Background
LawWorks approached us with a matter on behalf of a client who needed some advice in relation to a dispute he was having with a private secondary school over unpaid school fees. After enrolling the child at the school the client was informed that his working hours and pay were to be significantly reduced. As a result of this change in circumstances he and his wife reluctantly took the decision to withdraw their son from the school on relatively short notice prior to the start of the first school term. Under the school's terms and conditions where a full term's notice was not given the school was entitled to request that a full terms' fees were paid in lieu of the notice and that the school would give consideration to the financial circumstances of the family. Discussions directly between the client and the school were unsuccessful and the school sued the client for the full amount of a term's fees.
Negotiation/Advice
Our role in the matter involved a number of different aspects and was supported by a team of three lawyers. We were asked to advise on the legal rights of the client in relation to the school's terms and conditions. We then spoke to the client to ascertain further background details and documents including his correspondence with the school's solicitors. We assisted the client with moving the court proceedings from the local court for the school's solicitors to the client's local court.
We entered into negotiations with the school's solicitors on behalf of the client and through a series of letters and emails we explained the background to the situation that had arisen and sought settlement negotiations. The initial starting points of the parties was one from which a settlement looked unlikely, however, we were able to rationalise our client's position with the school's solicitors while explaining the benefits and potential cost savings to our client of making concessions and offering a settlement. Over the course of the correspondence the parties were able to come to a mutually acceptable settlement figure and an interest free payment plan was drawn up.
Result for client
The final settlement resulted in the client paying just over a third of the full term's fees. In addition to this all court proceedings were set aside and no court fees were paid by the client. Due to the nature of the settlement the client's credit rating was unaffected. As a result of the financial hardship the client suffered he was unable to pay the settlement in a lump sum, therefore, a monthly repayment plan that spread the sum, interest free, across a one year repayment period was agreed between the parties.
Throughout we always focussed upon ensuring the client was fully informed as to the progress of the matter and given realistic expectations of the possible outcomes, which reduced the emotional burden on the client as well as arranging an acceptable financial settlement and payment plan.
Kemp Little's Pro Bono Involvement
Kemp Little has a strong tradition of providing pro bono work (free legal work for not-for-profit organisations that have no access to funding for legal advice) to various organisations, in a range of specialisms such as commercial matters, technology and services acquisitions, intellectual property, data protection, employment and litigation.
We encourage all our lawyers to participate and all pro bono matters are undertaken to the same high standard as work for our business clients.
We are a member of LawWorks and actively participate in their "Initial Electronic Advice" scheme to provide quick and user-friendly legal advice to pro bono clients. Our lawyers also attend a legal clinic at the Islington Law Centre to advise individuals on a variety of housing, employment or other legal issues they face.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
