Website Terms & Legal Notices

This document covers website use, our regulatory position, and the general basis on which we communicate with prospective clients. It is not our Terms of Business and does not contain our fee terms, liability position, or other commercial terms. Those matters are set out in our Terms of Business and relevant Client Care Letter, which are provided to clients as part of our engagement documentation. Where this document refers to “you”, it means a visitor to this website or a prospective client, unless the context indicates otherwise.

1. About us

Thompson Roderick is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number: 8015750). Our registered office address is Masonic Hall, 9 Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield, England, B72 1TJ. Our SRA number and the SRA digital badge are displayed prominently on our website. The SRA Standards and Regulations, which set out the rules and standards applicable to solicitors and law firms, are published at www.sra.org.uk.

2. Website content

2.1 The content of this website, including any articles or “Insights” pages, is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. It should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. No solicitor-client relationship or duty to provide legal advice arises from the publication or use of this content. Our liability, if any, to a client is governed by the terms of the relevant engagement.

2.2 The law and regulatory position described on this website may change, and may have changed since publication. We may update website content from time to time, but we do not undertake to keep every page permanently up to date or to notify you of changes.

2.3 All content on this website — including text, graphics, logos and design — is owned by or licensed to Thompson Roderick and protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. You may view and print pages for your own personal, non-commercial use, but may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, or commercially exploit any content without our prior written consent.

2.4 This website may link to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, security, or availability of any third-party site, and a link does not imply our endorsement of it. We may ask you to remove a link to this website from another site where we consider that link inappropriate, misleading or unauthorised.

2.5 You must not use this website in a way that causes, or is likely to cause, it to be interrupted, damaged, or impaired, or in any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful, including introducing any virus or other malicious code.

3. Client take-on procedures

3.1 No solicitor-client relationship or retainer is created solely by your use of this website, or by contacting us by telephone, email, or through an enquiry form. We will confirm in writing when we have agreed to act for you and the terms on which we will do so.

3.2 Our normal process is to accept instructions only after we have completed our client and matter take-on procedures and have confirmed the retainer in writing. These procedures may include conflict checks, identity and verification checks, anti-money laundering checks and any other risk or regulatory checks that we consider necessary.

3.3 If you are interested in instructing us, please contact us so we can assess whether we are able to assist. Please do not send confidential, privileged or sensitive information before we have completed our conflict checks, unless we specifically ask you to. Information sent to us before a retainer is agreed may be retained and processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice and applicable professional obligations. In some circumstances, our legal or regulatory duties may affect what we can do with information provided to us.

3.4 We provide services and advice to clients only on the basis set out in the relevant Client Care Letter and our Terms of Business. We do not accept instructions from, and do not assume duties to, anyone who is not a client of the firm unless we have expressly agreed otherwise in writing. Any liability we may have to a client is subject to the terms of the relevant engagement.

3.5 Time limits may apply to your matter, including limitation periods and court, tribunal or other procedural deadlines. Until we have confirmed in writing that we act for you, you remain responsible for protecting your own position, including obtaining other advice where necessary and taking steps to preserve any rights or deadlines.

4. Anti-money laundering obligations

4.1 We will never knowingly facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing. UK anti-money laundering law, and related regulatory rules, require us to know our clients, understand their business, and understand the reason for their instructions. We carry out due diligence before entering into a business relationship, and ongoing monitoring throughout it.

4.2 We must verify and document the identity of every client (including any beneficial owner of a company or trust) and anyone purporting to act on a client’s behalf. Clients may be asked to provide up-to-date evidence of identity, address, or other information periodically, or if circumstances change. If we cannot obtain satisfactory evidence, we will not be able to act, or continue acting.

4.3 We are also required to identify and, where applicable, verify the source and provenance of funds paid to or controlled by the firm. We may refuse to accept funds, delay a transaction, or take other steps required by law or regulation if we are not satisfied as to the source or provenance of funds. Where necessary, funds may be held or dealt with subject to applicable law, regulation and our client account procedures.

4.4 UK law requires solicitors to make disclosures to the National Crime Agency in certain circumstances where there is knowledge or suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing. Where the law prevents us from doing so, we may be unable to tell you that a disclosure has been made or explain the reason for steps we have taken. We will comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

5. Bribery, corruption and tax evasion

We conduct our business, and our clients’ matters, in compliance with applicable law and to high ethical standards. We will not knowingly participate in or facilitate bribery, corruption, tax evasion, money laundering or other unlawful conduct. Our internal policies apply to everyone working for or on behalf of the firm and require appropriate controls, due diligence and escalation where a legal, regulatory or ethical concern arises.

6. Warning about fraud and cybercrime

6.1 Fraud, and particularly cybercrime, is a growing risk for law firms and their clients. Criminals sometimes impersonate solicitors and law firms — including, potentially, this one — in an attempt to defraud members of the public.

6.2 Be alert to unsolicited or unusual communications, including ones that claim to come from us. Warning signs include poor spelling or grammar, a request sent from a personal email account rather than an official one, urgency or pressure to act quickly, or contact details that don’t match our published details.

