by email private and confidential email · easyjet data breach client email:...

55
BY EMAIL Direct Dial: 020 7650 1200 PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: [email protected] Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER Dear EasyJet Data Breach Client, EASYJET DATA BREACH Thank you for instructing Leigh Day to deal with your case. The purpose of this letter is to explain and record, for the avoidance of any doubt, the nature of the instructions that you have given to us, the advice that we have given you so far and the action that we have agreed to take to pursue the case further. It should be read in conjunction with the enclosed Leigh Day’s guide “Your Guide to our Services and Costs” and the document called “Your Legal Costs” , which sets out information about the costs of your case. These documents contain important information about the costs of your case, our standards of service and procedure for dealing with complaints. Please read this letter carefully and keep it somewhere safe. By emailing your agreement to instruct us to proceed with your claim, you confirm that you have read and understand the terms and conditions of this Client Care Letter and accept the terms and conditions set out in it. Your requirements and objectives You wish to obtain compensation in respect of the damage and losses that you suffered as a result of the unauthorised disclosure of your personal information to others by EasyJet as a result of a successful cyberattack suffered in 2019 / 2020 and / or on other occasions. Leigh Day [email protected] - www.leighday.co.uk Priory House, 25 St John’s Lane, London EC1M 4LB Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester M40 5BP T 0207 650 1200 - F 0207 253 4433 T 0161 393 3600 - F 0207 253 4433 DX 53326 Clerkenwell A list of partners can be inspected at our registered office or website. Leigh Day is a partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The firm’s SRA number is 00067679. Service of documents by email will not be accepted.

Upload: others

Post on 21-Aug-2020

3 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

BY EMAIL Direct Dial: 020 7650 1200

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

EasyJet Data Breach Client

Email:

[email protected]

Your Ref:

Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1

Date: June 2020

CLIENT CARE LETTER

Dear EasyJet Data Breach Client,

EASYJET DATA BREACH

Thank you for instructing Leigh Day to deal with your case.

The purpose of this letter is to explain and record, for the avoidance of any doubt,

the nature of the instructions that you have given to us, the advice that we have

given you so far and the action that we have agreed to take to pursue the case

further.

It should be read in conjunction with the enclosed Leigh Day’s guide “Your Guide to

our Services and Costs” and the document called “Your Legal Costs”, which sets

out information about the costs of your case. These documents contain important

information about the costs of your case, our standards of service and procedure for

dealing with complaints.

Please read this letter carefully and keep it somewhere safe. By emailing your

agreement to instruct us to proceed with your claim, you confirm that you

have read and understand the terms and conditions of this Client Care Letter

and accept the terms and conditions set out in it.

Your requirements and objectives

You wish to obtain compensation in respect of the damage and losses that you

suffered as a result of the unauthorised disclosure of your personal information to

others by EasyJet as a result of a successful cyberattack suffered in 2019 / 2020

and / or on other occasions.

Leigh Day [email protected] - www.leighday.co.uk

Priory House, 25 St John’s Lane, London EC1M 4LB Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester M40 5BP

T 0207 650 1200 - F 0207 253 4433 T 0161 393 3600 - F 0207 253 4433

DX 53326 Clerkenwell

A list of partners can be inspected at our registered office or website. Leigh Day is a partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The

firm’s SRA number is 00067679. Service of documents by email will not be accepted.

Page 2: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

2

You have received an email from EasyJet in, or about, May 2020 confirming that

your personal details were accessed as part of the cyberattack they suffered. (Not

all EasyJet customers were affected by the cyber-attack. EasyJet say that they

have contacted everyone affected and that if you have not been contacted then you

were not affected. Therefore, at present, we are only accepting instructions to act

for those who have received this email from EasyJet. So, please only sign up if you

received this email.)

You require us to advise you as to the possibility of claiming compensation in

respect of this unauthorised disclosure. You have instructed us to begin the

investigation of your claim and the preparation of evidence.

The issues involved

The issues involved in your case are:

Whether any of your personal information was disclosed;

If so – whether this disclosure was lawful;

If not – whether you are entitled to compensation for the disclosure;

If so – what damages and losses you suffered and the level of compensation to

which you are entitled.

Your options

We have discussed with you the possible ways of achieving your objectives,

including whether mediation or some alternative dispute resolution procedure may

be more appropriate in your case than legal action.

Limitations or exclusions

There are no limitations to or exclusions from our retainer at this stage. If as your

case progresses you wish us to take some further action other than that which we

can foresee now, we will discuss with you at that point whether we are able to assist

you and the cost implications of our doing so.

We have accepted your instructions, given you some preliminary advice and

prepared a plan of some further action which is set out below.

Advice

Naturally, the amount of advice that we can give you at this stage is limited because

we are still at the early stages of the investigation of the case.

Page 3: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

3

Nonetheless, our preliminary advice is that, if you have received an email from

EasyJet in May 2020 confirming that your personal details were accessed as part

of the cyberattack they suffered, then you have a good claim. EasyJet have

confirmed in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on 19th May 2020

entitled ‘Notice of cyber security incident’ as well as on a webpage on their

website entitled ‘Cyber Security Incident’ that they suffered a cyberattack as a

result of which the names, email addresses and travel details of approximately 9

million customers were accessed. They subsequently stated that they were

contacting the 9 million customers to inform them they had been impacted and

would be doing so by 26th May 2020. Therefore, if you have received an email or

similar from EasyJet saying that you had been affected, it seems very likely that

your personal details were accessed.

EasyJet have given little detail about what happened beyond that it was the

target of an attack from “a highly sophisticated source”. The Information

Commissioner’s Office and National Cyber Security Centre are currently

investigating the incident but have not yet reported. However, on the face of it, it

would seem surprising if EasyJet’s security measures were found to be adequate

given that they failed to prevent the cyberattack.

There seem good grounds for bringing a claim for breach of the General Data

Protection Regulation and / or the Data Protection Act 2018, breach of your

confidence and / or misuse of your private information, and / or negligence.

If the disclosure was unlawful, it would seem likely that you are entitled to

compensation, not least for the loss of control over your personal information and

any distress and anxiety caused by this. We will need to investigate further the

consequences of the disclosure on you and assess the recoverability of any

financial losses that you may have suffered. This includes the recoverability of

any money that you may have lost as a result of being targeted by fraudsters

who, as a result of the data breach, were aware of your personal details.

It is important to stress that, historically, the level of compensation awarded for

these types of claim, particularly where the personal information was not

particularly sensitive and there has been no direct financial loss, has typically

been relatively modest, usually in the hundreds or low thousands of pounds.

It may be possible to settle your claim against EasyJet without the need to

commence proceedings. However, if we are unable to do so, we will need to

commence proceedings. If we need to do this, we will also need to consider

obtaining insurance to cover the risk of you having to pay EasyJet’s costs if the

claim is either ultimately unsuccessful or you are ultimately awarded less than

Page 4: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

4

any offer that EasyJet may make. We will write to you separately if this is

necessary.

As discussed, we believe that the potential benefits to be gained by bringing a

group legal case will justify the costs and risks involved, including any risk of having

to pay an opponent’s costs.

Timescales

At this early stage, it is impossible for us to give an accurate prediction of the

timescale for us to complete your matter to a satisfactory outcome, taking into

account your requirements and objectives above. We estimate that, in the most

straightforward case, a claim like yours would take at least 12 months to settle.

However, this will depend on any complexities arising within your particular case.

We would hope that the matter will be resolved within 2 years.

There are some things we cannot control. For example, these include whether

EasyJet and their legal advisors agree to mediate the claims and / or agree to a

procedure for settlement. Alternatively, if EasyJet do not wish to settle the claims, it

may depend on the procedural steps identified by the Court for managing what is

likely to be a claim by a significant number of people.

We will update you regularly with more information on the timescale of your case,

particularly in relation to the timescales for next steps, which can be predicted more

accurately.

Next steps

Obtain further information from you concerning the effect of the disclosure on

you, any losses that you have suffered and your concerns for the future;

Request disclosure from EasyJet of what personal information was accessed,

when it was accessed, how it was accessed, what cybersecurity measures were

in place, why they failed to prevent the cyberattack and whether the accessed

information has been disclosed further.

In conjunction with the specialist data breach barristers we have instructed in

this matter, to send a letter to EasyJet setting out the basis of your legal claim

and then review any response received;

Explore whether EasyJet wish to settle these claims and, if so, a procedure for

doing this.

Page 5: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

5

Key Dates

From the information that we have to hand at the moment, it appears that, taking a

cautious approach, the earliest key date in your case is:

1. Limitation Date: 16th October 2025 (within the 6 year period for bringing a

claim from the earliest date of the data breach, not alleging personal injury,

for breach of the General Data Protection Regulation and / or the Data

Protection Act 2018, breach of confidence and / or misuse of private

information, and / or negligence, of the data breach that occurred in or

around October 2019 to March 2020);

This date has been carefully diarised on your file of papers and also on our central

computer system.

In their email to affected customers, EasyJet state that their investigations found the

customers’ personal details were accessed for flights or holidays booked between

17th October 2019 and 4th March 2020. It therefore seems to us that the information

cannot have been accessed before 17th October 2019 at the earliest. We may need

to review this date as we obtain further information in relation to the case.

Service Levels

You will find details about our service levels in Your Guide to our Services and

Costs booklet, which we are sending you with this letter. We have discussed this

with you and we have agreed that this level of service will apply in your case.

