MATRIX LAW SOLICITORS
Terms of Business
Private Client · Immigration · Commercial Law · Litigation
Prepared 20 September 2026
1. About These Terms
These Terms of Business, together with the client care letter or engagement letter issued for your specific matter, set out the basis on which Matrix Law Solicitors ("we", "us", "the firm") will act for you ("you", "the client"). Where anything in your client care letter conflicts with these Terms, the client care letter takes priority for that matter. By confirming your instructions to us, you accept these Terms.
2. Our Commitment to You
We aim to:
- respond to telephone messages within 1 working day, and to written correspondence (letter, email) within 3 working days;
- provide you with regular updates on your matter, at least monthly or at agreed key stages, and sooner if something significant happens;
- explain things clearly, in plain language, and avoid unnecessary legal jargon;
- tell you about relevant changes in the law, or in the practice of any court, tribunal or regulator relevant to your matter, and reassess costs and risk as the matter progresses;
- discuss funding options with you where relevant, including whether you may be eligible for legal aid or other assistance; and
- tell you promptly about anything we become aware of that could affect the outcome of your matter.
3. Who Will Handle Your Matter
Your client care letter will confirm which fee earner has day-to-day conduct of your matter, and which department they sit in (Private Client, Immigration, Commercial Law, or Litigation). Ravi Merhas has overall supervisory responsibility across the firm. If your usual contact is unavailable, another member of the team will be able to assist you. Meetings are by appointment; please contact us in advance to arrange a time.
4. Client Due Diligence and Identification
Like all UK law firms, we are required by the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) to verify your identity and, where relevant, the source of any funds before we can act for you, and at intervals afterwards. We may carry out electronic identity checks, which may leave a soft footprint on your credit file but will not affect your credit rating. We cannot begin substantive work until this check is satisfactorily completed. If the law requires us to report any concern about money laundering or terrorist financing to the National Crime Agency, we must do so, and the law may prevent us from telling you that a report has been made.
5. Scope of Our Retainer and How We Work
Our retainer is limited to the specific matter, transaction, application or stage described in your client care letter. It does not extend to any further application, appeal, claim, transaction or related matter unless we agree this with you separately and in writing, and issue a new or amended client care letter and fee estimate.
You agree to give us full and frank instructions and to disclose all facts and documents relevant to your matter, whether or not you consider them helpful to your case. Many matters — including immigration applications and appeals, litigation, and probate or estate administration — depend heavily on documentary evidence and accurate disclosure, so please provide original documents and full information promptly when asked. We will take reasonable care of any original documents you provide and will return them to you once they are no longer required for the matter, keeping copies for our file where appropriate.
We do not provide advice on taxation, financial services, or any matter outside the scope of your instructions unless expressly agreed in writing. If you are eligible for advice or assistance under any government or charitable scheme, we will tell you where we are aware of this.
6. Professional Fees and Disbursements
Our charges will be set out in your client care letter, and will be either a fixed fee for the defined scope of work, or calculated on a time-spent basis at our current hourly rates. Matrix Law Solicitors is not currently VAT-registered, so VAT is not added to our fees; if this changes, we will notify you and update our charges accordingly.
In addition to our fees, you will usually need to pay disbursements — third-party costs incurred on your behalf. Depending on your matter, these may include: Home Office application fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge (immigration matters); court or tribunal issue and hearing fees, and counsel's fees (litigation); Land Registry, search, and Probate Registry fees (private client and property-related matters); and, across all matters, interpreter or translation costs, courier fees, and expert witness fees. Fees set by the Home Office, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, HM Land Registry or other public bodies change from time to time and are entirely outside our control; we will tell you of any change we become aware of, but we are not responsible for such increases.
Fixed fees cover only the scope of work described in your client care letter. They do not include the cost of any further stage not agreed in that letter — for example, responding to a refused application, an appeal, additional court proceedings, enforcement action, or a materially expanded scope of work — further work of this kind will be quoted separately.
Unless your client care letter says otherwise, we require an initial payment on account before we begin work, with further payments on account as the matter progresses in stages. Once work has been carried out, fees are non-refundable save as required by law or as we otherwise agree.
Payment details for money on account will be confirmed in your client care letter.
7. Client Money
If we hold money on your behalf, it will be held in a client account in accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules, separate from the firm's own money. Where we hold money for you, we will account to you for a fair sum of interest on those funds, calculated by reference to the rates our bank offers on our client account, for the period we hold the money.
8. No Guarantee of Outcome
We will act with reasonable skill and care and will advise you honestly on the merits and risks of your matter. However, the final decision on any matter we handle for you rests with a third party outside our control — for example, the Home Office, a court, a tribunal, HMRC, the Land Registry, or the other party to a negotiation or transaction. Processing times, evidential and procedural requirements, and the guidance or practice of these bodies can change without notice, and outcomes can also depend on facts or conduct outside our control (including of the other side, in litigation). We cannot guarantee the outcome of any application, claim, appeal, transaction or negotiation, and no member of our team will do so.
