Legal Notices

1. Art Law Studio Ltd

1.1 Art Law Studio Ltd ("Art Law Studio", "we", "our", "firm", "us") is a limited company registered in England and Wales with number 12606659.

1.2 Our registered office address is 2 Shaftesbury Court, 1 Alderney Mews, London SE1 4JR and our principal place of business is Studio 25, Studio Voltaire, 1A Nelsons Row SW4 7JR.

1.3 Our sole director, Adam Jomeen, who we sometimes refer to as a ‘partner’ or the firm's ‘founding partner’, is a solicitor authorised to practise in England and Wales since 2007. His legal qualifications can be inspected at our principal place of business, viewed on this website or supplied on request.

2. Regulation of legal services

2.1 The Law Society of England and Wales represents solicitors in England and Wales. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of The Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman is an independent body which adjudicates upon complaints which a law firm’s own complaints handling procedure cannot resolve.

2.2 Art Law Studio Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA number 807827. The SRA Standards and Regulations contain the rules of professional conduct which apply to all solicitors and this firm and can be accessed on the website of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk).

3. Regulation of financial services

3.1 Sometimes the provision of our legal services may involve regulated activities relating to ‘investments’ within that term’s meaning in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Art Law Studio Ltd is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are able to offer clients a limited range of financial services if they are an incidental part of a legal service we have been engaged to provide because we are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Complaints and redress mechanisms in respect of our financial services are provided through the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman. Information about our own complaints handling procedure appears below.

4. How to become a client

4.1 No client-lawyer relationship and no contract or agreement between you and this firm is created by your use of this website. The only way to become a client of Art Law Studio Ltd is through a mutual agreement in writing between you and us after we have completed our new client take-on procedures. Our take-on procedures include conflict of interest, sanction and finance crime checks required by law and regulation.

4.2 If you are interested in becoming a client of the firm, please contact us so that we can determine whether your matter is one with which we can assist you. Please do not provide us with confidential, sensitive or legally privileged information before we have carried out and completed our conflict checks, unless we ask you to do so. This is because if you provide information to us on an unsolicited basis and it is or might be relevant to the matter of a current client of the firm, we may be required to disclose it to the current client.

4.3 Advice and services are provided to our clients on the basis of the relevant engagement letter and our terms of business. By instructing the firm, clients confirm their agreement to the firm’s engagement letter and terms of business. No responsibility is assumed and no liability is accepted for information that is supplied or for services that are rendered to someone who is not a client of the firm (including someone using this website) unless in writing we have expressly agreed otherwise.

5. Anti-money laundering obligations

5.1 The United Kingdom’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation and related rules issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Sector Affinity Group require us to take steps to know our clients, their business and the reason for their instruction. They also require us to conduct due diligence on new clients before we enter into a business relationship with them and on-going monitoring of existing clients.

5.2 We are required to verify and document the identity and address of every client of the firm. This includes any beneficial owner or controller of a company or trust, and anyone purporting to act on behalf of a client. Sometimes we are able to verify and document the identity of a client through publicly available information including from publicly available electronic data sources. If this is not possible, we will ask the client to provide us with the necessary information and documents. Periodically, or if their circumstances change, we may ask a client to provide us with up-to-date evidence of identity or address or with other information. If we are unable to obtain satisfactory evidence of identity or address, we will not be able to act, or continue acting.

5.3 We are also required to identify the source and to consider the provenance of all monies that will be paid to or controlled by the firm. We cannot accept funds unless the source has previously been disclosed to us and verified to our satisfaction. We will never knowingly facilitate money laundering or the financing of terrorists. If payment is made to us in breach of this legal requirement, the funds may be frozen until their source and provenance has been established to our satisfaction.

5.4 The legislation which governs money laundering and the financing of terrorism has placed all professional advisers, including lawyers, under a legal duty to disclose information to the National Crime Agency in certain circumstances. Where a lawyer knows or suspects that a transaction involves money laundering or the financing of terrorism, he or she may be required to report that knowledge or suspicion to the National Crime Agency. If this happens, we will not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reason for it, for legal reasons. We accept no responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, costs or expenses that you incur by reason of such disclosure.

6. Bribery, corruption and tax evasion

6.1 Our aim is always to manage our own business and conduct our clients’ matters in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and to the highest ethical standards. We will never knowingly commit, or advise or assist a client or someone acting on behalf of a client to commit, an illegal act, including, without limitation, bribery, corruption or tax evasion.

6.2 We operate policies and procedures in order to comply with United Kingdom laws that are designed to combat bribery, corruption and tax evasion. They apply to all firm directors and to anyone else who is working for or on behalf of this firm. We expect our own suppliers, and the other professional advisers with whom we work from time to time, to have similar approaches, policies and procedures in place.

