We practise law in the United Kingdom through Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP, a multinational practice of registered European and foreign lawyers and English solicitors. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales with registered number OC414172 and registered office at 107 Cheapside, London, United Kingdom, EC2V 6DN.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA"). The SRA's rules can be accessed via the following link: https://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page
The term "partner" refers to a member of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications, or an individual with equivalent status at one of the entities affiliated with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP. A list of the members of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP and of non-members who are designated as partners is available for inspection at the registered office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP.
Orrick is part of the "Orrick Group" which consists of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a Californian limited liability partnership, and other undertakings that are authorised by it to carry the name of "Orrick" and/ or are otherwise connected with it (each such undertaking being an "Orrick Entity"). A list of Orrick Entities can be found under 'Affiliates' at orrick.com/Privacy-Notice.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is registered for Value Added Tax in the UK under registration number GB259443380.
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA") by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulatory Authority. However, we are permitted to carry on a limited range of activities relating to investments where an exemption under FSMA applies, including regulated activities which may reasonably be regarded as an incidental part of the legal services we have been engaged to provide. This includes carrying on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts, as an ancillary insurance intermediary. For this part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, we are regulated by the SRA. We are included on the register of exempt professional firms maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority, which can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.
Where we do carry on insurance distribution activities, ordinarily these are limited to arranging or advising in relation to contracts of insurance.
Professional indemnity insurance
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP has in place professional indemnity insurance provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited, whose registered office is at Third Floor, Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7YE. This insurance coverage is for claims wherever arising and is not therefore subject to territorial restriction.
Complaints
We are committed to providing the highest quality of service. From time to time, however, despite our best efforts to satisfy what we understand to be our clients’ needs and objectives, misunderstandings and problems can occur. In such cases, we suggest you contact the partner responsible for your particular matter. If you prefer, or if that does not resolve the matter, we have a complaints procedure, a copy of which is available on request.
If for any reason we are unable to resolve any problem between us, you are also entitled to use the scheme for complaints and redress operated by the Law Society of England and Wales. As Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is regulated by the SRA, complaints may be made through the Legal Ombudsman. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within certain time limits, generally within six months of the conclusion of the firm's own complaints procedure. Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman and further details on the procedure for making a complaint can be found at http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/contact-us/.
Client money
In accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules, we aim to account to clients for interest at a fair and reasonable rate. However, this rate is unlikely to be as high as the rate clients may be able to obtain if they were to invest the monies themselves.
Client money will be held in a general client account, which is immediately available and the need for instant access is taken into account when settling the rate of interest payable by us. The rate of interest paid will be at the same rate paid to us on our general client account by HSBC Bank PLC. This rate is likely to change from time to time. In the event that the interest rate applied to our general client account drops below zero, any charges we encounter will be passed on to clients in the form of a disbursement.
Interest is paid on clear funds only and will be calculated/credited quarterly, or on completion of a matter.
We will not account to clients for any interest in the following situations:
If sums of money are held in relation to separate matters for a client, we will treat the money relating to the different matters separately, unless those matters are closely related and it is deemed fair and reasonable in the circumstances to aggregate the sums of money held.
Anti-money laundering
We are required to identify and verify the identity of our clients prior to establishing a business relationship for the purposes of relevant money laundering and terrorist financing legislation. At the outset of receiving instructions, it may be necessary for us to ask you a series of questions regarding your identity (which may include, for example, details concerning directors and shareholders) and, where applicable, to identify the individual who beneficially owns or controls the client on whose behalf the transaction is being conducted. Even if you are an existing client and we have already established your identity and address, we may need to update our records by requiring further evidence. In the first instance, we will seek to obtain evidence to verify your identity from public resources and electronic databases to which we subscribe. However, there are occasions where we will need to obtain documentary evidence from you directly. Any personal data received from our clients for the purposes of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing will only be processed for those purposes, or as permitted by law.
We may also be required to take adequate measures to establish the source of funds involved in the transaction. Such enquiries may be made at any point of the transaction to satisfy our legal and regulatory obligations. We are obliged by law to undertake this level of enquiry and follow certain procedures. If satisfactory evidence or information is not provided within a reasonable time of our request, we might not be able to continue to act for you.
We are not allowed to permit our client account to be used in lieu of a banking facility. Payments into, and transfers from our client account must relate to an underlying transaction (and the funds arising therefrom) or to a service forming part of our normal regulated activities. Therefore, our client account details must not be disclosed to third parties without our express consent. Moreover, any transfer of funds to our client account should only be made where we have agreed or required you to do so. The receipt of funds contrary to these terms may require us to undertake investigations into the provenance and purpose of the receipt.
Under relevant legislation designed to prevent money laundering and/or terrorist financing, we also have a duty to report transactions which we regard as suspicious.
Anti-facilitation of tax evasion
We are committed to practising law at the highest level of integrity, responsibility and legal and ethical standards.
As part of this commitment, we take a zero-tolerance approach to tax evasion and the facilitation of tax evasion, whether undertaken by our clients, lawyers, staff or any third party that performs services for and on our behalf.
We have adopted policies and practices to prevent the criminal facilitation of tax evasion and direct our lawyers and staff to adhere to these measures.
Modern Slavery
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in our own business or in any of our supply chains. For further details, see our Modern Slavery Act transparency statement.
Our pricing for our Employment Tribunal work can be found here.
Information required to contact the offices of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP can be found here.