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Privacy Policy

Maatouks Law Group (hereafter referred to as MLG), as a legal services provider, understands the importance of privacy and is committed to complying with the National Privacy Principles (NPP), which set out how private sector organisations must treat your personal information.

 

We respect the confidential and private nature of information disclosed to us and are committed to protecting all personal information entrusted to us. We believe that respect for your privacy is an integral part of our legal and professional obligations to you.

'Personal Information' Means:

Information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.

'Sensitive Information' Means:

  • Information about an individual's racial or ethnic origin.
  • Political opinions.
  • Membership of a political association.
  • Religious beliefs or affiliations.
  • Philosophical beliefs.
  • Membership of a professional or trade association.
  • Membership of a trade union.
  • Sexual preference or practices; or criminal record.

That is also personal information or health information about an individual.

What Personal Information Does MLG Collect?

When you provide MLG with instructions, we will collect personal information directly from you in person, by telephone or other means of communication.

 

Such information would typically include your name, personal history and details, employment history and details, business interests and details, financial circumstances, family circumstances, other sensitive information, and contact details.

 

MLG may also collect other personal and sensitive information about you and your circumstances to assist us in providing you with legal advice and services.

 

Such information may be sought from third parties such as people you work with, from public records or public agencies and/or from contractors.

 

If sensitive information is collected for any purpose, except in extreme circumstances, MLG will seek your consent to any disclosure.

 

MLG will not collect personal information from you that is not needed.

 

If you are a business service provider to MLG, personal information about you, including your name, company title and contact details, may be collected.

 

If you are making an application for employment, MLG will collect detailed personal information from you and may collect further information from referees and past employers you have authorised MLG to contact.

How MLG Will Use Your Personal Information

MLG will use the personal information collected for the purposes that MLG discloses at the time the information is collected and as set out in this privacy policy.

 

MLG will use your personal information to provide services to you in the normal operation of the MLG business.

How MLG May Disclose Your Personal Information

MLG may disclose your personal information to third parties to provide the services you have instructed MLG to provide. The third parties to MLG may disclose your personal information, including barristers and experts (e.g., accountants, scientists, medical professionals), courts or tribunals, and regulators.

 

MLG may also disclose personal information about you to service providers that assist MLG in operating its general business.

 

Where required or permitted by law, MLG may disclose other personal information about you.

 

Consistent with National Privacy Principle 2, MLG will only use or disclose personal information about an individual for a purpose other than the primary purpose of collection.

  • The secondary purpose is related to the primary purpose of collection.
  • You would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information for a secondary purpose.
  • You have consented to the use or disclosure.
  • The use or disclosure is permitted or required by law.
  • We reasonably believe on health or public safety grounds that the information should be used for another purpose or
  • It is otherwise permitted under the National Privacy Principles.

MLG may use personal information collected from you to provide you with direct marketing material and information to keep you informed of legal developments and invite you to MLG events and functions.

 

Should you wish not to receive any such information, you may advise MLG by email or mail accordingly, and your request will be honoured.

 

The quality of the personal information MLG collects, uses, and discloses.

 

MLG protects your personal information from unauthorised access, modification, use and disclosure.

 

Personal information held by MLG is kept in a secure environment, whether that information is stored on paper or by electronic means.

How You Can Access Personal Information MLG Holds About You

MLG will provide you with access to your personal information held subject to the exemptions provided under the Privacy Act, which includes our obligations of legal professional privilege and confidentiality.

 

MLG requires any request for access to your personal information to be in writing with the appropriate proof of identification and addressed to The Privacy Officer, MLG, 80 Terminus Street, Liverpool NSW 2170 or by emailing peter@maatouks.com.au.

 

MLG will consider your request for access and, within a reasonable time, notify you if and/or when access can be granted.

 

MLG will ordinarily not charge for the cost of providing access to your personal information.

 

If MLG is required to decline your request for access, we will provide you with reasons for our decision.

 

If you seek to amend personal information that MLG hold, you may contact us, and we will correct any personal information that we agree is incorrect, incomplete, or not current.

 

If we do not agree with your requested amendments, we will provide you with reasons for our decision.