6.3 Our policies and procedures prohibit the criminal facilitation of tax evasion. They also prohibit, either directly or via a third party, the offering, promising or giving of anything of value for an improper purpose or to gain a business advantage. The prohibition extends not only to financial rewards, but also to gifts, donations and services, and to entertainment of an unusual or excessive nature. Dealings with foreign government officials and other politically exposed people are subject to enhanced scrutiny.

7. Warning about fraud and cybercrime

7.1 Fraud, and in particular cyber-crime, are on the increase worldwide. Many law firms have had their names and the names of individual lawyers who work for them used by criminals without their knowledge or permission in an attempt to carry out scams and frauds on members of the public worldwide.

7.2 Always be on the look-out for criminal conduct to ensure that you do not become a victim of it. If something looks unusual or suspicious (for example, if it is written in poor English, a business is using consumer email accounts like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, or contact details in a communication do not accord with the publicly available contact details of that organisation) either ignore it and delete it, or proceed with extreme caution and investigate it thoroughly before acting on it.

7.3 Always verify the identity and assess the possible motives of anyone contacting you on an unsolicited basis. Remember also that fraudsters might try to impersonate someone you know, or someone you would normally expect to be on your side, for example, a bank employee, a police officer, or a lawyer (including us). If something sounds too good to be true (a surprise windfall, for example), it usually is not true. Do not hand over money, or disclose personal or financial information, unless you know who you are dealing with and their true intentions.

7.4 Fraudsters often use email to perpetrate their scams, so unsolicited emails require particular care. Sometimes other forms of communication are also used to initiate a scam, including text, fax, letter, social media DM and telephone. Often the initial email or other communication will either promise the recipient a share of a large sum of money (from a dead person’s estate, an insurance policy, or a lottery win, for example) in return for paying a modest sum (an ‘administration fee’ of some description), up front (which is commonly referred to as an ‘advance fee’ fraud), or it will request personal or financial information about the recipient or their bank account allegedly in order to check their account is working correctly or so that non-existent money can be paid in to it (which information they then use to try and access the account by impersonating you in an ‘identity theft’ fraud).

7.5 Without their knowledge or permission, fraudsters sometimes mention in their communications the involvement of a genuine law firm or a genuine lawyer in an attempt to give legitimacy and credibility to their scam and/or to try and lull their potential victim into a false sense of security. Sometimes fraudsters’ communications will also direct the recipient to a bogus website and/or a bogus social media account that intentionally replicates the look and feel of the website or social media account of a genuine business, bank or law firm. Such copies (clones) of websites and social media accounts are created without the knowledge or permission of the genuine business and in an attempt to give legitimacy or respectability to a scam. Never seek to verify the existence or involvement in a transaction of a law firm or lawyer by using contact details contained in an unsolicited communication: always use a public search engine, such as Google, or a reputable online professional directory.

7.6 Please note that we only practice under the firm name ‘Art Law Studio Ltd’. If you receive a communication which purports to come from, or which mentions, a firm which has a similar but not identical name to us, or which has the same name but different contact details (business address, telephone number, fax number, email address and/or website address) it will not have originated from us or have been sent by us, on our behalf or with our knowledge or permission. Similarly, our website, and the email addresses which we operate, only use the domain name ‘artlawstudio.com’. If a website or email address uses a different domain name, including a similar but not identical domain name, and even one that has only one character different, it will not belong to us and will be nothing to do with us.

7.7 We are also aware that fraudsters sometimes seek to intercept legitimate payments and divert them to their own bank account. They often do this by ‘hacking’ an individual’s email account (particularly consumer-facing email accounts like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo) and then changing the bank account details which appear in an otherwise legitimate email that the account holder sends out or which a genuine person or business has sent to the account holder. This is known as a ‘man in the middle’ fraud. We will never use email to notify you of a change to bank account details which we have already provided to you (in our engagement letter and on our invoices). Any email appearing to come from us which seeks to do this will not be genuine. Do not act on it or reply to it, and instead contact us immediately by telephone: do not use email to contact us in case a fraudster has compromised your email account and is monitoring the emails you send and receive. Please note that we will not accept responsibility if you transfer money into a bank account which does not belong to Art Law Studio

7.8 If you receive an email or other communication purporting to come from Art Law Studio Ltd, or from someone holding themselves out as being a director of or agent acting on behalf of Art Law Studio Ltd, or if you are directed to a website or social media account which purports to belong to this firm, and you have any suspicions at all about it, before responding to it or taking any other action in relation to it please contact the individual at this firm who you normally deal with or email enquiries@artlawstudio.com. We will tell you whether the communication came from us, or whether it is our website or our social media account. Never take risks. If you have a suspicion or a concern, report it to us, before acting.

