1. About these terms
unpublish.co.za is a service brand of Louwrens Koen Attorneys, a firm of attorneys, conveyancers, and notaries public in Pretoria, South Africa, regulated by the Legal Practice Council and indemnified through the Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund. References to “the firm” in these terms are references to Louwrens Koen Attorneys.
These terms are standard for all matters undertaken under the unpublish.co.za brand. Where a matter has features outside the standard productised tiers, the engagement letter will record the variation.
2. Scope of engagement
2.1 The engagement letter records the scope of the matter — the platform(s), the publisher(s), the content complained of, the deliverables, and the work that is included in the fixed fee.
2.2 Where the matter requires work outside the recorded scope, we will not undertake that work without first quoting you in writing and receiving your written instruction to proceed.
2.3 Tier escalation between productised tiers (for example, from T1 platform takedown to T4 urgent High Court interdict) is treated as further work outside scope: the additional work is quoted in writing, and you decide whether to proceed.
2.4 The firm acts only on instructions reasonably believed to come from you (or, where you have nominated others to give instructions on your behalf, from such nominees). Where instructions are conflicting or unclear, we may pause work and seek clarification.
3. Fees, disbursements, VAT
3.1 Fixed fee. The engagement letter records the fixed fee for the matter. The fixed fee is exclusive of VAT (currently 15%) unless stated otherwise.
3.2 Inclusions. The fixed fee for productised tiers T1, T2, T3, M1, and M2 is inclusive of routine disbursements: standard postage, electronic communication costs, ordinary printing and copying, and standard correspondence. The engagement letter for each tier specifies what is included.
3.3 Exclusions. Counsel’s fees, sheriff’s fees, court filing fees, expert-witness fees, special couriers, translation costs, and out-of-the-ordinary disbursements are excluded from the fixed fee. They are charged at cost on disclosed pro-forma estimates and approved in writing before they are incurred.
3.4 Payment in advance. The fixed fee, plus VAT, is payable in advance into the firm’s trust account before any chargeable work commences. Trust-account banking details are provided in the engagement letter.
3.5 Interest on overdue accounts. Where the firm’s account remains unpaid for more than 30 days from the date of invoice, the firm is entitled to charge interest at the prescribed rate under the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act 55 of 1975, calculated daily.
3.6 Refund of unused balance. Where the matter concludes with funds unused in trust, the unused balance is refunded to you within 14 days of conclusion, paid into the bank account from which the deposit originated unless you direct otherwise in writing.
3.7 Release from trust. Funds are released from the trust account to the firm’s business account only as work is performed and invoiced, in accordance with the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 and the rules of the Legal Practice Council.
4. Trust account
4.1 The firm operates a trust account regulated by the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, audited annually by an external auditor reporting to the Legal Practice Council, and protected by the Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund.
4.2 Funds held in trust are not the firm’s funds. They remain yours until released from trust against work performed.
4.3 Trust-account banking details are provided only in signed engagement letters and not by email or other channels. If you receive an email purporting to come from the firm and giving different banking details, do not act on it without telephonically verifying with the firm using the published number 087 001 0733.
5. Conflicts of interest
5.1 Before accepting your matter, the firm checks for conflicts of interest with existing and former clients. Where a conflict is identified, we will tell you and we will not accept the instruction unless the conflict can lawfully and properly be managed and you and any other affected party give informed written consent.
5.2 Conflicts arising during the matter will be disclosed to you as soon as the firm becomes aware of them. Depending on the conflict, we may need to withdraw from the matter and you will be entitled to a refund of unused fees in accordance with section 10.
6. Confidentiality and legal professional privilege
6.1 Communications between you and the firm in connection with your matter are confidential and are protected by legal professional privilege. The firm does not disclose privileged communications except:
- with your written consent;
- where disclosure is required by law (for example, by court order);
- where disclosure is necessary to enforce the firm’s right to be paid; or
- where another exception to privilege under South African law applies.
6.2 Confidentiality binds the firm and all its staff, counsel, experts, and operators. Confidentiality survives the termination of the engagement.
6.3 Information already in the public domain, or that becomes public through no breach by the firm, is not confidential information for the purposes of this section.
7. Communications
7.1 Primary channel. Email to and from the address you provide in the engagement letter. Routine transactional matters may be conducted by SMS or WhatsApp where you have consented to that channel.
7.2 Encryption. Email is not end-to-end encrypted by default. The firm uses transport-layer security (TLS) where supported by your email provider. For documents containing sensitive information (identification documents, medical records, intimate images), we may ask you to upload directly to a secure portal rather than emailing.
7.3 Response times. We aim to respond to client communications within one working day. Routine matters with longer turnaround SLAs are handled within those SLAs as recorded in the engagement letter.
7.4 Out-of-hours and urgent matters. The published telephone number 087 001 0733 routes urgent calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Published office hours (08h00 to 17h00 SAST, Monday to Friday) are for routine work.
8. Limitation of liability
8.1 Cover that cannot be limited. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits the firm’s liability for:
- death or personal injury caused by the firm’s negligence;
- the firm’s wilful misconduct or fraud; or
- any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under South African law.