From time to time, over the course of your matter our firm processes may

change. We will write to you to inform you of any change specific to your matter

and all other general changes will be notified on our website and can be found

here; https://www.leighday.co.uk/Legal-information. Any firm wide change will not

affect the level of service you can expect to receive.

The Management of Your Case

We shall personally be dealing with your case. Sean Humber and Gene Mathews

are qualified solicitors and Partners in the Human Rights Department of the firm.

They may be assisted from time to time by Benjamin Burrows, an Associate

Solicitor, Stuart Warmington, an Assistant Solicitor, Joshua Garrod, a Trainee

Solicitor, and Charlotte Evans and Nina Kamp, who are both Paralegals in the

Page 6: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

6

Human Rights Department. Additionally, from time to time, we may be assisted by

other members of the firm.

Please see the enclosed Your Guide to our Services and Costs booklet document

called Your Legal Costs for details about the costs in your case.

It is the policy of our firm, and indeed one of our professional responsibilities, that

the work of the person handling your case be supervised by one of the partners in

the practice. This rule applies even if the person handling your case is himself or

herself a partner in the practice. The partner charged with responsibility for

supervision of the work done on your case is James Beagent, a Partner in the

Human Rights Department.

Litigation Group Agreement

In group actions such as this it is necessary, for the smooth management of the

case, for every member of the group to agree to certain rules and procedures as to

how the case should be run.

We enclose a document called a Litigation Group Agreement that provides a

contractual mechanism to govern the relationship between the members of the

group and ourselves. It provides for amongst other things for the establishment of a

Claimant Committee.

The Committee consists of a small group of those claiming against EasyJet who will

effectively be the voice of the whole Claimant group. The Committee make

decisions and provide instruction on behalf of everyone. This is necessary as the

task of seeking instructions from every individual member of the group while

maintaining a coherent strategy for what are likely to be thousands of individuals

would be almost impossible as well as extremely time consuming.

Communicating with you

We usually correspond with clients by email with any particularly sensitive

personal material in an attached document, which is encrypted with a password

for reasons of information security. Your email password will be

“Priory00244339/1”. You will need to type in this password to open attachments

to emails from us.

Where our clients are not able to access email easily, we will send

correspondence by post to your address. Please let us know if you would rather

receive correspondence by post. Even where we usually communicate with you

via email, there may be occasions when we have to send material to you by post.

Page 7: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

7

It is important that, if necessary, we are able to contact you promptly as the case

proceeds. Therefore, if any of your contact details change (email address,

telephone number or postal address), you must let us know straightaway so that

we can amend your details on our files.

If neither email nor post is appropriate in your case, please contact us so we can

agree with you an alternative method of communicating with you.

During the current pandemic we have contingency plans in place, including

homeworking arrangements, to make sure we can continue to provide a service to

our clients, via email, telephone and where appropriate for you, via Microsoft

Teams.

We ask that you do not use WhatsApp to contact your Legal Team.

If there is anything that you would like to discuss at this stage regarding the

arrangements for the conduct of your case or you would like any other information

please do not hesitate to contact us by email at [email protected].

Yours sincerely

Sean Humber Gene Matthews

Partner Partner

Leigh Day Leigh Day

Page 8: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Conditional Fee Agreement (‘CFA’)

This agreement is a binding legal contract between you and us. Before you sign the agreement, please read everything carefully. This agreement must be read in conjunction with the Schedules and the Law Society Conditions (as amended by us) which are attached and which form part of this agreement. Agreement date: We/Us: Leigh Day, of Priory House, 25 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4LB You (the client): What is covered by this agreement

• Your claim for compensation arising from the damage and losses suffered as a result of the unauthorised disclosure of your personal information to others by EasyJet as a result of a successful cyberattack suffered in 2019 / 2020 and/or other occasions. This agreement applies to your claim from the date that we first started work on it, even if that was before the date of this agreement, until this agreement ends. The agreement will continue to apply until the end of the proceedings to which it relates, unless it is ended before that date.

• Any appeal you make against a final judgment, where both we and any barrister instructed by us on your behalf advise you to appeal.

• Any proceedings you take to enforce a judgment, order or agreement.

• Negotiations about and/or a court assessment of the costs of this claim.

• Any pre-action applications. What is not covered by this agreement

• Any counterclaim against you.

• Any other appeal, unless we agree. Paying us if you win If you win your claim, you pay our basic charges explained in schedule 2, our disbursements and a success fee (see schedule 1), plus VAT where applicable [collectively ‘our costs’], together with the premium (or your share of the premium) for any insurance you take out (see schedule 4). You are entitled to seek recovery from your opponent of part or all of our basic charges and our disbursements, but not the success fee or potentially any or all of the insurance premium. Although you are liable to pay any shortfall on the recovery of our costs from your opponent (including the irrecoverable success fee), so long as you keep to this agreement and comply with its terms, we will limit your liability for unrecovered costs to an amount equal to 30% of the damages you recover inclusive of VAT. This ‘overall cap’ on what we will ask you to pay from the damages you recover also includes any fees payable to barristers and any VAT that we have not been able to recover from your opponent. It does include any insurance premium which may be payable by you that we have not been able to recover from your opponent.

Page 9: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

2

Formal offers to settle by your opponent It may be that your opponent makes a formal offer to settle your claim which you reject on our advice, and either on our advice you later accept that offer, or your claim goes ahead to trial where you fail to obtain a judgment more advantageous than that offer. If this happens, you will only have to pay disbursements (if any) that are covered by any legal expenses insurance during any period when you do not recover costs from your opponent because you did not accept or originally accept the offer. Interim hearings etc. If you win overall but, on the way, lose an interim hearing, you may be required to pay your opponent’s charges of that hearing. This may be covered by insurance – see schedule 4. If at any time you are awarded any costs, by agreement or court order, then (even if you lose or have lost your claim) we are immediately entitled to payment of the costs you recover from your opponent, together with a success fee on our relevant basic charges if you win or have won your claim overall. Paying us if you lose If you lose, you do not pay our basic charges or success fee, or our disbursements (unless they are insured). If you have taken out insurance, the policy will usually cover the premium if your claim is unsuccessful (see schedule 4 below). Paying opponent’s costs if you lose or fail to better a formal offer to settle If you lose or fail to better a formal offer to settle after court proceedings are started, you may be at risk of paying your opponent’s costs. You may be able to insure against paying opponent’s costs – see schedule 4. Costs sharing and group litigation In many cases, we act for groups of clients pursuing claims of a similar nature. Where this is so, and whether or not the court makes a formal order recognising the group, it may be necessary for arrangements to be made between clients to share liability for legal costs. Where we act for such a group of clients, and your claim is of a similar nature, you may be added to the group once we determine that your claim has prospects of success of at least 50%. Until we add you to the group, this section of the agreement does not apply to you. Unless otherwise agreed, and subject always to any contrary order of the court, members of the group will share liability for our costs (including any barristers’ fees) as follows: a. The member will be exclusively liable for such of our costs as relate exclusively

to his or her claim.

Page 10: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

3

b. The member will be liable for a share of such of our costs that do not relate exclusively to a single claim, but which are common to multiple claims (‘common costs’).

c. Irrespective of the date of their agreement with us, each member of the group shall be treated as if they were a member from the earliest date on which common costs began to be incurred, or otherwise from such date as we shall (at our absolute discretion) nominate, and liability to pay common costs may then be calculated quarterly beginning with that date.

d. In each quarter, liability to pay the common costs will be divided by the number of members pursuing claims on the first day of each quarter (to be calculated in accordance with the previous sub-clause), and each member will be liable to pay an equal share.

e. If in any quarter a member compromises his or her claim with an opponent on terms which provide for the opponent to pay that member’s costs, then that member will be liable to pay his or her share of the common costs up to and including the last day of that quarter.

Where there is an insurance policy, liability for the premium will be shared by the members of the group in accordance with the terms of the policy, or in accordance with any costs sharing agreement required by the insurers. You acknowledge and agree that it may be necessary to enter different costs sharing agreements depending for example on how the court manages the proceedings relating to your claim. Where we reasonably consider that this is necessary, you agree that we may substitute such alternative costs sharing terms as are reasonable. If you do not agree to these terms, we may end this agreement – see ‘Your responsibilities’ below. Where you are part of a group, any liability to pay the costs of an opponent will, in default of agreement, be determined by the court. Often, the costs of a successful opponent in group litigation will be a liability of the unsuccessful claimants in equal shares, but the court has wide powers to make different provisions. Right to Cancel You may have a right to cancel this agreement. See Schedule 3. If you wish work to start on your claim at once, you must agree to pay our costs up to the point that you send any cancellation notice. Otherwise work cannot start until the cancellation period has expired. Ending this agreement after the cancellation period In addition to any right to cancel this agreement under Schedule 3, you have a general right to end this agreement at any time. See the Law Society Conditions (as amended by us) below. We may end this agreement in the circumstances and with the consequences set out in the Law Society Conditions. Other points Definitions of words used in this CFA are explained in the Law Society Conditions.

Page 11: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

4

We will, where required by law, add VAT to our basic charges and disbursements. Our VAT Registration Number is 429 7007 45. You and we acknowledge and agree: (a) that this agreement is not a Contentious Business Agreement within the meaning

of the Solicitors Act 1974; (b) that if any part of this agreement is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, or

would if given effect render all or part of this agreement unlawful or unenforceable, then that part of the agreement shall be without effect and is severed from it, and the remainder of this agreement continues in full force and effect;

(c) that this agreement consists of the above, the four schedules and the Law Society Conditions (as amended by us), which form a single document, all of which you have been provided with and given a fair opportunity to read and ask questions about before entering this agreement; and

(d) [IF YOU DO NOT WISH US TO START WORK UNTIL THE END OF ANY CANCELLATION PERIOD DELETE THIS CLAUSE.] that you authorise us to start work on your claim immediately despite any right you may have to cancel this agreement. You understand that as a result then, if you cancel the agreement, you must pay for any work done or disbursements made before you cancelled.