7.9 Our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, maintains a ‘Scam Alert’ database which provides members of the public with information about known scams in which the identity of a genuine English law firm or a genuine English lawyer has been used, or is being used, by persons unknown for criminal purposes. The database can be viewed on the SRA’s website (www.sra.org.uk). Frauds and scams with a United Kingdom element can be reported to the UK police using the Action Fraud website (www.actionfraud.police.uk).

8. Complaints

8.1 Our aim is always to provide our clients with a quality service applying the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. A client who is unhappy with any aspect of the service we have provided, or an invoice we have delivered, is entitled to complain. Our Complaints Policy is available by clicking the 'Complaints' link in this website's footer.

8.2 If after our own complaints handling procedure has run its course a client is still not satisfied with our response to their complaint or with our handling of the complaint, they can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the matter. Its remit and procedures are described on its website (www.legalombudsman.org.uk). It will only consider complaints submitted by individuals, micro-enterprises and small trusts, charities or associations. Normally a complaint must be notified to it within six months of the client receiving a final written response from the firm about it, or within six years of the date of the act or omission complained about (or if outside of this period, within three years of when the client should reasonably have been aware of it).

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted:

• in writing (PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ),

• by email (enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk), or

• by telephone (0300 555 0333).

8.3 If a complaint relates to an invoice we have delivered, a client may also be entitled to apply to the court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If a client wishes our charges to be reviewed by the court they must apply to the court within one month of the date the invoice was delivered to them. If the invoice has been paid, more than twelve months has elapsed or a judgment has been obtained in respect of the costs covered by the invoice, the court will not order the invoice to be assessed unless special circumstances apply. If the court makes an order in such circumstances, it may attach conditions to the order in respect of the costs of the assessment. Our entitlement to charge interest in respect of an unpaid invoice may not be affected by any complaint submitted to the Legal Ombudsman or by any application that is made to the court for assessment of the invoice.

8.4 For ease of access, the above information regarding complaints is available by clicking the 'Complaints' link in this website's footer.

9. Professional indemnity insurance

9.1 Art Law Studio Ltd holds professional indemnity insurance with Travelers Insurance Company Limited of One Creechurch Lane, London EC3A 5AF. The cover meets the minimum level required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (which, in the case of a limited company, is £3 million any one claim) and extends to the firm's provision of legal services in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

9.2 Further details of the firm's professional indemnity insurance cover will be supplied to a client on request.

10. Electronic communications

10.1 Electronic communication involves certain known risks. It might be insecure, intercepted, carry viruses, distort during transmission or arrive late or not at all. Anyone who communicates with us electronically, or who does not expressly prohibit such communication, will be assumed to accept the associated risks. By using email or fax to communicate with us you consent to us communicating with you in the same manner. Unless in writing you expressly prohibit electronic communication, we may use email and/or fax to communicate with you and others involved in your matter. We accept no liability for any inadvertent breach of confidence or privilege, or for any loss or damage, which occurs as a result of communication by email or fax.

10.2 Email we send to you will not be encrypted unless we inform you otherwise. We use anti-virus systems and software but we accept no liability for viruses. We expect you to use, and rely on, your own anti-virus software. We recommend that you scan all emails and any attachments for viruses before opening them. We also recommend that you confirm any advice received by email before acting on it.

10.3 We monitor electronic communications (including email) in order to protect our business and our clients and to ensure that our legal and regulatory obligations and our internal policies and procedures are being complied with.

11. Data protection notice

11.1 Art Law Studio Ltd is a data controller under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Data Protection Act 2018. We process personal data in accordance with our obligations under relevant data protection laws. Our Privacy Notice, which sets out what to expect when we process personal data, is published on this website and can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Privacy Notice’ link which appears at the foot of the homepage. A copy of the notice will also be supplied on request. When you provide personal data to us we shall assume that you have complied with your own obligations under relevant data protection laws.

11.2 Any personal information you provide to us during your use of this website will be processed in accordance with current United Kingdom data protection laws and for one or more of the following purposes: (1) for the purpose or purposes specified in the part of the website that you used to submit the information to us; (2) to enable us to supply you with any information or assistance that you have requested; (3) to enable us to provide you with information about us, our services and our events; and (4) for any other purpose for which you give your consent

11.3 If at any time you wish to have your name removed from our database, or you wish to contact us in relation to any other matter concerning the processing of your personal data, please email us at privacy@artlawstudio.com.

12. Website privacy notice (including use of cookies)

12.1 When you access this website, your computer’s browser provides us with certain electronic information (such as your IP address, browser type, and date and time of access). The website collects this information to provide you with a good user experience. We also use it to help us improve the website and to compile statistical data on its use.

12.2 Further information about ‘cookies’ and how we use them is published on this website in our ‘Cookies Policy’, which can be accessed by clicking on the link of that name which appears at the foot of the homepage.

Art Law Studio Ltd

October 2021