Website Browsing

The MLG website is a cookie-free site. Administration of the website records the site visits and logs the following information for the following statistical purposes:

  • Your server address.
  • The date and time of your visit to the site.
  • Pages accessed and documents downloaded.
  • Previous site visited.
  • Keywords used in search engines to find our site.
  • No attempt is, however, made to identify you or your browsing activities.
  • Changes to this Privacy Policy and Further Information on Privacy at MLG.
  • This policy may be amended from time to time without notice.
  • The current version of this policy can be obtained by contacting the MLG Privacy Officer.

If you require any further information, queries or complaints regarding MLG privacy policies and information handling practices, please contact the MLG Privacy Officer in writing.

80 Terminus Street,

Liverpool, NSW, 2170

Or by emailing peter@maatouks.com.au

Terms & Conditions

We aim to give you the best possible legal service we can. This includes keeping you fully informed about your matter.

 

This letter is to confirm your instructions and to provide you with information about our firm and what you can expect from us.

 

We are required by the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) and the Family Law Rules 2004 to set out the terms and conditions of our engagement. These are as follows:

1. Your Instruction

We confirm your instructions that you wish us to act on your behalf with respect to your Divorce application.

2. Our Promise

Immediately upon receipt of your instructions (online application) as well as the payment of our flat fee professional fee in the amount of $950.00, including GST, we will:

A.     Prepare a draft Divorce Application on your behalf.

B.     Forward a copy back to you for your approval and, if accepted, execution.

C.     File the application on your behalf once you have returned it to us with all necessary requirements fulfilled.

D.     Serve a sealed copy of the Application on your spouse once it has been returned from the court (the cost of this will be provided to you prior to being carried out).

E.      File an Affidavit of Service with the court on your behalf (subject to the above).

F.      Advise you on your application's proposed hearing date and provide you with sealed copies of all relevant documents.

G.    PLEASE NOTE.. attendance at the hearing on your behalf is NOT included in this price. However, you have the option of using our services (within the Sydney Metropolitan Area) for a guaranteed flat fee of $1850.00, including GST.

Any Extra Costs?

We have attempted to provide you with a clear, straight forward and down-to-earth approach with no "hidden fees".

 

As stated on this site, the "flat fee" does not cover any additional services. For example, if you are required to file or prepare any Affidavits due to your circumstances or if there are issues surrounding your application's service, such as the wrong address or your spouse's whereabouts, it is unknown. Unfortunately, the "flat fee" does not cover these.

 

If the above situation arises, we shall provide you with a further competitive price for the additional services.

3. The Firm

Your matter will be handled by one of our qualified solicitors under the supervision and instruction of Mr Peter Maatouk, who is the principal of this firm.

4. Our Communication Policy

We aim to keep you as fully informed as possible. We will advise you by telephone or by email:

  • When any documentation has been filed in the Court.
  • When your application has been served.
  • When we receive any documentation from the other party.
  • If the other party indicate that they wish to dispute your application.

5. How You Can Help Us

We are providing a service for you, but we can only act on your instructions. You can assist us by:

  • Giving clear instructions.
  • Tell us if you have any important time limits.
  • Make sure we understand your instructions, and you understand our advice. Never hesitate to clarify anything.
  • Telling us promptly if any important questions arise.
  • Ask for a progress report if you are unsure what is happening.
  • Make sure you understand our costs policy, so we both clearly understand the basis on how the matter is to proceed.

6. Our Fees Policy

We will charge you for our work and expenses at the rates specified on this website as well as under the heading Our Promise, in these terms and conditions:

We note that the costs involved in your application are as follows:

1.      The online divorce application fee is $950.00. This fee is non-refundable once you have registered to use our services.

2.      The court filing fee for the application is $1060.00, payable unless exemption or concession applies. Refer to the website, subject to change.

3.      Optional Solicitor attendance at the hearing of application $1850.00 Refundable only if cancelled one month prior to the hearing date.

4.      Extra Affidavits or Service of Application etc. $POA.

5.      Appearance or attendance at hearing outside Sydney $POA.

7. Goods And Services Tax (GST)

All professional fees and expenses referred to above are inclusive of GST. GST will not be added to our fees and expenses as appropriate and will be payable by you with the balance of our fees and expenses.