8.2 Aggregate cap. Subject to clause 8.1, the firm’s aggregate liability to you in connection with the matter — whether in contract, in delict, or otherwise — is limited to an amount equal to three times the fixed fee charged for the matter, or R500,000, whichever is the greater. This cap is the limit you accept as a condition of the firm offering the productised fixed-fee service. Where you require an uncapped or higher cap, the firm will quote separately for non-productised work.
8.3 Excluded heads of loss. The firm is not liable for any indirect, consequential, or special loss; for loss of profit, revenue, business, or goodwill; or for any loss that was not reasonably foreseeable at the date of the engagement letter.
8.4 Time bar. No claim may be brought against the firm later than three years after the date you became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the act or omission giving rise to the claim, regardless of any longer limitation period at common law.
8.5 No personal liability. The firm is operated by Louwrens Koen Attorneys as a firm. Individual partners, directors, attorneys, and staff have no personal liability to you for the firm’s work, beyond their statutory liability (for example, under the Legal Practice Act).
9. File retention and destruction
9.1 During the matter, all documents, correspondence, and records are kept on the firm’s secure document-management system, with backup copies held off-site.
9.2 On closure of the matter, the file is archived. The firm retains closed files for at least 5 years from closure, in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Legal Practitioners. After 5 years, files may be destroyed at the firm’s discretion unless you have asked us in writing to retain or return them.
9.3 You may request copies of documents from your file at any time during retention. We may charge a reasonable copying or retrieval fee where the request is substantial.
9.4 Original signed documents (for example, original ID copies, notarial originals) are returned to you on closure. Anything not returned is destroyed at the end of the retention period.
10. Termination
10.1 Termination by you. You may terminate the engagement at any time by giving us written notice. We will then stop work, deliver up your file (subject to any lien for unpaid fees), and refund any unused trust balance after deducting fees due for work already performed.
10.2 Termination by the firm. We may terminate the engagement, on reasonable notice, where:
- you do not pay an invoice within the agreed period;
- you do not give instructions when needed and the matter cannot reasonably proceed without them;
- continuing the matter would put the firm in conflict with the Code of Conduct, the Legal Practice Act, FICA, or any other applicable law;
- the firm and you are unable to maintain a working relationship of trust; or
- the matter falls outside the scope you and we agreed and we are not engaged for the further work.
10.3 Effect of termination. Termination does not affect any right or obligation that has accrued before termination. The firm’s right to fees for work already performed survives termination.
10.4 Return of papers. On termination, the firm delivers up your papers in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Legal Practitioners, subject to any lien for unpaid fees.
11. Compliance — LPC, FICA, POPIA
11.1 Legal Practice Act and Code of Conduct. The firm operates under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 and the Code of Conduct for Legal Practitioners. These rules govern all aspects of the engagement, and where these terms are silent, those rules apply.
11.2 FICA. As an accountable institution under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001, the firm is required to verify the identity of all clients and the source of funds in some matters. You agree to provide the documents and information we request for FICA compliance. We may be unable to commence work until verification is complete.
11.3 POPIA. The firm processes personal information in accordance with the Privacy Notice published at unpublish.co.za/privacy and as updated from time to time. You acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to read the Privacy Notice.
11.4 Anti-corruption. Neither the firm nor anyone working for the firm offers, gives, or accepts bribes in connection with any matter. We will not undertake instructions where doing so would breach the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 or equivalent law.
12. Fidelity Fund cover
12.1 The firm is indemnified through the Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund in respect of theft of trust funds by an attorney of the firm, subject to the Fund’s rules and limits.
12.2 Fidelity Fund cover does not extend to losses other than theft of trust funds (for example, professional negligence is covered separately by the firm’s professional indemnity insurance).
13. Complaints
13.1 If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the firm’s service, please raise it with the responsible attorney first. Most issues are resolved at this stage.
13.2 If the matter is not resolved, you may write to the Director, PGL Koen, at koen@louwrenskoen.co.za. The Director will personally investigate and respond within 14 working days.
13.3 If the matter is still not resolved, you may complain to the Legal Practice Council:
Legal Practice Council 17 Watermeyer Street, Val de Grace, Pretoria Tel: 012 338 5800 Email: complaints@lpc.org.za Website: https://lpc.org.za
13.4 You may also lodge complaints relating to personal information with the Information Regulator (see Privacy Notice).
14. Variation
14.1 These standard terms may be updated from time to time. Updates apply to new matters from the effective date of the update. Open matters continue under the version of these terms in force at the date of the engagement letter, unless you and the firm agree in writing to the updated terms.
14.2 Variation of the engagement letter for a particular matter is effective only in writing signed by you and the firm.
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
15.1 These terms, the engagement letter, and the matter generally are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.
15.2 The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division (Pretoria), has jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these terms or the engagement letter, subject to the parties’ right to refer matters to mediation, arbitration, or any other appropriate forum by agreement in writing.
16. Severability and entire agreement
16.1 Each clause of these terms is severable. If a clause is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest of these terms continue in force.
16.2 These terms, together with the engagement letter and the Privacy Notice, are the entire agreement between you and the firm in relation to the matter. Any prior representations not recorded in those documents are not part of the agreement.
Louwrens Koen Attorneys Office 4, Second Floor, Gate 12, Loftus Versveld North Pavilion Kirkness Street, Arcadia, Pretoria Tel: 087 001 0733 | Email: info@unpublish.co.za