9. Data Protection and Confidentiality
We will only use your personal data to carry out your instructions, to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, and for other purposes described in our Privacy Notice, a copy of which is available on request or at www.matrixlawsolicitors.co.uk. We will keep your information confidential, save where we are required by law to disclose it (for example, to the Home Office, the courts, our insurers, auditors, or regulators), or where disclosure is necessary to carry out your instructions (for example, to counsel or an expert). You have rights under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 to access, correct, or ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances; details are in our Privacy Notice. Our ICO registration details are also published there.
10. Professional Indemnity Insurance
We maintain professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the SRA's requirements. Details of our insurer and the territorial and monetary limit of our cover are available on request. Our current insurer is Travelers Insurance, and our policy provides cover of not less than £2,000,000.
11. Limitation of Liability
Our liability to you for a breach of these Terms, or for negligence, is limited to £2,000,000 (or the amount of our insurance cover, if higher), unless we agree a different limit with you in writing. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else which cannot lawfully be limited or excluded. Advice we give is for your benefit only, in connection with the specific matter, and must not be relied upon or disclosed to any third party without our prior written consent.
12. Storage, Retention and Return of Papers and Documents
After your matter concludes, we will retain your file (in paper and/or electronic form) for 7 years from the date the matter ends, after which it may be securely destroyed without further notice to you. We will return your original documents once they are no longer needed, keeping copies for our records where appropriate.
13. Conflicts of Interest
We check for conflicts of interest before accepting new instructions and throughout the life of a matter. If a conflict of interest arises, or if we become aware of circumstances that mean we can no longer act for you in accordance with our professional obligations, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible and, where necessary, stop acting.
14. Ending Our Retainer
You may end our instructions at any time by telling us in writing. We may decide to stop acting for you where, for example: you do not pay an invoice or fees on account when due; you do not provide instructions or information we reasonably need; there has been a breakdown in the relationship of trust and confidence between us; a conflict of interest arises; or continuing to act would put us in breach of our professional or legal obligations. If either of us ends the retainer, you remain liable for our fees and any disbursements incurred up to the date it ends.
15. Equality and Diversity
We are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in our dealings with clients, third parties, and our own people. A copy of our equality and diversity policy is available on request.
16. Complaints Procedure
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service or our charges, please raise this in the first instance with the fee earner handling your matter, or with our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP), Ravi Merhas (ravi@matrixlawsolicitors.co.uk, 020 3369 7969). We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to provide a full response within 8 weeks.
If you remain unhappy once we have concluded our own complaints process, or if 8 weeks have passed, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH (0300 555 0333, enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, www.legalombudsman.org.uk), normally within 6 months of our final response. You may also raise concerns about our professional conduct (as opposed to service) with the Solicitors Regulation Authority at www.sra.org.uk.
17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms, and any matter we act on for you, are governed by the law of England and Wales, and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
18. Firm Details
Matrix Law Solicitors is a recognised sole practice, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA number 8014467. We are not currently VAT-registered. Registered office: 1st Floor Regus, 239 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6SN. Telephone: 020 3369 7969. Email: contact@matrixlawsolicitors.co.uk.
Ravi Merhas is our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) (ravi@matrixlawsolicitors.co.uk, 020 3369 7969).
19. Practice-Specific Notes
These Terms apply across all our departments. The points below highlight matters specific to each practice area; your client care letter will confirm which applies to you and will take priority over this section for your matter.
Private Client (Wills, Probate, Trusts, Lasting Powers of Attorney): advice and estate administration depend on the accuracy and completeness of the information you give us about assets, liabilities, and family circumstances. Inheritance Tax and other tax treatment is ultimately a matter for HMRC. Timescales for obtaining a Grant of Representation and administering an estate depend on third parties (banks, HMRC, the Probate Registry, HM Land Registry) outside our control.
Immigration: decisions on visa applications, leave to remain, citizenship, and appeals are made by the Home Office, the courts, or the Tribunal. Home Office processing times, evidential requirements and guidance can change without notice — see also "No Guarantee of Outcome" above.
Commercial Law: our advice is based on the facts, documents and instructions you give us, and on the law in force at the time. We do not guarantee the commercial outcome of any negotiation, contract, or transaction, and we recommend you take separate financial or tax advice where relevant.
Litigation and Dispute Resolution: litigation carries a risk that, if you are unsuccessful (or partly unsuccessful), you may be ordered to pay some or all of the other side's legal costs, in addition to your own. We will discuss this risk with you, along with options such as negotiation, mediation or other Alternative Dispute Resolution, and formal settlement offers (including under CPR Part 36), before and during your matter. Court and tribunal timescales, listing dates, and case management directions are outside our control.
20. Agreement
By instructing us, or by continuing to instruct us after receiving these Terms, you confirm that you accept them. If you have any questions about these Terms before we begin work, please raise them with us first.
Electronically Accepted
