Bird & Bird practices law in England and Wales through Bird & Bird LLP which is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, registered number OC340318.
Each member of Bird & Bird LLP is a solicitor of England and Wales, registered foreign lawyer, or non-solicitor lawyer manager.
Bird & Bird LLP is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA") under number 497264. The rules of the SRA can be accessed here.
Bird & Bird LLP is registered for VAT purposes with VAT registration number GB 927 5739 83.
If we hold client money on your behalf, unless we agree otherwise with you, it will be held in non-interest-bearing client accounts; we do not therefore accrue nor pay interest on these funds to our clients.
In accordance with SRA rules, client money will be returned promptly upon conclusion of our legal services. However it is our policy to donate any residual balances of £5 and under to charity.
As a client, you may be entitled to apply to the court for an assessment of our invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you apply for an assessment of costs within a month of the date of our invoice your right to a detailed assessment is unconditional; subsequently the court may impose conditions or refuse the application.
In contentious matters it is possible for parties, in appropriate cases, to obtain insurance cover not only for their own legal costs, but also for their potential liability to pay the legal costs of the other party. There are various insurance products available on the market and we can discuss the availability and appropriateness of these products on request.
If as a client you ask us to advise you on a contentious matter, you should be aware of the following in relation to costs: (a) you will be responsible for paying our invoice in full regardless of any order for costs made against your opponent, (b) you will probably have to pay your opponent's costs as well as your own costs if your case is lost, (c) even if you win your case, your opponent may not be ordered to pay or be capable of paying the full amount of your costs, (d) if your opponent is legally aided by the state you may not recover your costs, even if you are successful and (e) certain types of expenses incurred by us (such as for photocopying, faxes etc.) may not be recoverable from your opponent in the event of obtaining a costs order against them.
On this page references to the "firm", "our", "us", "we", or like expressions refer separately to Bird & Bird LLP, Bird & Bird (MEA) LLP and Bird & Bird (International) LLP.
We are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA") or by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"). We may however provide certain limited investment advice services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. This is because we are member of the Law Society of England and Wales ("TLS") which is a designated professional body for the purposes of FSMA.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of TLS. Complaints and redress mechanisms are provided through the SRA and the Legal Ombudsman. The timescale for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and his contact details, are set out in our Complaints procedure.
We are not authorised by the FCA. However, we are included on the register maintained by the FCA so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. The register can be accessed via the FSA web site at: www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/register. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the SRA.
Bird & Bird (Services) Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 3717269. Its registered office is at 12 New Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1JP. Bird & Bird (Services) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird & Bird LLP, provides staff and related services to Bird & Bird LLP and does not provide services directly to clients. Accordingly, Bird & Bird (Services) Limited is not, and is not required to be, authorised or regulated in England and Wales, or in any other jurisdiction, in respect of the provisions of legal services.
Bird & Bird IP Services Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8809336. Its registered office is at 12 New Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1JP. Bird & Bird IP Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird & Bird LLP and provides brand management services to Bird & Bird and clients of Bird & Bird. Bird & Bird IP Services Limited is not, and is not required to be, authorised or regulated in England and Wales, or in any other jurisdiction, in respect of the provisions of legal services.