Signatures By emailing your agreement to this CFA agreement, you confirm you have read and understand the terms and conditions of the agreement and accept the terms and conditions set out in it. We confirm that Leigh Day agrees to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

Page 12: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

5

Schedule 1

Success fee The success fee is a percentage uplift on our basic charges. The applicable percentage depends on the stage at which your claim concludes. The applicable percentage for the various stages is as follows: – Stage 1 – from the start of the case up to the issuing of legal proceedings: 25% – Stage 2 – from issue of legal proceedings until service of a defence: 50% – Stage 3 – from service of a defence to the listing of the case for trial: 75% – Stage 4 – from the date the case is listed for trial and thereafter: 100% For the avoidance of doubt, (i) the success fee which results from the stage at which the case concludes will apply to the whole of your claim, and not simply from the conclusion of the previous stage; and (ii) if your claim is part of a group, whether the case is one where a defence has been served or which has been listed for trial is determined not with reference to your individual claim, but to the overall litigation. Hence, if a generic defence is served, or if a defence is served in lead or test cases, then the case overall is deemed to be defended, and your claim will reach stage 3. If a trial is listed thereafter in any group claim, then the case overall is deemed to be set down for trial, and your claim will reach stage 4. Hence, even if your claim is stayed immediately after issue, the success fee will increase if other cases in the group (such as lead or test cases) are met with a formal defence or are listed for trial. (Reference to a group means any group of cases which are managed together by the court, whether or not a formal group litigation order is made.) The success fee percentage reflects the following: (a) that if you lose, we will not earn anything; (b) that we are unlikely to get paid costs after the effective date of a formal offer to

settle made by your opponent which you fail to better; (c) the fact that our costs are subject to the overall cap, which means that we are at

risk of a substantial shortfall if you are deprived of a significant part of your costs (for example because you lose on certain issues in your claim), or if you are unable to enforce awards of damages or costs against your opponent;

(d) litigation is inherently uncertain; (e) we defer your liability to pay basic charges until you have won; (f) The following specific risks— There has been no report from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the National Cyber Security Centre or others of the circumstances of the successful cyber-attack, the adequacy or otherwise of EasyJet’s cyber-security measures. It is

Page 13: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

6

currently not clear the extent to which EasyJet have insurance in relation to these claims or would have the financial resources to meet any substantial group claim. It is not clear the extent to which the accessed personal information has been published or passed to others. These are likely to have a significant bearing on our assessment of the claim and its value. The staged success fee reflects in addition that (i) cases should only reach the later stages where an opponent believes either that it will win, or that it has made a formal offer to settle which you will not better; and (ii) that factor (e) above increases in significance as your case proceeds. You have the right to apply to the court for assessment of our costs, including our success fee. Your right to detailed assessment is subject to court time limits and other special rules. We will provide you with full information about detailed assessment upon request.

Page 14: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

7

Schedule 2 Basic charges These are for work done from the date that we first started work on your claim, even if that was before the date of this agreement, until this agreement ends. Basic charges are calculated by the time spent by us or our agents on your claim. We will calculate our basic charges in units of one tenth of an hour. The hourly rates are:

Currently, the following members of Leigh Day team are working on your case: Name of Fee Earner Grade Sean Humber & Gene Matthews 1

1 Benjamin Burrows 2 Stuart Warmington 3 Joshua Garrod, Charlotte Evans and Nina Kamp

4

From time-to-time other members of Leigh Day may also work on your case. We will review the hourly rate annually with effect from 1st January 2021 and we will notify you of any change in the rate in writing.

Grade of Fee Earner Hourly Rate

1 Solicitors and legal executives with over eight years post qualification experience including at least eight years litigation experience, and other fee-earners of equivalent experience or responsibilities.

£500

2 Solicitors and legal executives with over four years post qualification experience including at least four years litigation experience, and other fee-earners of equivalent experience or responsibilities.

£320

3 Other solicitors of up to four years post qualification experience and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience and/or with equivalent responsibilities.

£270

4 Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners of equivalent experience or responsibilities.

£150

Page 15: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

8

Schedule 3

Notice of the Right to Cancel Client Reference Number: SDH/GTM Where this agreement is made exclusively through distance communications such as post or email, or made during a visit to your or another person’s home, or to your place of work, or during an excursion arranged by us, or after an offer made by you during such a visit or excursion, and where in making this agreement you are acting for purposes which are outside your trade, business, craft or profession, you have the right to cancel the agreement without giving any reason within a period of 14 days starting with day after the date on which the agreement was entered. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this agreement by a clear statement (eg a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the attached cancellation form if you wish but you do not have to. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired. You can cancel by: by post to Leigh Day, Priory House, 25 St. John’s Lane, London EC1M 4LB or by email to [email protected] or by fax to 020 7253 4433 If you cancel this agreement, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement within 14 days of being informed that you have cancelled. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. Where you requested us to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated your cancellation to us. Leigh Day

Page 16: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

9

Cancellation Notice To: Leigh Day, Priory House, 25 St. John’s Lane, London EC1M 4LB Email: [email protected] Fax: 020 7253 4433 If you wish to cancel the agreement you may use this form if you want to, but you do not have to. I/We hereby give notice that I/we wish to cancel my/our conditional fee agreement, your reference. Signed: Name: Address: Date:

Page 17: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

10

Schedule 4 Legal Expenses Insurance We do not believe that it is necessary for you to take out a contract of insurance at this time to cover your opponents’ charges and disbursements if you lose. This is because we are still investigating the claim. We will keep this issue under careful consideration and provide you with appropriate advice as your case progresses.

Page 18: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

11

Law Society Conditions (as amended by us)

Your responsibilities You must:

• give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly;

• not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way;

• observe the utmost good faith in all your dealings with us, disclosing all information relevant to your claim, and never providing us with information which is misleading or untrue;

• co-operate with us;

• provide us with all reasonable assistance to recover costs from your opponent;

• pay any insurance premium when it becomes due;

• comply with all the terms of this agreement and the terms of any insurance policy;

• where your claim becomes part of a group, enter into any costs sharing agreement with other claimants which we advise you to enter, and thereafter comply with the terms of that costs sharing agreement, and do nothing which might unreasonably prejudice any other members of the group;

• not enter into any direct negotiations or agreements with an opponent without our prior agreement;

• even where this agreement has ended, not make or accept any offer of settlement without our agreement;

• even where this agreement has ended, not do anything which might unreasonably prejudice our recovery of any part of our costs from your opponent;

• keep confidential all information received by you in connection with your claim, and the claims of any other claimants who with you form part of a group.

Dealing with costs if you win Normally, you can claim part or all of our basic charges and our disbursements from your opponent, and you will use your best endeavours to do so. You further provide us with your irrevocable authority to pursue such a claim in your name on your behalf. However, you cannot claim from your opponent the success fee, and this will be deducted from your damages, subject to the success fee cap and the overall cap. Any insurance premium may be deducted from your damages in addition. If we and your opponent cannot agree the amount of our basic charges and disbursements, the court will decide how much you can recover. If the amount agreed or allowed by the court does not cover all our basic charges and our disbursements, then you pay the difference, subject to the overall cap. We are allowed to keep any interest your opponent pays on costs. If you are awarded enhanced costs because you have made a formal offer to settle, then the enhanced costs shall be payable to us.

Page 19: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

12

You agree to pay into a designated account any cheque received by you or by us from your opponent and made payable to you. Out of the money, you agree to let us take our costs and any insurance premium. We will pay you the remainder. An opponent may make an offer of one amount that includes payment of damages and costs. If so, unless we consent, you agree not to tell us to accept the offer. You agree that, unless we otherwise consent, in no circumstances will you make or accept, or instruct us to make or accept, any offer to settle your case on terms that your opponent pays less than 100 per cent of your reasonable and proportionate legal costs for the whole of your claim. If your opponent does not pay any damages or charges owed to you, we have the right to take recovery action in your name to enforce a judgment, order or agreement. The charges of this action become part of the basic charges, and are payable in accordance with this agreement. You must provide us with all the assistance which we reasonably require in such proceedings. Your obligations under this section of the agreement survive even if the agreement is ended. Payment for barristers We may instruct barristers to represent you, and you authorise us to do this. Barristers who have a conditional fee agreement with us If you win, you are normally entitled to recover their fee from your opponent, but not their success fee. The barrister's success fee is shown in the separate conditional fee agreement we make with the barrister. You must pay the barrister’s success fee shown in the separate conditional fee agreement we make with the barrister if you win. If you lose, you will usually pay the barrister nothing. The barrister’s fees will be subject to the overall cap. Barristers who do not have a conditional fee agreement with us The barrister’s fees will be a disbursement under this agreement, and therefore subject to the overall cap. What happens when this agreement ends before your claim ends? (a) Paying us if you end this agreement (This section does not apply where this agreement is cancelled by you under Schedule 3.) If you end this agreement, you must pay our basic charges and our disbursements immediately, together with any insurance premium. You must also pay our success fee (subject to the success fee cap where applicable) if you go on to win your claim. The overall cap will not apply. (b) Paying us if we end this agreement (i) We can end this agreement if you do not keep to your responsibilities or if you reject our reasonable opinion about making or accepting a settlement with your opponent.

