Terms of engagement

Introduction

These terms of engagement are the standard terms on which MK Legal Limited (t/a MK&Co Legal) (“we”, “us”) provide legal and related services to clients. They include information which we are required to provide under the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers issued by the New Zealand Law Society in 2008 (Rules of Conduct).

Our client on any particular matter will be the party identified as such in the engagement letter or instruction email we send on the matter or as otherwise agreed (“you”).

Agreement

Unless agreed otherwise by us in writing, these terms will apply whenever you ask us to act for you on a matter. You do not need to sign any formal documentation to indicate your acceptance and it will be assumed from you continuing to engage us (whether by email instruction or otherwise).

Please note we are not tax advisors and our services will not include advice on tax-related matters.

We are only qualified to advise on New Zealand law. If we assist you in respect of matters governed by foreign law, we do so on the basis that we do not accept any responsibility in relation to your legal position under that foreign law.

Scope of our role

We will represent and advise you on all legal matters that properly fall within the scope of your instructions. You may limit or expand the scope of your instructions at any time.  

We will act in accordance with your instructions and any applicable professional or legal obligations. We will use all due care and skill in doing so.  Our duties are owed to you. Unless otherwise agreed in writing or required by law, those duties will not extend to others, including, for example, associated parties such as shareholders or related companies, directors or employees, or parents or other family members. If any other parties wish to retain us, they should do so by separate agreement.

Our advice is given solely for your benefit and in your interests. If any other parties wish to rely on the advice we give you, they can only do so if both you and we agree in writing. Similarly, our name and opinions may not be used in connection with any offering document, financial statement or other public document or statement without our written consent. Unless required by law, you may not provide our advice to any third party or file our advice with any governmental agency without our agreement.

Our advice is strictly limited to the matters stated in it and does not apply by implication to any other matters.

When your instructions on a matter are completed, our representation will end. We will only advise you further on issues arising from the matter (e.g., implementation and other dates, changes in relevant law or regulation or any post-transaction notifications) if you specifically engage us to do so.

Confidentiality and Privacy

We will not disclose any confidential information obtained from you to any other person, and will not disclose to you any confidential information received from another client or prospective client, unless required by law or by the Rules of Conduct (Chapter 8).

We will observe the provisions of our Privacy Policy (available on our website). You consent to us processing personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Fees and other charges

Unless other arrangements are made, our fees reflect the time we spend on a matter, charged at our standard hourly rates, and adjusted where appropriate to reflect other factors permitted by the Rules of Conduct. Those factors may include the specialised knowledge, skills or responsibility required, the amounts involved, the importance of the matter, urgency and the results achieved.  We can give estimates of the likely fees based on our experience with similar matters. Estimates are given as a guide only and not as a fixed quotation. Upon request, we will also inform you periodically of the level of fees incurred or inform you when fees reach a specified level.  

General office services include photocopying, facsimiles, telephone communications, deliveries and similar. These are charged at a standard rate equal to 2.5% of our fees.

We also charge you disbursements incurred on your behalf. Disbursements include out-of-pocket expenses such as travel and accommodation costs, registration and filing costs, court charges, fees of agents, experts and other professionals and similar. These are charged on at the amount charged to us.

Unless we state otherwise, our hourly rates and any estimates of cost do not include goods and services tax (GST) or disbursements. GST is also charged as and when required by law.

In some circumstances, we may be required to incur additional time or expenses following the completion or termination of a matter. We will charge for this in the normal way.

Invoices

We issue interim invoices monthly and also issue invoices on completion of each matter. Our Invoices are payable (free of set off or deduction) no later than the 14 days following the invoice date, unless the invoice is stated to be payable on settlement of the relevant matter or other arrangements have been specifically agreed. Please raise any queries you have about any invoice within fourteen days of receiving it. You can make payments to us by direct credit to the bank account stated on the relevant invoice.

If an invoice is not paid when due, we may elect:

• to deduct any amount outstanding from any money we are holding on your behalf;

• not to do any further work, and to retain custody of your papers or files, until all accounts are paid in full; and/or

• to charge interest at up to 12% p.a. and collection fees on any amount outstanding one month after the date of the invoice.