 

Our bills of costs are prepared as Tax Invoices in accordance with the provisions of the GST legislation. Should you require additional copies of our invoices for any purpose, there will be an additional fee for their preparation, calculated in accordance with the terms in this retainer agreement.

8. Termination of Our Retainer

We will not be able to continue to do the work in the following circumstances:

A.     If you do not pay our bills or you do not let us have funds on account of expenses.

B.     If you do not provide us with adequate instructions.

C.     If you indicate to us that we have lost your confidence, which may include circumstances where you refuse to accept an offer of settlement which we and Counsel recommend you accept.

Where possible, we will give you at least fourteen (14) days notice of our intention to terminate our agreement and the grounds upon which such termination is based. You will be required to pay our fees and expenses incurred up to the date of such termination.

 

You may terminate this agreement in writing at any time. If you do so, you will still be liable to pay our charges and expenses incurred up to the time of termination.

9. Engagement of Counsel

It may be necessary for us to engage on your behalf the services of another lawyer to provide specialist advice or other services, including advocacy services. We will consult you as to the terms of that lawyer's engagement, but you may be asked to enter into a fee agreement directly with that other lawyer or barrister. We will discuss this with you should the need arise.

10. Party and Party Fees

If, in the proceedings to which this agreement relates, an order is made requiring another party to pay your fees of the proceedings, that order will not affect your liability to pay our fees and expenses under this agreement, but any amount recovered under that order may be applied towards satisfaction of our charges and expenses.

 

It is possible that the Court may make an order that you pay another party's legal fees, which fees would be in addition to those payable to us under this agreement, if any.

11. Your Right to a Bill of Costs and to Have a Bill Reviewed

You are entitled to receive a bill of costs. Please refer to the Notice of Rights link on this site. Our fees are not charged in accordance with the Family Court Scale. We note that our fees are based on a flat service fee.

 

We will charge interest on our costs at the expiration of thirty (30) days after the bill is sent to you at the rate specified in the Family Law Rules.

12. Retention of Documents

On completion of the work, we will retain any papers to which you are entitled (except documents deposited in safe custody) for no more than seven (7) years. We note that we have your authority to destroy the file seven (7) years after the date the final bill is rendered by us in this matter. You should also note that we are entitled to retain possession of your papers and documents while there are monies owing to us for charges and expenses.

13. If You Have Any Problems

We strive to provide our clients with the best available service, but if you feel we should do more, please tell us your concerns.

 

If you do not think it is appropriate to raise an issue with the Solicitor handling the matter for you, please contact Mr Maatouk, the principal of our firm.

14. Acceptance of This Arrangement

To accept this arrangement, please tick the acknowledgment box at the end of your application. We note that we will not be able to process your application unless you have done this.

15. Financial and Taxation Advice

We profess no qualification to give financial (as distinct from legal) advice, and if you have any questions about any financial aspects in relation to this matter, you should seek independent financial advice before signing any documents, as our advice is confined to legal matters only.

 

Similarly, we profess no qualification to give taxation advice. If you have any questions regarding Goods and Services Tax or Capital Gains Tax or any question pertaining to Tax issues in relation to this or any other matter, you should seek independent taxation advice from a properly qualified person before proceeding with this matter.

16. Authority to Receive Money

You authorise us to receive on your behalf any money due to you in the course of this matter and to deduct from such money or any money received from you amounts in full or part payment of our fees and expenses then incurred or to be incurred from time to time. Nothing herein affects your rights in relation to requesting a detailed account or disputing an account as set out in the "Notice of Rights" referred to earlier. If, as a result of any such dispute, any previously paid account is to be reduced, the appropriate refund will be made to you from any payment previously received.

17. Conclusion

As you can see, we take our service to you seriously. We aim to attend to your legal matter promptly, efficiently and personally. If we can further assist you in any way, please let us know.

Yours Faithfully

MAATOUKS LAW GROUP

PETER MAATOUK

For more information, check out our website at www.onlinedivorce.com.au.

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