Page 20: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

13

You must then pay our basic charges and our disbursements immediately, together with any insurance premium. You must also pay our success fee if you go on to win your claim. The overall cap will not apply. (ii) We can end this agreement if we believe you are unlikely to win, in which case you do not have to pay us anything. (iii) We can end this agreement if you reject our reasonable opinion about making or accepting a settlement with your opponent. You must then pay our basic charges and our disbursements immediately, together with any insurance premium. You must also pay our success fee if you go on to win your claim. The overall cap will not apply. In the event of a dispute between us as to our right to end the agreement, the matter will be referred to an independent barrister, on the same terms as stated in schedule 1. (c) Death or Incapacity If you die or become incapable of giving us instructions this agreement does not end automatically. We may either agree with your personal representatives that they will continue to instruct us under the terms of this agreement as if they were you, or we may decide to end this agreement, in which case you or your estate will immediately have to pay our basic charges and any insurance premium. In addition, the success fee will be payable if your personal representatives or you continue your claim and subsequently go on to win. (d) Attaining capacity Where this agreement has been entered by a person other than the person for whose benefit the claim is primarily brought [‘the beneficiary’] because the beneficiary did not have the capacity to enter the agreement him or herself, then if the beneficiary thereafter attains capacity s/he may, where we agree, ratify and adopt this agreement, and will thereafter be bound by it as if s/he had been a party to the agreement with capacity from the start. What happens after this agreement ends After this agreement ends, we may apply to have our name removed from the record of any court proceedings in which we are acting. We have the right to maintain our lien.

Page 21: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

14

Explanation of words not elsewhere explained

Claim Your demand for remedies whether or not court proceedings are issued.

Counterclaim A claim that your opponent makes against you in response to your claim.

Damages Compensation that you win whether by a court decision or settlement.

Disbursements Payments we make on your behalf such as court fees, experts' fees, or travelling expenses. Where you take out a legal expenses insurance policy to cover your claim, the premium will be payable by you to the insurer according to the terms of the policy, and will not form part of our disbursements. Therefore, where this premium becomes payable, it will be in addition to our costs, and it is liable to be deducted from your damages. The cost of the insurance will not be recoverable from your opponent.

Formal Offer to Settle An offer to settle your claim made in accordance with Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Interim hearing A court hearing that is not final.

Lien Our right to keep all papers, documents, money or other property held on your behalf until all money due to us is paid. A lien may be applied after this agreement ends.

Lose The court has dismissed your claim or you have stopped it on our advice.

Opponent Any party to proceedings or proposed proceedings against whom you seek relief, including costs. Where this agreement identifies an opponent, it is not limited to claims against that opponent, and will also apply to claims against any other opponent arising out of the same or similar subject matter.

Trial The final contested hearing or the contested hearing of any issue to be tried separately and a reference to a claim concluding at trial includes a claim settled after the trial has commenced or a judgment. Where there is a reference to the commencement date of trial, the commencement date shall be deemed to be (a) where there is a trial window or period, the first day of that period; and (b) where the trial or trial window is subsequently adjourned, the day on which the trial or trial window would have commenced but for the adjournment. Where as part of a trial there is a pre-reading day, the trial will be deemed to commence on the first such pre-reading day.

Win Your claim is finally decided in your favour, whether by a court decision or an agreement to pay you damages (including provisional damages) or where there is any other outcome whereby you derive benefit from having pursued the claim. 'Finally' means that your opponent is not allowed to appeal against the court decision; or has not appealed in time; or has lost any appeal.

Page 22: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your Legal Costs - CFA 2019/V1.0

YOUR LEGAL COSTS

Conditional Fee Agreement

We explain costs in detail in our booklet entitled “Your Guide to Our Services and

Costs”. Please see Section 4.

Funding your legal costs

In Section 4.D, of “Your Guide to Our Services and Costs” we set out how costs

operate in different types of claim. In your claim you can hope to claim your costs from

your opponent if you win your claim. Therefore, please read the information in Section

4 D1 of “Your Guide to Our Services and Costs”.

In Section 4.A, of “Your Guide to Our Services and Costs” we set out the different

ways of funding legal costs. In your case:

• Either you are not financially eligible for legal aid or if you are, in our experience,

we consider that it is extremely unlikely that Legal Aid would be granted given the

relatively modest value of the claim and alternative funding options available.

• Either you do not have LEI or if you do, in our experience, LEI policies do not cover

these types of data breach group claims.

• You are not a member of a union or if you are, in our experience, unions will not

cover these types of data breach group claims

• We do not offer Damages Based Agreements for cases like yours as we do not

consider that we could offer you with an adequate level of service under the

agreement.

You can therefore pay privately or enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement. If you

wished to pay us privately this would mean that you would pay us regardless of

whether or not we win your claim. As set out below, we estimate your costs as being

approximately £2,000 plus VAT.

Page 23: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your Legal Costs - CFA 2019/V1.0

We recommend that you enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to fund your

case. Brief information about CFAs is set out in Section 4.A of “Your Guide to Our

Services and Costs” but for details of how your CFA will operate please read the

enclosed Conditional Fee Agreement carefully.

Hourly Rates

As explained on in Section 4.B, of “Your Guide to Our Services and Costs” we charge

for our work by the hour. The hourly rates for the solicitors and other Leigh Day staff

working on your case are:

Grade of Fee Earner Hourly Rate

1

Solicitors and legal executives with over eight

years post qualification experience including at

least eight years litigation experience, and other

fee-earners of equivalent experience.

£500

2

Solicitors and legal executives with over four

years post qualification experience including at

least four years litigation experience, and other

fee-earners of equivalent experience.

£320

3

Other solicitors of up to four years post

qualification experience and legal executives and

fee earners of equivalent experience and/or with

equivalent responsibilities.

£270

4

Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee

earners of equivalent experience or

responsibilities.

£150

Page 24: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your Legal Costs - CFA 2019/V1.0

Currently, the following members of Leigh Day staff are working on your case:

Name of Fee Earner Grade

• Sean Humber 1

• Gene Matthews 1

• Benjamin Burrows 2

• Stuart Warmington 3

• Joshua Garrod 4

• Charlotte Evans 4

• Nina Kamp 4

Expenses

We may have to pay out expenses and fees, for example Court/Tribunal fees, as your

case proceeds, as explained in section 4.B of “Your Guide to Our Services and

Costs”.

We have agreed that we will fund these expenses as your case proceeds and seek to

obtain them from the Defendant on the successful conclusion of your case.

Costs Estimates

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for us to give accurate estimates of the probable

total costs of the case or the amount of time it will take. This is because there are

some things we cannot control, in particular the attitude the other side take to your

case.

However, our current estimates for the total costs of your case if we have to go all the

way to Trial are as follows: £1,200 for our costs plus VAT, £400 for disbursements

(such as experts fees) plus VAT, and £400 for Counsel’s fees plus VAT. The total

would thus be approximately £2,000 plus VAT.

Page 25: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your Legal Costs - CFA 2019/V1.0

These figures greatly depend on whether it is possible to bring this matter as a group

claim with others affected in a similar way and how many others bring a claim.

In some cases, the amount of costs we can incur and recover are set out in a Costs

Budget (please see Section 4.E, of “Your Guide to Our Services and Costs”). Your

case may be subject to a Costs Budget.

Our Agreement with you

By emailing your agreement to instruct us to proceed with your claim, you confirm that

you have read and understand the terms and conditions of ‘Your Legal Costs’ and

your Conditional Fee Agreement and accept the terms and conditions set out in them

and the terms upon which we charge. Please note that if there is a conflict between

the specific terms of the CFA and any other costs / client care document produced by

Leigh Day the terms of the CFA prevail.

Once you have entered into this agreement your right to challenge the terms including

the hourly rates set out in this leaflet will be restricted. This agreement applies to all

our costs from 19 May 2020, the day on which EasyJet announced the data breach.

Page 26: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

LITIGATION GROUP AGREEMENT

12th June 2020

RECITALS

A. The parties to this Litigation Group Agreement (“the Agreement”) are all

individuals who have been notified by EasyJet that they have been affected by the EasyJet Data Breach.

B. The parties to the Agreement have agreed to instruct Leigh Day solicitors (“the

Solicitors”) to investigate and commence a claim by way of group litigation against EasyJet seeking damages.

C. As the group litigation is likely to involve many thousands of individuals, in

order to simplify the management of the litigation and the provision of instructions to the Solicitors, this Agreement provides a contractual mechanism to govern the relationship between the parties to the Agreement and the Solicitors.

PROVISIONS

1. A Claimant Committee is hereby established comprised of:

(i) Claimant No. 1 (Chairman) To be advised

(ii) Claimant No. 2 To be advised (iii) Claimant No. 3 To be advised

any additional Claimants who shall be appointed pursuant to the mechanism set out at para 4(b) below.

2. The parties to this Agreement appoint the Committee to be their agents in

respect of the conduct of the litigation and empowers the Committee to enter into any such agreements as are necessary for the funding of the litigation and the procuring of insurance as against adverse costs risk.

3. In appointing the Committee as agents in respect of the conduct of the

litigation, the parties to this Agreement irrevocably grant the Committee the power to:

(i) Provide instructions to the Solicitors to settle the litigation on any such

terms as the Committee deems fit; (ii) Discontinue any and all claims; (iii) Instruct Barristers, Experts and incur any such disbursements as are

necessary for the conduct of the litigation; (iv) Provide instructions to the Solicitors as to the distribution of global

damages between the parties to this Agreement in the event of settlement on a global basis; and

(v) Take any necessary and lawful steps to prosecute the claims of all parties to successful conclusion.

Page 27: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

2

4. The Committee shall operate as follows:

(a) The Committee shall have a quorum of three and meetings must be

held together with the Solicitors;

(b) Decisions of the Committee shall be by majority vote and similarly, the

initial three members of the Committee may appoint additional members to the Committee by majority vote;

(c) A person shall cease to be a member of the Committee if he or she

resigns, dies or becomes incapable of managing his or her affairs, has a bankruptcy or insolvency order made against him or her or if a majority of the Committee, with the agreement of the Solicitors, vote to remove the member;

(d) The Chairman of the Committee shall have the casting vote in the

event of any tie;

(e) The Committee shall keep minutes of its meetings, to be prepared and

maintained by the Solicitors, and shall approve the same at each subsequent meeting;

(f) In the providing of instructions to the Solicitors as to the making or

acceptance of offers of settlement, or of the distribution of global damages, no decisions can be made unless the Solicitors have recommended the course of action to the Committee; and

(g) The Committee shall ensure that the Solicitors communicate with all

Parties to this Agreement in a timely manner in respect of the general progress of the litigation.

5. This agreement shall commence from the 12th June 2020.

6. Each party to this Agreement may cancel it within 14 days of the date of

adherence. Notices of cancellation shall be provided by email to [email protected] .

7. By emailing your agreement to instruct us to proceed with your claim, you confirm that you have read and understand the terms and conditions of this Litigation Group Agreement and accept the terms and conditions set out in it.

8. This Agreement shall be governed by the law of England and Wales and any

disputes arising from it shall be referred to arbitration by a Queen’s Counsel nominated by the Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales.

Page 28: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Funding Agreement Summary We realise that the sign-up documents are lengthy and contain legal jargon that we are required to provide to you by law. We have therefore tried to set out below a summary of the main terms found within these documents. However, reading this summary is not a substitute for reading the funding documents themselves.

1. You are signing a “no-win, no-fee” agreement. If we don’t win compensation for you, and you keep to the terms of the agreement, you won’t be charged a penny.

2. If you do win, we will seek to recover the majority of your legal costs from the Defendant and from the compensation awarded to you subject to a cap of 30%. Legal costs mean the cost of the work we have done on your behalf (including success fee) and other costs and expenses such as Barrister and Court fees.

3. In the end, no matter what, you will get at least 70% of your compensation (so

for every £100 that you win, you will keep £70). We think that’s fair as we are taking a risk taking the case on a “no win no fee” basis and we hope that you do so too. If the case succeeds, we’ll give you a full breakdown so you’ll understand what we have charged.

4. We need you to cooperate with us. If you fail to cooperate with us by not

providing us with your up-to-date contact details or ignoring our calls, emails or letters, then we will no longer be able to act for you and you will have terminated the retainer. Therefore, please only sign up if you are willing to cooperate.

5. To be eligible as a client, you need to have personally received an email from EasyJet in May 2020 confirming that your personal details were accessed as part of the cyberattack they suffered. Not all EasyJet customers were affected by the cyber-attack, so please only sign up if you personally received this email from EasyJet.

6. You do not need to worry about paying the Defendant(s) costs if your case is

lost. If we need to issue proceedings on your behalf, and deem it necessary, we will seek insurance to protect you against any cost liability that may arise in the event that the case is unsuccessful.

7. As we are likely to be acting for many thousands of clients, we are establishing a small committee, drawn from those affected, to provide us with instructions on how to conduct the legal claim as we consider taking instructions from everybody would be impractical.

8. You have 14 days from sign up to change your mind about proceeding with

the action and simply need to inform us in writing that you no longer wish to proceed with the claim.

Page 29: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your Guide to Our Services

and Costs

Your guide to our services and costs 2020 V3.2

Page 30: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. ABOUT LEIGH DAY

3. LEIGH DAY SERVICE:

A. Level of Service and Responsibilities

B. Complaints

C. Confidentiality

D. Conflict of Interest

E. Data Protection

F. Emails

G. Equality and Diversity

H. Money Laundering and Client Due Diligence

I. Personal Injury Trusts/ Protecting your Entitlement to Means-Tested State Benefits

J. Professional Indemnity Insurance

K. Storage of Papers and Documents

L. Terminating Our Retainer

M. Third Parties

Your guide to our services and costs 2020 V3.2

Page 31: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

4. COSTS

A. Funding Options

B. Types of Legal Costs

C. Costs Estimates

D. How Legal Costs Work

D1 Claims in which you can claim some of your costs

from your Opponent if you win

D2 Claims in which you cannot usually recover your costs from your Opponent even if you win

E. Assessment of Costs F. Financial Services

G. Interest

5. CONCLUSION

Your guide to our services and costs 2020 V3.2

Page 32: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 1

1. INTRODUCTION

Thank you for choosing Leigh Day to act for you. In this booklet we set out the important information you need to know about our service and how we work.

We also set out for you information about how you can fund your claim and explain how we charge for the work we do on your behalf. Unfortunately, it is difficult to explain some aspects of legal costs without being formal or using technical language. To avoid misunderstanding we think it is best if you have full information about charges from the beginning.

If there is anything that you do not understand or want more information about please speak to the lawyer who is dealing with your case who will be happy to help.

2. ABOUT LEIGH DAY

Leigh Day was established in 1987 and is a highly distinctive law firm which is not afraid to take on challenges that would daunt many others. The firm’s ethos is to ensure that the ordinary person has legal representation to match and surpass that historically available to public bodies, insurance companies and multi-national companies.

We are committed to achieving access to justice for all including full, fair compensation by providing first-rate legal advice. Our first priority is always to clearly understand the needs of our clients as every individual’s case has a unique set of circumstances.

We aim to build an open, honest and supportive relationship combined with objective professional advice and expertise. All of our lawyers are passionate about their work and are determined to achieve the best outcome for their clients no matter what obstacles they face.

Leigh Day is a specialist claimant law firm. We specialise in:

Clinical negligence

Defective products

Employment

Human Rights

International work

Personal injury

We also have a specialist Regulatory & Disciplinary defence and advisory team for

Professionals.

Page 33: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 2

We are based in London but our lawyers bring claims in the English Courts for clients all around the world. Unlike most other law firms, we act exclusively for claimants who have been injured or treated unlawfully by others.

We regularly receive numerous accolades in the two main independent client guides, Chambers UK and Legal 500. These guides to the legal profession rank law firms every year following interviews with over 3,000 clients. Again this year Leigh Day and its partners have been listed in the top positions for their areas of speciality.

Leigh Day is proud to have been awarded accreditation status by many professional bodies and organisations, which include the following:

Action against Medical Accidents Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) is the independent charity which promotes better patient safety and justice for people who have been affected by a medical accident. They only recommend solicitors who they have accredited through their robust and independent system. Leigh Day are approved members of AvMA’s Specialist Clinical Negligence Panel and have permission to display their quality mark.

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) APIL is a not for profit organisation, established over 18 years ago to support injured people by fighting for their rights and campaigning for access to justice. APIL provides accreditation for personal injury lawyers and their kitemark provides a recognised standard of competence and specialist expertise for solicitors and barristers dealing with personal injury claims. Leigh Day is an APIL accredited practice.

The Law Society’s Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury accreditation schemes Many legal practitioners earn special recognition for their expertise in particular areas of law by achieving membership of one or more of the Law Society’s accreditation schemes. Leigh Day has many practitioners whose skills, knowledge and experience have been thoroughly tested and certified by The Law Society and who are now members of either the Clinical Negligence or Personal Injury accreditation schemes.

Lexcel Lexcel is the Law Society’s international practice management standard. Accreditation under the scheme certifies that certain standards have been met following independent assessment. The Lexcel practice management standard is only awarded to solicitors who meet the highest management and customer care standards. Lexcel accredited practices undergo rigorous independent assessment every year to ensure they meet required standards of excellence in areas such as client care, case management and risk management. Leigh Day is Lexcel accredited.

Page 34: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 3

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulates more than 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales, as well as registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers. Established in January 2007, it is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society of England and Wales.

A copy of the Solicitors Handbook can be found on the website of the Solicitors Regulation Authority: www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations

Leigh Day is a legal disciplinary partnership. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under registered number 00067679. Our VAT number is 429700745. A list of partners is available for inspection at our Registered Office: Priory House, 25 St. John’s Lane, London EC1M 4LB.

Our full contact details

are: Priory House 25 St. John’s Lane London EC1M 4LB

Telephone 020 7650 1200 Fax 020 7253 4433 Email [email protected]

Our office is open from 9.00am to 5.30pm each week day. If it is difficult for you to visit during these hours, it may be possible to arrange to meet outside normal office hours. If you are disabled, home visits can be arranged. Generally, the switchboard only deals with incoming telephone calls during office hours.

Page 35: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 4

3. LEIGH DAY SERVICE

A. Level of Service and Responsibilities

If you require a different level of service, please discuss this with us. It is important that you bear in mind that the level of service to be provided will have a direct impact on the costs of your case. This may affect our ability to pursue your case or the amount you have to pay, as we have discussed. From time to time, over the course of your matter our firm processes may change. We will write to you to inform you of any change specific to your matter and all other general changes will be notified on our website and can be found here; https://www.leighday.co.uk/Legal-information. If you would like to receive information about general changes in a different format, please let us know. Any firm wide change will not affect the level of service you can expect to receive.

