Terms & Conditions – Advice Conferences 

1. These Terms & Conditions apply to any person (“you”) booking an advice conferences (including Strategy & Advice Conference,  Follow-Up Advice Conference, or Child Support Advice Conference) with Gale Family Law Pty Ltd (ACN: 660914796) trading as Gale Family Law (“we / us”). 
2. You may accept these Terms & Conditions by booking and/or proceeding with the conference. 
3. A Strategy & Advice Conference is an in-person or online conference with a solicitor of our office for up to 90 minutes. It is the first advice conference for new clients. 
4. A Child Support Advice Conference is an online or telephone conference with a solicitor of our office for up to 30 minutes. It is the first advice conference for matters that only involve a discrete child support issue. 
5. A Follow-Up Advice Conference is a conference booked after your initial advice conference but before you have entered into an ongoing retainer agreement with us.
6. Our fee for the conference is either set out in the booking form or as confirmed in writing by us.  
7. Our fee is payable immediately after the conference by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) into our nominated bank account or card payment through our nominated payment link. 
8. Fees charged as Fixed Fees are fixed regardless of the length of the conference. 
9. Fees charged at hourly rates are billed in 6-minute units, rounded up. You will be charged for a full unit even if less than 6 minutes is spent.
10. If your account is overdue, we may charge interest at 2% above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Cash Target Rate, starting 30 days after the invoice was issued.
11. You are not required to engage us after the conference. If you decide to proceed, we will provide a written agreement confirming our services and fees. Until you accept such agreement, we will not take any action or be responsible for your case.
12. We may also offer you Follow-Up Advice Conferences if you need occasional advice without committing to an ongoing retainer. 
13. You acknowledge that we operate as a “paperless” practice where possible, and you will provide documents to us electronically unless hard copies are required. 
14. You consent to and authorise us to store your file electronically, including on a cloud-based server. We will take reasonable steps to keep your electronic file secure, but we cannot guarantee security against events like cyber-attacks, server issues, or outages.
15. You consent to us destroying any paper documents received from you after saving them electronically, unless they are originals needed for evidence such as Wills, deeds or signed agreements.
16. If there are any documents on our file that you are entitled to and call for, these will be provided to you in electronic format (other than any original documents we hold for you) in a manner of our choosing. 
17. We will destroy your file, both hard copy and electronic, after 7 years from the date of the last conference.
18. You acknowledge that we use third-party software (including practice management software, accounting software, office applications, and generative AI) and third-party services (including IT support, accountants, legal advisors, auditors, and consultants) to help manage your legal matter and our practice. You consent to allowing third-party providers and third-party software access to your file, including confidential documents, to the extent we consider reasonably necessary to assist in managing your legal matter or our practice.
19. You must not make, record, share, or distribute any video or audio recording of your communications with us without our prior written consent.
20. These terms and conditions are governed by the law of Victoria, Australia. 

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation.