Costs Disclosure and Business Client Agreement
ABN 16 658 861 182
Individual liability limited by a scheme
approved under professional standards legislation
1. Costs agreement under the Legal Profession Act
- This document is an offer to enter into a Costs Agreement under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld).
- The attached Quotation serves as our Retainer Letter, details the scope and professional legal fees of work you have engaged our firm to perform. It also forms part of this costs agreement.
- You acknowledge and agree that you have received, read, and understood the Form 1 which is at the end of this agreement, pursuant to s 308(5) of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld).
- You have the right to seek (and we recommend that you do seek) independent legal advice before entering into a Costs Agreement with us.
- You acknowledge that you have been informed of your right to seek independent legal advice before entering this agreement.
- If you have any queries about the aspects of the Costs, please contact the person carrying out the work.
2. Parties
This Agreement is between SOLVI PTY LTD (ABN 16 658 861 182) and the client organisation named in the quote, being a corporate entity or business represented by an authorised director or officer, engaging our firm for legal services relating to Australian migration matters. By signing the quotation for this agreement, you acknowledge and accept the terms below.
3. Scope of Services
The scope of our legal services under this Agreement will be limited to the work specifically agreed to and outlined in our engagement communications and your accepted quote. The following work is typically included, subject to confirmation in your engagement documentation:
- Provide advice relating to your business’s migration sponsorship needs and the recommended pathway.
- Provide frank legal advice on the likelihood of success based on the facts presented.
- Analyse current immigration laws and policies relevant to your business’s ability to sponsor or engage overseas workers.
- Where available, present qualified visa sponsorship candidates for your consideration.
- Draft and review relevant forms, submissions, and supporting documents.
- Provide advice on supporting documentation and evidence required for each application.
- Prepare and lodge supporting legal submissions with the relevant department, authority, or review body.
- Keep you informed about key developments in the matter.
- Inform you of any legal or policy changes that may affect your business’s eligibility to sponsor or retain overseas workers.
- Provide advice about visa work conditions and sponsorship obligations under Australian immigration law.
- Where expressly included in the agreed scope, provide legal advice and undertake preparation and lodgement of the visa application for the visa sponsorship candidate. This may include advice on the individual’s visa eligibility and identification of any potential out-of-scope risks such as health, character, or other complex eligibility issues. If such risks are identified and require legal management, further costs may be incurred.
- Conduct VEVO checks on the visa status of any nominated visa sponsorship candidate or visa-holding employee to confirm work rights and any conditions affecting employment.
- Provide initial review of employment contracts associated with visa sponsorship for compliance with immigration requirements. More detailed employment law or contractual advice may fall outside scope and be subject to additional fees.
- Other work as specifically agreed in writing under this Agreement.
Exclusions: Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will not provide the following services under this Agreement:
- Representation in appeals or review processes following visa refusal or cancellation.
- Additional legal services required in response to changes in law or policy after lodgement.
- Submissions or correspondence relating to complex identity, health, custody or character issues after lodgement.
- Detailed employment law advice or representation in Fair Work or industrial relations matters.
- Any other services not expressly included in your engagement documentation or quote.
4. Office Hours & Response Times
- SOLVi Migration’s legal team operates from 9:00am to 5:00pm AEST.
- Client Relations staff may operate outside these hours but cannot provide legal advice or assistance on your matter.
- We aim to acknowledge requests within 48 business hours and provide legal responses within a reasonable timeframe.
5. Fixed Fees and Payment Schedule
Business clients must pay an agreed initial retainer for file establishment before services commence.
All subsequent fees must be paid in full and in advance, unless a different arrangement is expressly agreed in writing by the Principal Lawyer.
The client must pay all disbursements and third-party costs in advance to SOLVI’s practice trust account, including (but not limited to):
- Standard fees for business sponsorship applications
- Nomination applications
- Visa applications,
- Skills assessments, and
- Labour market testing.
These must be paid before such work is submitted.
Retainer fee payments reflect the ongoing professional services provided, including:
- Legal advice
- Preparation of documentation
- Client communication
- Monitoring of the matter, and
- Representative engagement with third parties in relation to matter progression.
Legal fees are charged for professional time and services delivered under this Agreement and are not refundable once services have been rendered. Refunds will not be provided where:
- You are dissatisfied with the processing times of government or regulatory agencies
- You disagree with the decisions made by third-party decision-makers (e.g. Department of Home Affairs, AHPRA, skills assessing bodies), or
- Services have already been performed in accordance with this Agreement.
Professional indemnity insurance is maintained by SOLVI to protect clients in the unlikely event of professional negligence. However, this does not extend to dissatisfaction with lawful external decisions or delays beyond SOLVI’s control.
