Legal and regulatory
By accessing and continuing to use this website you agree and acknowledge that you do so upon these terms. References below to "Macfarlanes", "the firm", "we", "us", "our" and "ours" means Macfarlanes LLP, other entities controlled by us through which we carry out our business and any successor(s) in business of any such person.
Who we are
Macfarlanes LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with number OC334406. Its registered office and principal place of business are at 20 Cursitor Street, London EC4A 1LT.
It practises in Brussels, Belgium, through a branch of Macfarlanes LLP with its office at Avenue de Cortenbergh 71, Kortenberglaan, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Our regulators
Macfarlanes LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA ID 486980).
The word "partner" is used to refer to members and certain non-member consultants of Macfarlanes LLP. A list of members of Macfarlanes LLP is open for inspection at its registered office.
All partners based in our London office are solicitors qualified in England and Wales, and as such are also regulated by the SRA. Lawyers who work for us based in the United Kingdom and are qualified as solicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the SRA. Certain lawyers who work for us are not admitted as solicitors and are subject to regulation by a relevant regulatory body in their place of admission.
Partners and associates based in our Brussels office are admitted within Belgium to practise as lawyers under the professional title “advocaat” or “avocat” and are registered with the Brussels Bar, whose rules can be obtained from the Dutch-speaking Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij de Balie te Brussel (baliebrussel.be) or French-speaking Ordre français des advocats du barreau du Bruxelles (barreaubruxelles.be).
VAT
Macfarlanes LLP is registered for Value Added Tax in the United Kingdom (VAT number: GB 927 1644 17) and in Belgium (VAT number: BE 067 1701 046).
Our tax strategy
We observe the highest standards of professionalism in advising our clients and are equally committed to dealing with our own affairs responsibly.
The following tax strategy summarises our approach to the management of our tax affairs and applies to Macfarlanes LLP and all entities controlled by Macfarlanes LLP.
Pension scheme information
Information relating to the Macfarlanes Pension Scheme (defined benefit), including the Statement of Investment Principles, implementation statement and data protection documents, can be found here.
Financial services
The firm is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide.
We are included on the register maintained by the FCA and can therefore carry on insurance distribution activity, which is, broadly, the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business is regulated by the SRA and arrangements for complaints or redress are subject to the jurisdiction of the Legal Ombudsman. The register can be accessed on the FCA website.
Professional indemnity insurance
We maintain compulsory professional indemnity insurance which extends to acts or omissions wherever in the world they occur. Our insurers are Aviva Insurance Limited of Pitheavlis, Perth, Scotland, PH2 0NH and Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Limited of 4th Floor, 8 Fenchurch Place, London, EC3M 4AJ.
Complaints
We are committed to the provision of excellent legal advice and client care. If you have a complaint (including regarding your bill) or wish to discuss any aspect of your matter, please contact the partner responsible for this matter in the first instance. If this fails to resolve your concerns, you are welcome to write to our Director of Risk Yamini Paramesan. We expect to be able to resolve any concern satisfactorily in accordance with our written Complaints Procedure (a copy of which is available on request). Some clients may be entitled to have their complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. However, before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
Further information can be found at: legalombudsman.org.uk. You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by email at [email protected], by post at PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH or by telephone on 0300 555 0333 (if calling from the UK) or +44 121 245 3050 (if calling from overseas).
You may also have a right to object to the bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you apply for an assessment, the Legal Ombudsman may not deal with your complaint.
Accessibility
We are committed to making our website accessible and usable for as many people as possible.
This website has recently been updated and we are currently reviewing its accessibility. As part of this work, we are assessing the site against recognised accessibility standards, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), with the support of a third-party specialist. We will use the findings of this assessment to inform future improvements. We are committed to reporting on the site’s accessibility conformance level and any known limitations once this review is complete.
If you experience any difficulty accessing information on this website, or have feedback on how we can improve accessibility, please contact us at [email protected] and we will do our best to assist.
Intellectual property
All trade marks referred to on this website are the properties of their respective owners. "Macfarlanes" is a registered trade mark.
Unless otherwise stated, all rights in any content which appears on this website (including, without limitation, the publications displayed on the website, the screen displays, the text, graphics, and look and feel of the website) belong to Macfarlanes or our licensors.
Unless specifically prohibited by a notice published on any page, you may download, temporarily store and/or print a copy of one or more pages of the website for the purposes of viewing them, provided that any copy is unamended and complete and has attached to it the relevant proprietary notices and terms and conditions and it is for use only within your organisation. You may also re-copy downloaded extracts to others on an occasional basis provided that you do not do so for profit.
Any other storage, copying or use of any of the contents of this website is prohibited without Macfarlanes' consent.
Disclaimer
The legal commentary and information contained on this website are for general information purposes only. Their provision does not create a business or professional services relationship. They are not exhaustive and do not attempt to address every issue relevant to any particular situation. Furthermore, laws and regulations vary with jurisdiction and time. Published material is correct as at the date of first publication but is not updated. Compliance will always depend upon particular circumstances. This material should therefore not be taken as providing legal advice and should not be acted on or relied upon as doing so. You should obtain advice on any specific legal matter.
Nothing on this site constitutes a binding offer to perform any legal services in any jurisdiction.
This website contains links to servers maintained by other organisations. Macfarlanes excludes all liability for the content of any third party website to which our website links.
No liability is accepted or responsibility assumed for advice given or services supplied to persons who are not clients of the firm, unless the firm expressly agrees otherwise.
Governing Law
Use of this website and the legal notices contained on the website shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the law of England and Wales and all parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.