Commercial conflict

We may accept instructions from other clients or potential clients operating in the same or competing markets and whose commercial interests conflict with your own, provided those instructions do not involve the use of confidential information we have obtained from you.

Legal conflict

If a legal conflict of interest arises, in relation to any matter on which you have instructed us, between your interests and those of any other client for whom we are also acting, we will inform you as soon as possible.

Electronic communications

Unless otherwise agreed with you, we may communicate with you and others at times by electronic means. These communications can be subject to interference or interception or contain viruses or other defects (“corruption”). We do not accept responsibility and will not be liable for any damage or loss caused in connection with the corruption of an electronic communication.

If you have any doubts about the authenticity of any communication or document purportedly sent by us, please contact us immediately.

External information and public records

In advising you we may rely on, or provide you with, information obtained from third parties (e.g., experts or witnesses or government agencies or registers). This information may not always be accurate and complete. We do not accept responsibility and will not be liable for any damage or loss caused by errors or omissions in information obtained from third parties.

Files and documents

We may store your files, documents and personal information in any format we choose, including data storage facilities or online storage located within or outside New Zealand, which may be operated by independent service contractors. We do not accept responsibility and will not be liable for any damage or loss caused by third parties.

We retain the files we establish on a matter, and any documents you leave with us, for at least six years after completion or termination of the matter. We may then destroy the files and documents. 

If you ask us to or if we are obliged to, we will destroy any matter-related files and other documents to the extent it is reasonably practicable for us to do so and we are not otherwise obliged to retain them.

If at your request or if we are obliged to do so, we destroy any files or other documents in advance of our usual document destruction date, then any liability we may have in relation to the matter, files and/or documents however arising will be deemed to have been waived and will end, and you will indemnify and hold us harmless against any such liability to a third party.

If you uplift your files or other documents at any time, we may make copies of them before they are uplifted.

Anti-money laundering, FATCA, CRS and other laws

We must comply with our obligations under all laws binding on us, including:

• anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism laws; and

• laws relating to tax reporting and withholdings.

In order to do so, we may be required to conduct customer due diligence on you, persons acting on your behalf, and other relevant persons such as your beneficial owners or persons who have effective control of you and (in the case of a trust) the beneficiaries of the trust. We may not be able to act or continue acting for you until this is completed.

We may be required to provide information about you, persons acting on your behalf, and other relevant persons as described above to government agencies. We may not be permitted to tell you or such persons if we do provide such information. 

Please ensure that any of the persons described above in respect of whom we collect information are aware of and consent to this and to the provisions of our Privacy Policy which can be viewed on our website. Please also ensure that all information provided to us is accurate. We are not responsible to you, or anyone else, for anything done or not done by us (including any provision of information by us to any third party or any withholdings made) in order to comply with our legal obligations.

Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability to you (whether in contract, equity, tort or otherwise) arising out of your engagement of us on a matter (or any series of related matters) is limited as follows:

• we shall have no liability for any consequential or indirect loss or loss of profit;

• our liability will be reduced to take into account any contributory negligence on your part;

• in the event that more than one person caused or contributed towards your loss, our liability to you will be limited to the proportion of the loss that the Court would apportion to us under section 17 of the Law Reform Act 1936, based on an assessment of our degree of responsibility and the responsibility of the others who contributed to the loss (whether or not those other persons are able to meet any liability they may have); and

• notwithstanding the foregoing, our liability for loss shall in no circumstances exceed the amount of two times the total fees paid in the case of non-recurring work or two times the annual fees paid in the case of recurring work (the liability cap), in each case excluding our service charge, disbursements and GST.

Termination

We or you may terminate our engagement at any time by giving a reasonable period of notice. You will pay our fees for work done and for other charges incurred up to the time of termination.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about our services, you may contact Matt Keenan at matt@mklegal.co.nz. You may also contact the complaints service run by the New Zealand Law Society (visit www.lawsociety.org.nz or call 0800 261 801).

Insurance

We hold insurance cover which is in excess of the New Zealand Law Society requirements.