6. Communication and Technology Platforms
The client acknowledges and agrees that:
- the secure SOLVi Migration client portal is the primary method of communication for the delivery of legal instructions, provision of advice, and exchange of documents;
- unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing by the legal team, all substantive advice, instructions, updates, and documentation will be issued via the client portal;
- they must ensure they regularly access the portal and check for updates and provide responses and documentation via the portal in a timely manner;
- the initial engagement may include a paper-based legal assessment of a client’s circumstances: a live consultation with a legal practitioner is not included unless explicitly stated in the scope of services; and
- where a client requests additional meetings or calls beyond the onboarding processes and regular communications, these requests are deemed outside of the defined scope of services, as such they may incur additional fees at the firm’s applicable hourly rates.
7. Who will do the work
The work legal work and advice will be completed by a qualified Australian Solicitor or registered Migration Agent. We may at our discretion change the staff performing the work during the course of your matter. Other Team members will work to support your case. These staff members are not legally qualified and do not provide legal advice:
- Client Relations Team members act solely to assess prospective client suitability and provide general information regarding SOLVi Migration’s legal services; and
- Migration Coordinators are administrative support staff who assist with onboarding, portal access setup, and initial online tasks related to registration or skills assessments and drafting of applications.
8. Client Duties
- You will pay the costs when they are due.
- You will make any advance payments required in accordance with this agreement.
- You will make reasonable efforts to be available to give us instructions in relation to the work.
- You will always keep us informed of your residential address, postal address, telephone numbers, and email address (if any).
- You will always keep us informed of any changes of circumstances during the course of your matter.
- You will promptly provide us with all relevant documents and information that are now, or at any time in the future during the course of the work, in your possession or control.
- You will give us all necessary assistance in carrying out the work without unreasonable delay.
- You will be honest and forthright and supplying information to us and in all dealings with us.
- You will not attempt to interfere with or take over processes in the performance of your matter.
- You will conduct yourself in a courteous and respectful manner in all your dealings with us.
9. Consequences of Client Delay or Non-Compliance
Migration law is time sensitive. If you delay providing information, your eligibility or legal options may be affected.
10. Cyber Security Warning
Never transfer more than $5,000 without verbal confirmation. Beware of messages requesting unexpected bank changes. Notify third parties assisting you of these risks.
11. Fees, File Establishment and Payments
- All fees and charges are in Australian Dollars (AUD), unless specified otherwise for purpose of third party disbursements only.
- A non-refundable file establishment fee of $2,000 AUD is payable upon engagement.
12. Variation of Fees
- Fixed fee pricing remains valid for six (6) months.
- Clients who do not respond or delay provision of required documents may need to re-engage under updated firm pricing.
13. Privacy & Credit Reporting
SOLVi may collect and share necessary personal information (e.g. health, financial, education, relationship) with relevant entities for your matter. Failure to pay may result in reporting to credit agencies.
14. Out-of-Scope Work and Hourly Billing
- Unless otherwise stated, costs are not calculated by reference to any court scale of costs.
- Where we have agreed to a fixed, fees for work within scope will be calculated will be fixed or capped amount.
- Where no fixed fee is stated or work falls outside the agreed scope, fees are charged at our standard hourly rates based on the time taken to complete the work.
- We calculate time in units of six (6) minutes.
- Any portion of time not matching a full unit will be rounded up to the nearest unit.
- Hourly rates vary by experience level. Where multiple professionals work on a matter, the highest relevant rate will apply.
- Hourly rates are reviewed periodically.
- We will notify you of changes before the next billing period in which the amended rates apply.
Our current hourly rates (exclusive of GST) are as follows:
- Legal Secretary: $180
- Migration Coordinator: $200
- Paralegal: $250
- Law Graduate: $300
- Lawyer / Migration Agent: $500
- Senior Lawyer / Senior Migration Agent: $600
- Accredited Specialist: $800
- Principal Lawyer: $1,000
15. Disbursements
We will charge you all disbursements incurred on your behalf, including but not limited to:
- third party expenses incurred on your behalf
- filing and lodgement fees
- banking charges
- government duties and taxes.
16. Credit Card Surcharges
- Domestic cards: 1.75% + A$0.30
- International cards: 3.5% + A$0.30
You are also responsible for surcharges on government fees.
17. Goods and Service Tax (GST)
All prices quoted by SOLVi Migration are in Australian Dollars (AUD) and are inclusive of GST unless otherwise stated.
18. Ceasing to act for you
- You may at any time terminate our instructions to act on your behalf.
- If you terminate our instructions, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this Costs Agreement to the contrary, you will be immediately indebted to us for all the costs up to when we receive written notice of the termination.
- We may at any time elect to cease acting on your behalf.
- If you have terminated our instructions, or if we have elected to cease acting on your behalf, then you are liable to pay all costs at our applicable hourly rates accrued after we have ceased acting on your behalf. These Costs will include, for example, costs of:
i) Sending you documents from our file.
ii) Reporting to you, or to someone else on your behalf, details of all the work we have done on your behalf.
iii) Advising you of relevant time limits.
iv) Having ourselves removed as your solicitors on the record of court or tribunal.
v) Notifying other parties that we are no longer acting for you.