6.3 A common fraud involves criminals intercepting genuine email correspondence and altering bank details to redirect a payment. We will never notify you of a change to our bank details by email. If you receive a communication appearing to come from us that asks you to send money to a different account from one previously confirmed by us, do not make the payment until you have independently verified the instruction with us using a trusted telephone number or other trusted contact method.

6.4 We will not be responsible for losses arising from a payment made to an account that does not belong to Thompson Roderick where you have not followed our verification instructions, to the extent permitted by law and the terms of your engagement with us.

6.5 If you have any doubt about whether a communication genuinely comes from us, contact the person you normally deal with or info@thompsonroderick.co.uk before acting on it or replying to it. Do not rely solely on contact details contained in a suspicious message.

6.6 The Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes information and alerts concerning bogus law firms and scams at www.sra.org.uk. You can report fraud with a UK element at www.reportfraud.police.uk.

7. Use of technology and artificial intelligence

7.1 We use technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, to support our work. This may include: (a) transcription of client meetings and calls; (b) summarisation and analysis of documents and papers; and (c) legal research using our case management and legal research platform, LEAP. We may update the tools we use as technology develops.

7.2 AI tools are used as an aid to our fee earners and not as a replacement for professional judgment. We maintain appropriate human oversight of AI-assisted work and do not rely on AI-generated content without appropriate review and verification. We remain responsible for the professional services and advice we provide, regardless of the technology used to assist us.

7.3 Where AI tools are used in connection with a client’s matter, personal data and confidential information — potentially including special category or criminal offence data — may be processed by the relevant tool or its service provider, in addition to our own systems.

7.4 Consent. Before we use AI tools of the kind described in clause 7.1 in connection with your matter, we will ask you to provide specific consent to this processing, as part of our onboarding process. This consent is separate from, and in addition to, the other lawful bases on which we process your personal data generally, and is explained further in our Client Privacy Notice. You may withdraw this consent at any time by telling us in writing; if you do, we will not use AI tools of this kind in relation to your matter going forward, which may affect the speed, and in some cases the cost, of our work — we will discuss any practical implications with you if this arises.

7.5 We take reasonable steps to assess the security, confidentiality and data protection arrangements of AI tools and other third-party providers we use. Where required, we put appropriate contractual safeguards in place and ensure that any international transfer of personal data is subject to an appropriate legal transfer mechanism and other required safeguards.

8. Electronic communications

8.1 Electronic communications carry inherent risks. Emails may be intercepted, misdirected, delayed, corrupted or contain malicious content. We may use email and other electronic means to communicate with clients and others involved in a matter where appropriate. If you require a particular method of communication, please tell us.

8.2 Email we send may not be encrypted unless we tell you otherwise. We take reasonable steps to protect our systems, but you should take appropriate precautions when sending or receiving information electronically, including checking unexpected attachments and verifying payment instructions. Important instructions or advice may, where appropriate, be confirmed through another communication method.

8.3 We may monitor electronic communications, including email, where permitted by law, for security, service, legal, regulatory and internal compliance purposes. Further information is available in our Privacy Notice and relevant internal policies.

9. Confidentiality and conflicts

We keep client information confidential, subject to our professional, legal and regulatory obligations, including any applicable order or requirement of a court, regulator or other lawful authority, and subject to the client’s consent where appropriate. We check for conflicts of interest before accepting instructions and on an ongoing basis. If a conflict or other professional issue arises during a matter, we will take appropriate steps, which may include ceasing to act.

10. Data protection

We process personal data in accordance with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable data protection law. Our Privacy Notice, published on this website and available on request, explains what personal data we collect, why we process it, the lawful bases on which we rely, who we may share it with, how long we retain it and your rights. Personal information provided through this website may be used to respond to your enquiry, assess a potential instruction, provide information or otherwise as described in our Privacy Notice.

11. Complaints and regulatory information

11.1 If you are unhappy with our service, please raise your concerns with the person handling your matter in the first instance, or use our formal complaints procedure. We will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days and aim to provide a substantive written response within 8 weeks, in accordance with our complaints procedure.

11.2 If you remain unsatisfied after following our complaints procedure, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman’s current published time limits generally require a complaint to be made within one year of the act or omission complained of, or within one year of when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, and within six months of our final written response. You should check the Legal Ombudsman’s current requirements before making a referral. Contact details: www.legalombudsman.org.uk, 0300 555 0333, enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.

11.3 If your concern relates to professional conduct or regulatory issues rather than the quality of service we have provided, you may also contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority at www.sra.org.uk. The SRA does not generally investigate complaints about poor service or resolve disputes about legal fees.

11.4 Making a complaint does not of itself suspend payment obligations. If a complaint relates specifically to an invoice, you may have rights to challenge or seek assessment of the invoice under applicable law, including Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974, subject to the relevant requirements and time limits.

11.5 We maintain professional indemnity insurance in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. Details of our insurer are available on request where disclosure is required or appropriate.

12. Changes to these notices

We may update these Legal Notices from time to time. The version published on this website is the version currently in force. We will retain appropriate version and review records as part of our document-control process.

13. Governing law

These Legal Notices are governed by the law of England and Wales. Subject to any mandatory rights or remedies available to you under applicable law, the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Legal Notices.