The level of service Our usual level of service which will apply to most cases is set out below.

We have agreed that we will:

Provide you with regular updates as to the progress of your case.

Communicate with you in plain language.

Explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses.

Update you on the cost of your matter at least every six months.

Update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances.

Update you on the likely timescales for each stage of your case and any important changes in those estimates.

Continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

Page 36: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 5

Our responsibilities

We must:

Your responsibilities

You must:

Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court.

Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action.

Give you our best advice.

Give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your claim.

Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly.

Not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way.

Not deliberately mislead us.

Co-operate with us, to enable us to progress your case.

Unless we have made alternative arrangements, go to any medical or expert examination or court hearing.

You must also let us know if you are subject to a bankruptcy order or a bankruptcy petition has been presented by or against you or you are subject to any other form of insolvency process. This applies both at the outset and throughout the course of your case. This is because it could affect us being able to conduct your claim and have an impact on your award of compensation. If you are declared bankrupt, some or all of your compensation may go to your Trustee in Bankruptcy.

Page 37: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 6

B. Complaints

Leigh Day is committed to providing high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about your bill, please contact the person dealing with your case or their supervising partner (you will find their name in the Client Care letter we have sent you).

We have a procedure in place which explains how we handle complaints and which is available on request. Please ask the person dealing with your case for a copy.

Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. Overall, you should complain either to the Legal Ombudsman or us within a year of when you realised that there was a concern.

Any concerns about our commitment to equality and diversity will be dealt with in line with our Equality and Diversity policy.

C. Confidentiality

Generally speaking the law says that the information you give to your solicitor for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, or because you are involved in litigation, is confidential. Your solicitor may not disclose it to anyone, even members of your family, without your permission. This duty to preserve your confidential information applies both to individual and institutional clients of the firm.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, by telephone on 0300 555 0333, or by email at [email protected] The Legal Ombudsman’s website is at www.legalombudsman.org.uk

ere to Help,

If your complaint is about your bill you can apply for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint about the bill if you have applied to the Court for assessment of the bill. We may be able to charge interest on all or part of an unpaid bill.

The Legal Ombudsman has produced three helpful booklets to guide you if you have a complaint. We can let you have copies on request or you can find them on the Legal Ombudsman’s website. They are called H How to Complain to Your Service Provider and Our Approach to putting things right.

Page 38: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 7

However, it is important that you are aware that there are some exceptions to this.

Whatever type of funding you have we may also be obliged to disclose information to other third parties, such as this firm’s professional indemnity insurers, bank, financiers and other finance houses.

If you have any concerns about confidentiality please let us know.

Vetting of files and confidentiality External firms or organisations may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files.

Outsourcing of

request. D. Conflict of Interest

We have an overriding duty to act in the best interests of each client. We may therefore be unable to act for you or have to stop acting for you if there is a conflict between your interests and those of another client, or between our interests and your interests. This is known as a conflict of interest.

If you receive legal aid for your case we have a duty to tell the Legal Aid Agency about your case whether you want us to or not, and we have a duty to tell them if your financial circumstances change, whether you want us to or not.

If you have insurance to cover your legal costs, we will also have to provide information to your insurers, whether they are legal expense insurers or after the event insurers. For example, it is likely to be a condition of your cover that we report to your insurer from time to time on the prospects of success of your claim in percentage terms, the value of your claim and whether there are any negotiations in progress. In that situation, we will discuss this with you.

If you receive third party funding for your case from your trade union or membership organisation (for example, if you are a member of the British Cycling or the British Triathlon Federation), we will also need to provide them with information about your case, including the prospects of success. If you do not permit us to share this information, you must tell us as this is likely to affect their willingness to fund your case.

work Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing, photocopying, sorting medical records, translating of documents and other work on our files. We will always ask these outsourced providers to comply with Leigh Day’s policy on confidentiality and data protection. If you do not want any work on your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible. A copy of our outsourcing policy is available on

Page 39: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 8

We have procedures designed to prevent us acting for a client in a matter where there could be a potential conflict of interest and we will carry out a conflict of interest check in each case.

E. Data Protection

All information that we hold concerning you as an individual will be held and processed by the firm in accordance with UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Such personal and sensitive data will be used by the firm to provide you with legal services and for related purposes, such as to inform you about the firm’s services and events. We will not, without your consent, supply your name and addresses to any third party except where:

As an individual, you have a right under Data Protection Legislation to obtain information from us, including a description of the data that we hold on you. Should you have any queries concerning this right, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Viviana Marcus [email protected]. A copy of our firm’s Privacy Policy is available on our website. Please let us know if you would like the policy sent to you.

F. Emails

We routinely use email to communicate. We usually encrypt emailed documents which contain sensitive information so you will need a password to open them which is specific to your case. This password is set out in your Client Care letter.

For more information about email and the security standards which apply, we refer you to our Data Protection policy which is available on request.

All emails which are sent to your solicitor are automatically blind copied to their line manager. We do this to ensure adequate levels of supervision on your matter. Occasionally this may mean you will receive an ‘out of office’ email from the supervising solicitor. This will not delay our response to you. Emails are treated by us in the same way as communication by other methods and so will not necessarily be responded to immediately. An email will be assigned an appropriate priority according to its content. If you do not wish us to use email, please let your solicitor know.

such transfer is a necessary part of the legal services that we undertake, the transfer is necessary to comply with the reasonable requirements of a third party

who is funding your case, or we are required to do so by operation of law.

Page 40: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 9

G. Equality and Diversity

Leigh Day is committed to equality and diversity in all aspects of our work. We have an Equality and Diversity policy, which states our values, commitments and aims. A copy can be provided upon request. If you have any comments on our policy or our performance in line with it we would welcome your feedback.

H. Money Laundering and Client Due Diligence

We are required to identify who we are acting for and we are likely to ask you for proof of your identity. We may also make checks using online electronic verification systems or conduct other searches or enquiries for this purpose of verifying your details.

We may also request identification documents for other persons such as witnesses, directors or beneficial owners. If you or they do not provide us with the required information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

If you are instructing us to act as a professional trustee or Court of Protection Deputy, we will need to ask you for proof of your identity and address and, if you are instructing us to act on behalf of another person, proof of who they are. This is because we are required to comply with anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing requirements to carry out identity checks in this situation.

I. Personal Injury Trusts/ Protecting your entitlement to means-tested

State Benefits if you receive compensation

If you are in receipt of means-tested state benefits or may claim such benefits in the future, your entitlement to these benefits may be affected by receipt of compensation.

As you probably know, if you are claiming state benefits, if you have any income or capital, it must be declared to the Department for Work and Pensions (or the Local Authority in the case of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) who will take it into account when carrying out the means test.

In some cases, a possible solution to protect your entitlement to these benefits is to put most or all of your compensation into a personal injury trust. There may also be other ways of protecting your award. However, our firm is unable to offer advice on welfare benefits or how to protect your entitlement to them as it is outside the scope of our expertise.

If you wish to explore this further, you will need to contact a firm of solicitors who deals with this type of work.

J. Professional Indemnity Insurance

Page 41: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 10

We maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance in the interests of our clients. If you require details of this insurance, it may be obtained from our offices on request.

Page 42: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 11

K. Storage of Papers and Documents

After completing the work on your case, we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for fees and expenses.

At the end of the case, we will write to you to let you know the procedure for the closing of your file and the storage of papers and documents. If you require copies of any documents disclosed to us as part of the proceedings, please let us know within 14 days of receiving your letter and provide us with your acknowledgment that you understand that any documents disclosed are for your own private study as it may be a contempt of court to use them for any other purpose.

We will keep our file of papers and corresponding electronic file in archival storage for six years. If our client is a child, the papers will be stored for six years from the child’s 21st birthday. If our client is a protected party, the papers will be stored for six years from the date on which the client is no longer a protected party or, if this does not apply, until such time as your solicitor considers to be appropriate taking into account the circumstances of the case. The period of time following the closing of the matter until its final disposition is called the retention period.

During this time, you can ask us to send you documents from the file without charge. However, should you require repeated copies of the same documents, we may charge you for the cost of copying, for time spent producing stored papers that are requested, for reading, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved papers.

At the end of the retention period, the file will be destroyed in accordance with usual practice.

L. Terminating Our Retainer

You may end your instructions to us in writing at any time, but we can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for fees and expenses. We may decide to stop acting for you if we have good reason to do so. We must give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you. If we decide that we should stop acting for you, you will pay our charges up until that point unless our agreement with you provides otherwise. These are calculated on the basis set out in Section 4 of this leaflet.

Liens If you do not pay our bills, we may have the right to hold on to your paperwork as security for the outstanding costs. This is known as a “lien”. A “lien” means the right to hold someone else’s property as security for a debt. This also applies if you decide to change solicitors, where there are costs outstanding, although, in practice, we will release your papers to your new solicitor provided that a satisfactory undertaking is given as to the unpaid costs.

Page 43: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 12

M. Third Parties

If your claim is funded through legal expenses insurance or if you receive third party funding for your case from your trade union or membership organisation, we will have to provide them with regular updates on the progress of your case. It is usually a condition of the policy or the trade union or membership organisation that there must be and remain at all times reasonable prospects of success and we must notify them of any changes in this respect. All legal costs and expenses (such as the fees to instruct an expert or to issue court proceedings) have to be agreed by the insurers in advance. Insurers also set spending limits (reserves) throughout the case which may not be exceeded without their final approval. These conditions may affect the steps which we can take on your behalf.

