Legal Statements
1. General
Griffin Law is the trading name of Griffin Law Limited, a company incorporated in England & Wales under registration no. 07684515 and whose registered office is at 60 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU.
Griffin Law Limited is registered with the Law Society of England & Wales and authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (registration no. 562221).
2. Ethics and professional standards policy
Griffin Law is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards. These apply to all our people, regardless of role, and to all our offices. Griffin Law people are required to act professionally and in compliance with relevant laws, regulations and Bar rules.
These ethical and professional standards include:
- acting with integrity, professionalism and fairness;
- acting in the best interests of each client, including providing a proper standard of service to our clients;
- upholding the rule of law and the proper administration of justice;
- behaving in a way that maintains the trust the public has in the provision of legal services;
- maintaining our independence.
The Firm has internal policies intended to help its people comply with these standards and with relevant laws and regulations.
3. Anti-corruption statement
Griffin Law has a zero tolerance policy towards bribery and corruption. We are committed to:
- conducting business in a manner that complies with applicable laws and is consistent with the highest ethical standards including, among other things, standards intended to prevent bribery and corruption, and
- using our best endeavours to ensure that those who perform services for and on behalf of Griffin Law – including employees, contractors, foreign counsel and agents – are aware of and share our commitment to conducting business ethically.
The Firm is subject to the Bribery Act 2010 in respect of its activities throughout the world and has adopted an Anti-Corruption Policy, which has been endorsed by its senior management. The policy is based on an assessment by the Firm of the external and internal bribery risks that face us, and reflects fundamental standards that Griffin Law expects those who perform services for us and on our behalf to abide by when acting on our behalf.
Griffin Law will not use third parties or intermediaries to engage on its behalf in unethical practices that would be prohibited under any applicable laws if undertaken by Griffin Law. The Firm expects that all third parties and intermediaries that it engages will conduct themselves accordingly when acting on behalf or for the benefit of Griffin Law. The Firm is committed to transparency on its ethical standards and anti-bribery initiatives and has established procedures that are described in our Anti-Corruption Policy to encourage employees to report instances or allegations of policy violations.
For more detailed information about our policies and procedures, please contact our CEO & Chairman, Andrew MacLeod.
4. Anti-tax evasion statement
In accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, Griffin Law takes seriously its duties to prevent the criminal facilitation of criminal tax evasion (which include statutory tax evasion offences and the common law offence of cheating the public revenue). A tax evasion facilitation offence requires deliberate dishonest conduct and is not committed where an associated person has accidentally, ignorantly or even negligently facilitated the commission of tax evasion.
Through high-level and detailed risk assessment procedures endorsed by the Firm’s senior management and in respect of which the Firm’s staff receive regular training, Griffin Law will, in a manner akin to its anti-corruption policies and procedures, work only with associated persons who likewise adhere to the highest levels of compliance with these duties.
The Firm assessed the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of persons associated with the Firm engaging in activity to facilitate criminal tax evasion. The Firm operates reasonable risk-based prevention procedures that are proportionate to the risk of an associated person committing criminal tax evasion facilitation offences and on the level of control and supervision that the Firm is able to exercise over associated persons and the proximity of such persons to the Firm.
The Firm’s senior management is committed to preventing the facilitation of criminal tax evasion and fosters a culture in which the facilitation of criminal tax evasion is never acceptable. The Firm applies stringent due diligence procedures, taking an appropriate and risk-based approach in respect of associated persons, in order to mitigate identified risks. The Firm’s prevention policies and procedures are communicated, embedded and understood throughout the Firm through internal and external communication, including training. The Firm monitors and reviews its prevention procedures and will make improvements where necessary.
For more detailed information about our policies and procedures, please contact our CEO & Chairman, Andrew MacLeod.
5. Data privacy
Griffin Law takes data privacy seriously. For more information see our privacy statement.
