In particular, this grant does not cover work related to any litigation arising out of the Inquiry.