Page 44: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 13

4. COSTS INFORMATION

A. Funding Options

One of our first jobs in our role as your legal advisers is to advise you on the most appropriate way of funding your claim. We set out below the different ways in which you might be able to pay your costs and expenses.

We will discuss with you the various methods of funding the costs of your case. We set out some brief details about each type of funding below. We will confirm in the separate document called “Your Legal Costs” which type of funding we recommend for you and provide you with more details.

Legal Aid/Public funding For some cases legal aid (public funding) is still available. In the main these cases are limited to Judicial Review and clinical negligence claims arising from neurological injuries causing severe disability to some babies.

If you are bringing such a case and you are on a low income or benefits and do not have much in the way of savings or assets, you could be eligible for public funding/legal aid.

If you are awarded public funding, a government body, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), will pay or contribute to your costs and expenses. Further detailed information on the operation of the legal aid scheme will be provided if you might be eligible.

Membership Organisation/Trade Union funding If you belong (or did belong at the time of the event giving rise to your claim) to a trade union, sporting organisation or other professional organisation you may have funding for legal assistance as a benefit of your membership. Again, you need to check this before entering into any alternative funding agreement with us and, if in doubt, you ought to contact your union, sporting or professional organisation to confirm if they do provide funding.

Page 45: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 14

Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) are also known as “no win, no fee” agreements. Under a CFA if you do not succeed in your claim you will not have to pay our legal costs. However, if you do succeed in your claim you may have to pay an extra uplift on our costs.

In addition, as explained below, if you do not win, you may in some circumstances be ordered to pay your Opponent’s costs and expenses. In view of this risk, we will advise you about how you may be able to cover this risk, for example by taking out insurance.

As with any insurance, you would have to pay a premium for this insurance. Please see the conditional fee agreement we have with you for details of any premium and in what circumstances you will have to pay it.

Expenses, such as experts’ fees, are not part of the “no win, no fee” agreement and therefore are payable whether or not you succeed in your case.

You may also have to pay your barristers’ fees, although we will ask him/ her to also act on a CFA.

We only offer to pursue a case to conclusion under a CFA if we think that there are reasonable prospects of the claim succeeding. This is because if it does not succeed (and your CFA will define what is meant by success in your case), we are not paid.

Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) Some insurance policies and other financial products that many of us have include “legal expense insurance “(LEI) cover. You should check your (and members of the same household’s) household, car and any other insurance policies and credit cards etc. to see whether they include provision to pay legal expenses (whether your own legal charges and your expenses, your Opponent’s legal charges only or both) for claims such as the one you wish to bring. If your claim arises from a road accident where you were a passenger in a vehicle you should also ask the driver if his or her insurance would cover your legal expenses.

LEI is not available for all types of claim.

The Courts may expect you and/or it may be in your best interests to use LEI if you have it and it is suitable for your claim rather than paying extra for other insurance to cover legal expenses. It is therefore important to carefully check the availability of legal expense insurance before we look at alternative methods of funding. If you have LEI we will carefully review the provisions of your policy and advise you whether it appears to be appropriate for your claim.

Page 46: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 15

The rest of this leaflet sets out the way costs work with all types of funding. However, in some circumstances different rules apply with different types of funding so if you are not clear please do ask.

Damages Based Agreements (DBAS) For some types of claim, but not all, you can enter into an arrangement under which if you do not win you do not pay us but if you do win your case you pay us a percentage of the compensation you receive.

Such arrangements are currently only available in some types of claims, such as some Employment Tribunal Claims and care home fee recovery cases.

Although DBAs are available for personal injury claims we usually do not offer them, except for Criminal Injuries Compensation and Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) Untraced claims.

Private Funding If none of the above forms of funding are available, or if they are not appropriate to your case, or if you do not wish to pursue those avenues then you can pay us privately.

This means you pay our charges, calculated by the hour as explained on page 15, and expenses as your case proceeds.

We will generally ask you to pay a sum on account before we carry out any work, particularly when it will take a substantial amount of time.

We are required to take adequate measures to establish the source of funds into our account and we therefore do not accept cash payments.

We will agree with you how often to bill you, usually once a month.

be.

We expect our bills to be paid within 30 days. We are willing to discuss this if it may cause difficulty. We usually charge interest on bills that are not paid within 30 days at 8% per annum above C. Hoare & Co. bank’s base rate for borrowing. Please do ask if at any time you would like to know what this interest rate will

Page 47: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 16

B. Types of Legal Costs

When bringing a claim there are four main types of cost that can be incurred:

We explain these different types of costs below.

When first writing to you about your case we will try to give you our best estimate of the likely costs and expenses that will be incurred.

Our Charges The usual way we charge is based on the amount of time we spend on your case.

We charge for the time we spend working on your case. All time spent by solicitors, employed barristers, legal executives, “paralegals”, litigation clerks and our other staff, such as our in- house medical clerks and scientists and our damages chartered accountant, is recorded at a rate per hour. We do not charge for time spent by staff carrying out tasks like routine typing or photocopying. We do charge for the time we spend speaking to you or other people on the telephone about your case. Like other lawyers, to make recording the time we spend on your case simple, we divide an hour into ten units of six minutes. Routine telephone calls and letters, including faxes and emails, are charged out as one unit.

A Partner has overall responsibility for dealing with your case. They will work with other staff on your case whose time may be charged at a different rate. They will charge for the time they spend considering or amending and finalising work prepared by other members of staff, but this will still be cheaper than if the Partner did absolutely everything on your case.

Our usual hourly rates, which we normally charge if clients are paying us privately, are set out in the document entitled “Your Legal Costs”.

VAT has to be added to our charges, unless you are resident outside the European Union. You should note that our hourly rates are subject to review on an annual basis in line with the retail price index. You will, however, be informed of any changes.

Our charges for the work we do.

Expenses – amounts paid out to third parties to bring your claim, such as experts’ fees or Court/Tribunal fees. Solicitors call these disbursements, but we will refer to them as expenses in this booklet.

Barristers’ fees - the fees charged by any Barrister we instruct on your case.

The charges of your Opponent.

Page 48: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 17

Expenses In some cases we will have to pay out expenses and fees for you.

For example, we will have to pay to obtain copies of your medical records if they are needed. We will have to pay Court Fees and/or may have to pay Tribunal fees to issue your claim. In many cases we will have to instruct experts who will charge fees for their time for preparing a report, answering questions or attending a meeting.

VAT has to be added to most expenses unless you are resident outside the European Union.

How your expenses will be covered depends on the agreement that we have entered into with you and will be specified in the document called “Your Legal Costs”. You do need to consider the terms we have agreed with you carefully and note when you may be directly liable to meet the expenses yourself.

If you ask us to, we will consult you to discuss the likely charges before we engage an expert to assist with your case.

Barristers’ Fees We may also need to instruct one or more barristers to work on your case. Barristers’ fees will be payable in addition to our charges. Barristers may charge by the hour like we do, or may charge a set fee which we agree in advance with them.

Barristers will also charge VAT unless you are resident outside the European Union.

If you ask us to, we will consult you to discuss the likely charges before we engage a barrister to assist with your case.

There are three ways of covering expenses as the case proceeds:

you pay the expenses; the body funding your claim pays the expenses; or in some circumstances we may agree to meet the expenses.

In some circumstances a combination of the above ways of funding may be used, for example you may pay initial expenses but we will cover subsequent expenses. Please note that if another body agrees to cover the expenses they may not pay them up front but will only reimburse you once the expense has been paid or the case has come to an end.

Page 49: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 18

Your Opponents’ Costs In some types of cases and/ or in certain circumstances you may be liable for some of the costs of the Opponent to your case. Whether you are or not depends on the type of claim you are bringing, please see Section D below.

Our lawyers will discuss with you the risk of having to pay your Opponents’ costs in any particular case.

We can advise you on protecting yourself against the risk of having to pay the other party’s costs as far as that is possible and if necessary in your type of case.

C. Costs Estimates

Unfortunately, it is usually almost impossible for us to give very accurate estimates of the likely full cost or the time a case will take at the outset. This is because there are some things we cannot control, in particular, the attitude the other side take to your case.

However, we will do our best to provide you with an estimate, which you will find in the document called “Your Legal Costs”.

You are entitled to get an up to date estimate of the likely full costs for completing your case every six months or so. Of course, if you want to know the position you should ask at any time what the current costs are or how much the likely total costs will be.

We will explain to you (and confirm in writing) any changed circumstances which will (or which are likely to) significantly affect the amount of costs, the degree of risk involved or the costs-benefit to you of continuing with the matter.

D. How Legal Costs Work

You also need to be aware of the circumstances in which you could have to pay your Opponent’s charges.

Due to the risk of having to pay legal costs we have to carefully assess the level of that risk (which for example is not very high in Employment Tribunal cases) and the prospects of

As explained above your legal costs are made up of three parts: the fees we charge for the work we do, i.e. our “charges”, the expenses we incur in your behalf, such as Court/Tribunal fees, expert fees etc.,

known as “disbursements”, and barristers’ fees.

Page 50: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 19

success of your case as far as we can before starting Court/Tribunal Proceedings. There are some circumstances when we are not able to do this, such as when a claim has to be issued protectively, but we will always give you as much information as possible.

Once we have been able to assess the prospects of your case we can advise you more accurately about the level of risk. We will continue to assess the risk of you having to pay legal costs as your case progresses and will keep you fully informed.

We can also advise you about protecting yourself against this risk as far as that is possible.

We will always tell you if we are aware of something happening in your case which may affect the usual rules about who has to pay in the end.

We set out below how charges, expenses and barristers’ fees are paid, depending on the type of claim you are bringing and whether your claim succeeds or not.

We set out below the claims in which you can and cannot recover some of your costs from your opponent if you win. Only one of sections D1 or D2 will apply to your case. The document entitled “Your Legal Costs” will state which section will apply to your case.

D1. Claims in which you can claim some of your costs from your Opponent if you win

You can usually claim some of your legal costs from your Opponent if you win in the following claims:

Personal Injury claims for compensation

Clinical Negligence claims for compensation

Human Rights Act claims for compensation or a declaration

Property damage claims

Judicial Review claims

In some contested Employment claims

Page 51: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 20

In these cases, costs operate as follows: If your claim succeeds If you win your case, then it is likely that your Opponent will pay your “reasonable and proportionate costs” in addition to paying any compensation. In certain cases the amount of costs they will pay is fixed.

This means that your Opponent will pay some of our charges, the reasonable expenses we incurred on your behalf and reasonable barristers’ fees.

Your Opponent will usually be responsible for their own costs, so you should not have to pay any of them, except in certain cases and certain circumstances, which are set out below.

Unfortunately, it is very rare that the other side have to pay all of your own legal costs, expenses and barristers’ fees.

Your “reasonable and proportionate costs” will not be all of your costs because there is some work we do which your Opponent does not have to pay for, such as arranging the funding of your claim. In addition, your Opponent is likely to argue about whether all of our work was necessary, how much we charge and how much time we took to complete a piece of work. Your Opponent may also argue, and the Court may accept, that some costs are not recoverable because the total costs are disproportionate to the value of, or benefit your derive from, the claim. For all these reasons, although your Opponent will usually have to pay the majority of our costs, expenses and barristers’ fees there will inevitably be a shortfall between what they pay and our bill.

Just as we will do our best to obtain the maximum amount of compensation for you, we will try to ensure that as much as possible of your own legal costs is paid by the other side. Usually your opponent ends up paying about 70% to 90% of your full costs.

Whether you will be responsible for paying the balance (including any extra uplift on our costs under CFA) depends on the type of agreement you have with us. Please see the document called “Your Legal Costs” or any separate agreement, such as a CFA, we have with you for details.

In some circumstances even if your claim succeeds you may be ordered to pay some of your Opponent’s costs. This may happen where you win overall but lose an application to Court during your case and were ordered to pay your Opponent’s costs of that application or when your Opponent made an offer to settle your claim, which we explain below. In those circumstances your Opponent’s costs will be deducted from your compensation or costs, paid by your Opponent. In a personal injury or clinical negligence case, if your compensation and costs are not enough to cover your Opponents costs then you will not be ordered to pay the balance, unless your case falls into one of the special categories identified on page 20 (overleaf) where you might have to meet your Opponent’s costs. If your claim succeeds your remaining damages following payment of costs will be transferred to a UK bank account in your name. We are not able to provide payment to you by way of cheque or in cash.

Page 52: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 21

Offers to settle At any stage your Opponent can offer to settle your claim rather than go to trial/final hearing. They may offer to meet a percentage of your claim or offer a sum of compensation.

In cases other than Employment tribunal cases, if your Opponent makes an offer to settle your case which you refuse and you fail to obtain a Judgment more advantageous than your Opponent’s offer you will be liable for both your and your Opponent’s costs from the date on which you could have accepted your Opponent’s offer. These costs will be deducted from any compensation you receive. You may be able to insure against this risk. Please see “Your Legal Costs” or any separate agreement, such as a CFA, we have with you, for details.

If your claim does not succeed If your claim does not succeed then you are liable for your own costs and expenses. Whether you have to pay these depends on the type of funding of your claim and the agreement we have with you. Please see “Your Legal Costs” or any separate agreement, such as a CFA, we have with you, for details.

If your claim does not succeed you would usually also be ordered to pay your Opponent’s costs. This is the case in claims for Judicial Review.

In claims for personal injury and clinical negligence, although you are likely to be ordered to pay your Opponent’s costs, the Court will not usually enforce this Order against you and so you do not normally have to pay your Opponent’s costs. However, there are circumstances in which you might have to meet your Opponent’s costs in a personal injury or clinical negligence claim, which are if:

The Court may also order you to pay costs which relate to claims other than for personal injuries (like claims for damage to property) and the costs of any claim to recover expenditure by an insurer.

You do not risk liability for paying your Opponent’s costs before issuing and serving proceedings at Court or in the Tribunal. This risk only occurs after Court/Tribunal Proceedings have commenced.

Your claim has been struck out

Your claim is fundamentally dishonest

Your claim includes a claim for financial benefit of someone else

Page 53: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 22

D2. Claims in which you cannot usually recover your costs from your Opponent even if you win

You cannot usually claim your costs from your opponent even if you win in the following claims:

In these cases there is not a general costs regime requiring the payment of costs by a losing party to a successful party and each party is generally expected to pay their own costs of the litigation.

In the First-tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Tribunal), which hears cases concerning special educational needs and disability in schools, the Tribunal may make a Cost Order if the Tribunal considers that a party or his / her representative has acted unreasonably in bringing, defending or conducting the proceedings. It is very rare in practice for the Tribunal to make a costs order.

In the Employment Tribunal the Tribunal may make a Cost Order where the proceedings have been conducted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively, unreasonably, if the proceedings were misconceived or if a party has not complied with the Tribunal’s Order or direction.

In Court of Protection cases the general rule in proceedings concerning an individual’s personal welfare is that no order for costs will be made, unless a party has acted in bad faith or unreasonably. The general rule in proceedings concerning the property and affairs of an individual is that the costs of the proceedings shall be paid by the individual or his estate. The legal costs of defending yourself or your practice against regulatory or disciplinary proceedings are not generally recoverable and there are only limited circumstances in which a tribunal might make an award of costs in your favour. These will depend on the particular disciplinary tribunal in question but may include, for example, where the tribunal finds that the regulator has conducted the proceedings unreasonably or disproportionately.

Education Tribunal claims

Employment Tribunals claims

Most other claims in the Tribunal system

Court of Protection work

Legal advice on a matter which is not formally issued as a claim and does not conclude with a successful settlement

Defending yourself or your practice against regulatory investigation or proceedings

Page 54: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 23

E. Assessments of Costs

At the end of your case we will confirm the total of our charges, expenses and barristers’ fees. It may be necessary to prepare a “bill of costs”. This sets out in detail all the work done on your case.

If you are going to have to pay any of our charges, expenses or barristers’ fees you have the right to question and object to our costs. Please raise any concerns about our costs with your solicitor. If you remain unhappy you can complain about the costs we are charging to our complaints partner. For further details please see page 6 above Complaints.

You may also have the right to object by complaining to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment under Part III of the Solicitor’s Act.

If your claim is one for personal injury or clinical negligence in which you may be able to recover your costs from your Opponent, we may have to work to a Costs Budget, which sets out the work we think will be necessary on your case from after the Defence is served and the costs of it. We will try to agree this budget with your Opponent but if we cannot then a Judge will set the budget. In such cases in most circumstances we will then only be able to claim from your Opponent the costs set out in that budget, unless we apply to the Court to revise the budget.

Your Opponent will also have to set out a budget for their work and costs.

Not all costs will be subject to a Costs Budget. In those cases where there are no Costs Budgets (such as Judicial Review or contested employment claims) or when some costs are not budgeted at the end of your case it may be necessary to prepare a “bill of costs”. This bill will set out in detail all of the work done on your case and the costs of it not already covered by any Costs Budget. We will try to reach agreement with your Opponent about costs. If that is not possible, the Court will have to be asked to hold a hearing, which you will be able to attend, to assess costs in detail.

F. Financial Services

During the course of your retainer with us, we may recommend a policy of insurance to cover the costs risks of your case.

We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk/register.

The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial

Page 55: BY EMAIL PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL Email · EasyJet Data Breach Client Email: easyjetdatabreach@leighday.co.uk Your Ref: Our Ref: SDH-GTM/00244339/1 Date: June 2020 CLIENT CARE LETTER

Your guide to our services and costs Page | 24

Services and Markets Act 2000 but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of The Law Society and the Legal Ombudsman is the independent complaints body.

G. Interest

Leigh Day will account to you for a fair sum of interest on balances held on your behalf in our general client account. The amount of interest paid will depend on the amount of money and the length of time for which any cleared monies are held. Please be aware that the rate of interest will be less than you would receive if you were to invest the sum yourself as client funds must be available for use at any time. We will not normally account to you for interest of less than £20.

Please note that as of the 18th October 2016 we are no longer paid interest on our client account and thus no interest will be payable unless monies were held before that date. We will review our interest rate policy again as when our own interest rate changes.

If the other side has to pay part of your costs, they will probably also have to pay interest on those costs. However, they will not have to pay interest on costs from when you first started paying but only from the date on which your case ends. The current rate at which this type of interest has to be paid is 8% per annum. We are allowed to keep any interest your opponent pays on costs.

If you lose your case you will most probably have to pay interest on any costs you have to pay the other side from the date on which the case ends until the costs are paid.

5. CONCLUSION

We hope that you will be happy with the service provided by Leigh Day and that this booklet has explained all the key information you need to know about our service. If you have any further queries, please do ask for an explanation. This is an important document and we would suggest that you keep it safe for future reference.