independent contractor - MDC Legal

Terms and Conditions for online payments

Please read these terms and conditions carefully.All payments of MDC invoices using the online payment facilities are subject to the following conditions.

1. This Agreement and attached Schedules set out the terms on which you engage MDC Legal to provide the Specified Working Schedules 1 and2 (Subscription).

2. This Agreement, the Subscription and our services are subject to the Legal Profession Act 2008(WA) (LPA). The services we provide will be by Australian legal practitioners,or a person employed by MDC Legal who is supervised by an Australian legal practitioner.

Subscription Fee and Term

3. You agree to payan annual Subscription Fee set out in Schedule 1.

4. The Term of the Subscription is for 12 months starting on the day that you make your first subscription payment.

5. You maychoose to pay the Subscription Fee upfront for the Term, in which case you will receive a further 5% discount; or you may choose to make 12equal monthly payments, with each payment due no later than the 21st day of the month, or when that day is a weekend or public holiday, the closest business dayafter that.

6. Your Subscription terminates after 12 months unless you have opted for the automatic renewal option, or you have told us in writing at any time during the Term that you wish to renew the Subscription.

7. You cannot terminate your Subscription during the Term.

8. The Subscription Fee or other condition of the Subscription may bevaried during the Termby agreement in writing. We may agree a variation or offer a further and alternative engagement under separate costs agreement if you instruct us toundertakework in addition to the Specified Work,or if we are otherwise required to undertake work that falls outside of the scope of the Specified Work.

10. The Subscription Fee does not cover litigation or any other work outside of the scope of the Specified Work.

Payment of Fees

11. If you pay your Subscription Fee by credit card you authorise MDC Legal to process payments to that credit cardfor all Subscription Fees, including renewals.

12. It is your responsibility to ensure that your credit card details are current and correct during the Term. Please advise us of any changes to credit card information in writing to: [email protected] or to PO Box1656, West Perth 6872.

13. Non-payment of theSubscription Fee, or failure to respond to requests to provide current credit card details, does not constitute a termination of your Subscription. You remain liable for all Subscription Fees for the full Term.

14. If a monthly payment is unpaid for 15 days or more, we may charge you interest at the rate prescribed by the LPA. If we need to use a debt collecting service or external solicitors to recover our costs we reserve the right to pass those costs on to you.

15. The Subscription Fees may be more than would be chargeable under the costs scale fixed by the Legal Costs Committee (an independent statutory authority established under legislation that regulates the legal profession in Western Australia), namely the Solicitors Costs Determination 2015.

16. The Subscription Fees do not cover any disbursements or out of pocket expenses that we incur in acting on your instructions.

17. We pass on the cost of disbursements such as postage of larger than standard 4A or smaller letters, for all courier fees, printing, photocopying (40 cents a page), company search fees, court or tribunal fees and so on as they are incurred. You will not be charged for any single disbursement of over $50 without your prior approval. We do not charge for telephone or mobile phone costs, unless they are to international destinations.

18. GST(Goods and Services Tax) is payable in relation to each taxable supply under this Agreement. "GST", "taxable supply" and tax invoice" have the meaning given in the A New Tax System (Goods & Services Tax) Act 1999.

Authorised Users

19. Only the persons you nominate in Schedule 2 as Authorised Users can access the Employment Law Advice Line.

20. Any changes to persons you nominate as Authorised Users must be confirmed in writing and are effected upon our confirmation of your request made in writing to: [email protected] or to PO Box1656, West Perth 6872.

Terminating this Agreement

21. We may terminate this Agreement in writing if:

• You have not paid your Subscription Fee within 15 days of the due date;
• You breach a materialterm of this Agreement or indicate an intention to do so;
• The relationship of trust and confidence between us no longer exists; or
• Complying with your instructions may lead to a breach of our professional obligations.

22. In circumstances where we terminate this Agreement for any of the above reasons the balance of any outstanding Subscription Fees become due and payable as a debt.

23. In these circumstances we will notify other parties, courts or tribunals that we no longer act for you. If this Agreement is terminated, it will not affect any lien we may otherwise have over your documents and property.

24. We own the copyright in all correspondence and documents that we produce including this one.Our documentsare not to be used for commercial purposes,reproduced or provided to third parties without our permission.

25. We assert our intellectual property rights over any and all work we produce in your matter to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Documents and Property

26. We will return your original documents and property to you at the conclusion of your matter, subject to our right to assert a lien over your file, original documents and property to secure payment of our outstanding Subscription Fee, unless a court orders otherwise.

27. We are required by law to retain copies of your documents for 7 years before they are destroyed.

Legal Advice

28. You are entitled and encouraged to seek independent legal advice about this Agreement.

Applicable law

29. This Agreement is governed by the laws applicable in, and the jurisdiction of the courts of, Western Australia.

Commencement of Agreement

30. This Agreement takes effect and is binding on the parties once you have returned the Agreement.

31. Please provide to us:

• A signed copy of this Agreement;
• Copies of any documents relevant to yourSubscription Service requirements, matter or inquiry, preferably in electronic form; and
• Credit card details for direct debits in Schedule 1.