6. Anti-money laundering policies and procedures
Our anti-money laundering (AML) policies are generally based on the highest standards that are required, and apply in relation to all of our business wherever our clients are based in the world. The Firm conducts client due diligence enquiries on each new client and persons connected with them and conducts ongoing monitoring of existing clients. These enquiries are based on the FATF Recommendations, and the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive, although if additional information is required, that information will also be obtained. Where necessary for these purposes, we seek relevant information from third party data suppliers. Where individuals have supplied personal data for this purpose we will only use it for that purpose and will keep it only as long as the relevant AML and data protection legislation requires.
The Firm also has internal procedures to ensure that any suspicions of money laundering are reported to the appropriate authorities where there is an obligation to do so. Lawyers and other relevant staff are provided with training on these issues.
7. Interest policy
Funds received on behalf of the clients will be paid into our general client account currently with Handelsbanken. The general client account will hold pooled amounts for different matters for its clients. These are held in an instant access account.
Clients are unlikely to receive as much interest as might have been obtained had they held and invested the money themselves.
If we hold money in a general client account on your behalf, or if money should have been held on your behalf but was not, then we will account to you for a sum in lieu of interest (gross) calculated as below.
We will not account to you for any interest if the amount calculated is £50 or less. Below that sum we consider that the administrative costs of dealing with the funds would exceed the interest due.
We will calculate and pay interest once your matter has been concluded unless interim payments are appropriate (for example in long running matters).
Interest will be calculated on a daily basis, using the average rates of interest offered to business customers on ‘Instant Access’ accounts.
Interest is paid without any deduction of tax and where relevant must be disclosed to H M Revenue & Customs on Self Assessment (individuals) or Corporation Tax (companies) returns.
If the bank in which the firm holds funds should fail, the firm reserves the right to disclose to the FSCS the names and other details for clients whose money is held on the general client account in order for the client to claim compensation, the limit of which is currently £85,000.
This policy is reviewed from time to time by the COFA and directors of the firm.
8. Complaints procedure
Griffin Law is committed to compliance with the highest standards in its service to clients and in all its business dealings. Any client or supplier who is unhappy about the advice, service or assistance that it receives from the Firm or our people, including any concerns about a bill, may raise its concerns through our complaints process. All complaints should be sent in writing to the Firm’s Principal, Andrew MacLeod. We will endeavour to respond to your message within 48 hours or as soon as possible.
Any client who is not satisfied with the Firm’s handling of a complaint may be entitled to ask the Legal Ombudsman of England and Wales to consider the complaint. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of the Firm’s complaints procedure. Details on how to contact the Legal Ombudsman and further information on the procedures involved can be found at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. A client may also be entitled to apply for an assessment of a bill sent by the Firm under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if a client has applied to the court for assessment of that bill. In addition, complaints and redress mechanisms are provided by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). See www.sra.org.uk for more details.
9. Professional indemnity insurance
Griffin Law holds professional indemnity insurance as required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Firm’s financial liability limit for any matter is £3,000,000. In accordance with the requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, the Firm’s professional indemnity insurers are Sompo International whose address is 2 Minster Court, 1st Floor, Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7BB and the territorial coverage is worldwide.
10. Copyright and links
The materials contained on this website are provided for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal or other professional advice. Griffin Law does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on information published on this site.
The materials published on this website are unless otherwise stated the copyright works of Griffin Law. You may make copies of materials published which are of interest to you for your own personal use and you may provide occasional copies of individual publications (in paper or electronic form) to others for information purposes only provided that you do so free of charge. When you do make copies for yourself or others, the content of the published material and the copyright notices must remain intact, your communication of the content must not be misleading or inaccurate and a copy of this notice must accompany any copies of the materials which you provide to others. You may not republish any content or material available on our website on any other public website or alerter service without our prior written consent. You may not create a link to any part of our website without our prior written consent. No other use of the materials published on this website is permitted without the express prior written consent of the Firm.
11. Disclaimer
The information materials and opinions contained on this website are for general information purposes only, are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. Griffin Law does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on information or materials published on this website. If you wish to find out more about the information in the materials published, please contact the Firm’s CEO & Chairman, Andrew MacLeod.