19. Third Party Processing Times
- You acknowledge and accept that visa processing times, registration outcomes, and other decisions made by third-party agencies (such as the Department of Home Affairs, AHPRA, or skills assessing authorities) are entirely outside the control of this firm.
- Accordingly, no refund will be provided if you are dissatisfied with delays in processing or with the outcome of a decision made by any such third-party agency.
- SOLVi Migration cannot influence, guarantee, or assume responsibility for decisions made by external bodies exercising independent statutory authority.
- You acknowledge that you have received or been given access to the Department of Home Affairs Consumer Guide for Legal Practitioners, available at: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/support-subsite/files/legal_practitioners-consumer-guide.pdf
20. Trust Account Authority
You irrevocably authorise and instruct us:
- to receive to our trust account monies in relation to acting on your behalf;
- to transfer to our office account, from funds held on your behalf in our trust account, all amounts owing to us;
- to transfer to our own account, from funds held on your behalf in our trust account, any costs owing by you to us in any other matter;
- to make any payments, from funds held on your behalf in our trust account, in accordance with any third-party expense attributed to your matter.
- that if at any time we hold any funds in our trust account for a particular purpose, and if not all those funds are expended for that purpose or if any of those funds are no longer required for that purpose, then we may apply those funds toward payment of the Costs.
When we hold money in our trust account on your behalf (LPR 58(3)) you authorise us to withdraw money for payment to the practice’s account for legal costs owing to the practice, including such costs incurred but which we have not already paid, if the relevant procedures or requirements under the Legal Profession Regulation 2007 (Qld) are complied with.
21. Guarantor / Third-Party Payer
Where there is a person who is not the client, and the person agrees to pay all or part of your fees, they will become an associated third-party payer, and therefore liable for the legal costs of the matter.
22. Authorities
- You authorise us to make those inquiries and investigations on your behalf that we consider to be necessary or desirable for the completion of the work, and to incur the associated expenses.
- You authorise us to open and read any letters that are addressed to you that come to our office.
- You authorise us to retain barristers, expert witnesses, and other law firms (such as interstate agents) as may be deemed necessary or desirable to carry out the work.
- You authorise us to incur Unusual Expenses that we consider to be necessary or desirable to carry out the work.
23. Copyright and Intellectual Property
We retain copyright in all documents prepared by us in the course of the work. When reusing copyright materials, we will always respect your right of confidentiality.If we make literary or other works under the direction or control of the Commonwealth or a state, all copyright vests us, despite ss176 and 177 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
24. Storage and Retrieval of Documents
You authorise us to store electronic documents with a third-party provider of electronic cloud-based storage, which may be located outside of Australia. You authorise us to destroy the files and documents relating to the work (including electronic documents with metadata) without any further reference or notice from you. If we elect to destroy any files or document:
- We will retain an electronic copy of them for seven years after the date of our last bill in relation to the work.
- If we are obliged to provide any documents to you, we may at our election provide those documents as paper copies or as electronic copies, even though the provision of electronic documents may require you to obtain software and to incur data charges.
If you request us to retrieve any documents, files, or other property from our archive storage or from our electronic archives, then:
- We may charge you fees for storage and (at our hourly rates) for the retrieval and releasing of those documents, files, or other property and for dealing with your request.
- The minimum fee for storage and for dealing with your request (such as correspondence) is $550 (incl. GST).The additional minimum fee for examining the file and retrieving and releasing the requested documents is $550 (incl. GST).
25. Copyright
We retain copyright in all documents prepared by us in the course of the work. When reusing copyright materials, we will always respect your right of confidentiality.If we make literary or other works under the direction or control of the Commonwealth or a state, all copyright vests us, despite ss176 and 177 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
26. General Provisions
We are not bound by any alterations or waivers to any of the provisions of this Costs Agreement unless we agree in writing. The enforceability of these Costs Agreement will not be affected by any changes to the name or ownership of the business SOLVI PTY LTD (trading as “SOLVi Migration”). If the Costs Agreement, or any term of it, is determined to be void or unenforceable or is set aside:
- We are under no obligation to continue performing the work.
- The remaining terms (except our obligation to carry out any further work on your behalf) are not affected.
You agree, notwithstanding the date of this Costs Agreement, that this agreement takes effects from whichever was the earlier of the following:
- The date you first contacted us in relation to the work.
- The date you first instructed us in relation to the work.
- The date we first commenced doing anything related to the work.
- The Costs for all the work and any Related Work are jointly and severally payable by you, and by any other person for whom we have carried out any Related Work, without distinguishing between which elements of the work and the Related Work might have been carried out separately for you (or for the various persons signing or entering into this agreement) or for the other person.
Should you wish to dispute the costs:
- And apply for a cost assessment under Division 7 of Part 3.4 of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld).