1. About these Terms
These Terms and Conditions (Terms) govern your access to and use of the website at laurentyelegal.com.au (Website), which is owned and operated by Lauren Tye Legal Pty Ltd (ACN 648 556 361, ABN 17 648 556 361) (Lauren Tye Legal, we, us or our).
Lauren Tye Legal is a Melbourne-based law practice practising exclusively in criminal defence law. We are regulated under the Legal Profession Uniform Law as it applies in Victoria, and our principal lawyer, Lauren Tye, is admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of South Australia.
By accessing or using the Website you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website.
2. Information on this Website is general only
The content on this Website, including our practice area pages, case studies, Insights articles, answers to common questions and any downloadable material (Content), is provided for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and must not be relied on as legal advice.
Criminal law changes frequently. Court procedures, bail laws, sentencing practices, penalties and time limits may have changed since a page was written or last updated, and the law can differ between Victoria, other states and territories, and the Commonwealth. Unless otherwise stated, Content is written with Victorian law in mind.
Your situation depends on its own facts. Nothing on this Website takes into account your personal circumstances, the specific charges you face, the evidence in your matter or the court in which it is being heard. If you need advice about your situation, contact us and speak with a lawyer.
3. Using this Website does not make you our client
Reading, browsing or downloading Content, submitting an enquiry, or contacting us through the Website, by email, by telephone or through social media does not create a solicitor–client relationship between you and Lauren Tye Legal.
Before we can act for you, we must:
- confirm that we do not have a conflict of interest involving current or former clients or other people connected with your matter;
- confirm that your matter is within the type of work we undertake and that we have the capacity to take it on; and
- provide you with the costs disclosure required under the Legal Profession Uniform Law and agree the terms of our engagement with you, usually in a written costs agreement or engagement letter.
We become your lawyers only when we have confirmed in writing that we act for you. Until then, we are not responsible for taking any step in your matter, protecting your position, or monitoring or advising you about any court date, bail condition, appeal period, application deadline or other time limit. If you have a court date or a deadline, tell us as soon as you contact us and do not wait for a response to an online enquiry. Call us on 03 9108 1125.
4. Enquiries and initial consultations
Confidentiality. We treat every enquiry as confidential and handle the information you give us in accordance with our Privacy Policy and our professional obligations as lawyers. Communications with us for the purpose of obtaining legal advice are generally protected by legal professional privilege, even if we ultimately do not act for you. Privilege can be lost if you share the same information with other people, so keep your communications with us private and do not post details of your matter on social media or send them to us through social media messages.
What to include in an enquiry. Until we have completed our conflict check and confirmed that we act for you, we recommend that you provide only the information we need to assess whether we can help: your name, contact details, the nature of the charges or allegations, the police station or court involved, and any upcoming dates. Please do not send us documents, evidence or detailed statements until we ask for them.
Initial consultation. We offer an initial consultation free of charge and without obligation. It is a preliminary discussion to understand your situation, explain how the process works and outline how we may be able to assist. It does not include detailed advice on the merits of your case, a review of your brief of evidence or other documents, correspondence with police or prosecutors, or court attendance, unless we expressly agree otherwise. Any views expressed during an initial consultation are preliminary and are based only on the information available to us at the time.
Urgent matters. If you or someone you know has been arrested, is in custody, has been asked to attend a police interview, or has a court appearance within the next 48 hours, do not rely on the Website enquiry form. Call us on 03 9108 1125 (24/7) or 0451 877 714. Enquiries submitted through the Website may not be seen immediately.
Electronic communications. Email and online forms are not completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect the information you send us, we cannot guarantee that communications sent over the internet will not be intercepted or accessed by others. If you are concerned about the security of a particular communication, please call us instead.
Anti-spam notice. The email addresses and telephone numbers published on this Website are provided so that you can contact us about legal services. We do not consent to receiving unsolicited commercial electronic messages at these addresses, and you must not use them for that purpose or harvest them for any marketing list. Unsolicited commercial electronic messages may breach the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).
5. Fees and costs
Any information on this Website about fees, fixed fees or payment plans is general and indicative only. It is not an offer to provide legal services at a particular price and does not form part of any costs agreement.
Our fees depend on the type and complexity of your matter, its urgency, the court involved, the number of appearances required and whether the matter resolves early or proceeds to a contested hearing or trial. Before, or as soon as practicable after, we start work for you, we will provide the costs disclosure required under the Legal Profession Uniform Law and set out our fees and terms in a written costs agreement. Fixed fees and payment arrangements are available only where agreed with you in writing.
6. Case studies, outcomes and reviews
The case studies published on this Website describe matters in which we have acted. They have been anonymised to protect client confidentiality and are summaries only. They do not describe every fact, argument or step in the matter.
Past outcomes do not guarantee or predict future results. Every case depends on its own facts, the evidence, the applicable law and the court. Nothing on this Website should be understood as a promise that any particular result can or will be achieved in your matter.
Client reviews displayed on this Website are sourced from third-party platforms, including Google. They reflect the personal opinions and experiences of the people who wrote them and are displayed as published on those platforms. We do not guarantee the accuracy of third-party reviews, and they should not be relied on as an indication of the likely outcome of your matter.
7. Intellectual property
All Content on this Website, including text, articles, case studies, graphics, logos, images, page layouts, design and code, is owned by or licensed to Lauren Tye Legal and is protected by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and other intellectual property laws. The Lauren Tye Legal name and logo are our property and may not be used without our prior written consent.
You may view, download and print Content for your personal, non-commercial use, provided you keep all copyright and other proprietary notices intact. You must not otherwise reproduce, republish, distribute, modify, sell, scrape or mine any Content, create derivative works from it, or use it to train or develop artificial intelligence or machine learning systems, without our prior written consent. Short quotations with attribution and a link to the source page are permitted where they constitute fair dealing under the Copyright Act.
8. Acceptable use
You must not use this Website:
- for any unlawful purpose or in any way that breaches these Terms;
- to submit false, misleading or fraudulent information, or to impersonate any person;
- to send unsolicited communications, or to harvest contact details or other data from the Website;
- to interfere with the security or operation of the Website, including by introducing malicious code, attempting to gain unauthorised access, or using automated tools to access, scrape or overload the Website; or
- to harass, threaten or defame any person, or to post or transmit material that is offensive or unlawful.
We may suspend or restrict access to the Website, without notice, where we reasonably believe these Terms have been breached.
9. Third-party links, embeds and services
This Website contains links to, and content from, third-party websites and services, including Google Maps, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn), review platforms and analytics services. These are provided for your convenience. We do not control third-party websites or services and are not responsible for their content, availability, privacy practices or terms of use. Your use of any third-party website or service is governed by that third party’s terms. A link from this Website does not mean we endorse, or are affiliated with, the third party.
10. Website availability, accuracy and security
We take reasonable care to ensure that Content is accurate and current when it is published, and we review it periodically. However, we do not warrant that the Website or the Content is complete, accurate, up to date or free from errors, or that the Website will be available at all times, uninterrupted, or free from viruses or other harmful components. We may change, suspend or remove any part of the Website or the Content at any time without notice.
11. Liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy conferred by the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified.
Subject to that, and to the maximum extent permitted by law:
- we exclude all liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense (including indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, and loss of income, opportunity or reputation) arising from your use of, or reliance on, the Website or any Content, or from your inability to access the Website; and
- where our liability cannot be excluded but can be limited, our liability is limited, at our election, to resupplying the relevant services or paying the cost of having them resupplied.
This clause applies to the Website and its Content only. Our responsibility to clients for the legal services we provide is governed by our costs agreement, the Legal Profession Uniform Law and the general law, and our practice holds professional indemnity insurance as required in Victoria.
12. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify Lauren Tye Legal and its directors, employees and agents against any claim, loss, liability or expense (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your breach of these Terms or your unlawful use of the Website.
13. Privacy
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our professional obligations of confidentiality. By using the Website or submitting an enquiry, you acknowledge that you have read our Privacy Policy.
14. Accessibility
We are committed to making this Website accessible to as many people as possible, including people with disability, and we aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA, consistent with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). If you have difficulty accessing any part of this Website, or need Content in an alternative format, please contact us and we will do our best to assist.
15. Complaints
If you have a concern about this Website or our services, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve it. Concerns about the conduct of a lawyer, or the legal costs charged by a law practice in Victoria, may also be raised with the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner (lsbc.vic.gov.au, 1300 796 344). Concerns about how we handle your personal information can be raised as set out in our Privacy Policy.
16. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version will always be published on this page with the date it was last updated. Changes take effect when they are published. Your continued use of the Website after a change is published constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
17. General
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about your use of the Website. If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part will be severed and the remainder will continue to apply. Our failure to enforce any right under these Terms is not a waiver of that right.
These Terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia and, where applicable, the Commonwealth of Australia. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and the Commonwealth courts exercising jurisdiction in Victoria.
18. Contact us
Lauren Tye Legal Pty Ltd The Exchange Tower, 530 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: 03 9108 1125 (24/7)
Email: lauren@laurentyelegal.com.au
ABN 17 648 556 361