Fidelity Fund

The Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund administered by the New Zealand Law Society gives you some protection against theft of your money, up to NZ$100,000, if it is held by us in a trust account or (subject to the qualification below) in an interest bearing deposit account (either on call or for a fixed term). That protection will not apply where you have instructed us to invest your money in an investment that is excluded from cover by the Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund (such as the purchase of shares on a stock exchange, the deposit of funds for investment purposes or the purchase of an annuity).

Law, jurisdiction and assignment

These terms of engagement and any other agreement we have with you are governed by New Zealand law and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts. You may not transfer or assign your rights or obligations under these terms or in relation to any engagement of us on any matter.

Changes to these terms of engagement

These terms of engagement will be deemed to be modified to the extent necessary to comply with applicable legislation and the Rules of Conduct in force from time to time.

These terms of engagement are effective from 1 November 2025.

​Client care and service information

Whatever legal services we provide you, we must:

• Act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements made.

• Protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties.

• Discuss with you your objectives and how they should best be achieved.

• Provide you with information about the work to be done, who will do it and the way the services will be provided.

• Charge you a fee that is fair and reasonable and let you know how and when you will be billed.

• Give you clear information and advice.

• Protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality.

• Treat you fairly, respectfully and without discrimination.

• Keep you informed about the work being done and advise you when it is completed.

• Let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.

The obligations lawyers owe to clients are described in the Rules of Conduct. Those obligations are subject to other overriding duties, including duties to the courts and to the justice system.

If you have any questions, please visit www.lawsociety.org.nz or call 0800 261 801

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy sets out the practices of MK Legal Limited (t/a MK&Co Legal) (“we”, “us”) relating to the collection and use of personal information.

Personal information

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual and includes the individual’s name, address, email address, and telephone numbers. We collect information about you whenever you interact with us, for example when you visit our website (the “Site”) or if you instruct us to represent and advise you (or the client, if you are representing the client).

We may store personal information we collect in any format we choose at our offices or at premises outside our offices, including data storage facilities or online storage located within or outside New Zealand, which may be operated by independent service contractors.

Where your personal information is transferred outside New Zealand, you may be informed of the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the European Commission regarding the intended recipient of the personal information. In the absence of an adequacy decision, we will ensure the intended recipient has provided appropriate safeguards and that requisite rights and remedies in relation to the personal information remain available, or we will obtain your explicit consent for the transfer.

Purposes for which we use your personal information

Personal information we collect and hold may be used by us (as applicable):

• to represent and advise you or to represent and advise the client;

• for dealing with commercial or legal conflicts and/or

• to comply with our legal obligations.

We may also use personal information (as applicable):

• for internal business purposes such as invoicing and receipting, making payments to you or on your behalf and debt recovery (which may involve disclosing information to debt collectors); or

• for specific purposes we tell you about or you authorise.

When you visit our Site, we also collect general user information such as users internet protocol addresses, browser type and internet service provider details and other technical information. We use this information to administer the Site and to gain a better understanding of our users and how they use the Site. However, this information is not personal information as  it does not include any personal identifiable information.

We may not be able to properly advise you or provide you with the information or other services you require if you do not provide us with necessary personal information when requested to do so.

Legal basis for the collection of your personal information

We process your personal information based on your written or oral consent. You may withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Disclosures

We may need to disclose personal information to third parties (including other entities or individuals who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf, such as hosting and data storage providers), including in the course of representing or advising you or the client. We may disclose personal information if:

• it is required or authorised by you or your client;

• it is required or authorised by law or the Law Society's Rules of Professional Conduct; and/or

• it is required by law (including the laws of any foreign jurisdiction).

Contacting Us

Under the Privacy Act 2020, individuals have rights of access to, and to request correction of, their personal information. You may also have rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation to erasure of personal information or restriction of processing of personal information or to object to processing, as well as the right to data portability and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or requests relating to your personal information, please contact us using the contact details on our website at www.mklegal.co.nz. 

Updates to this policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any change we make applies from the date the updated Privacy Policy is posted on our website.

This Privacy Policy is effective from 1 November 2025.