Terms of Engagement

[LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED]

Status and acceptance

These Terms of Engagement are a professional template only. They do not become approved client terms until reviewed by an appropriately qualified Australian legal practitioner, approved by the business owner and issued with an individual written quotation or engagement proposal.

An engagement exists only when Forensys Veridica confirms acceptance in writing and the client accepts the quotation, scope and applicable final Terms of Engagement through the approved acceptance method. An enquiry, consultation booking, payment for the consultation or consultation attendance does not by itself create an ongoing service engagement.

Nature of the services

Forensys Veridica provides factual forensic consulting. Services may include forensic evidence organisation, factual analysis, chronology preparation, document review, contradiction and gap analysis, evidence matrices, document indexing, exhibit-organisation support, factual documentation support, structured data analysis and related consultancy described in the accepted quotation.

Only the services expressly identified in the accepted individual written quotation form part of the engagement.

Scope of work

The quotation or engagement schedule MUST identify the client, matter, objectives, deliverables, source materials, assumptions, exclusions, dependencies, estimated timing, fees, payment milestones and any secure-transfer method. Work outside that scope requires a written variation or new quotation accepted by both parties.

Forensys Veridica may pause work and seek clarification where instructions, source material, authority, access, deadlines or scope are incomplete or materially change.

Professional boundaries

Forensys Veridica is not a law firm. It does not provide legal advice, represent clients in court, prepare legal opinions or determine legal rights. It provides factual forensic consulting only.

No solicitor-client relationship or barrister-client relationship is created. Forensys Veridica does not act as the client’s legal representative, advocate, solicitor or barrister. Legal interpretation, legal advice, procedural advice, legal strategy and decisions about rights, obligations, filing, service, admissibility, privilege or use of outputs remain the responsibility of the client and, where required, an appropriately qualified Australian legal practitioner.

Engagement commencement

Substantive engagement commences only after:

• Forensys Veridica has assessed suitability and accepted the proposed work;
• an individual written quotation or engagement proposal has been issued;
• the client has accepted the final scope, fees, payment terms and legally reviewed Terms of Engagement using the approved method; and
• any required initial payment, authority, information or conflict/suitability check has been completed.

Forensys Veridica may decline proposed work before acceptance and need not provide a reason where doing so is lawful and appropriate.

Quotations and substantive work

The initial consultation is booked through Calendly. Any substantive forensic consulting, evidence analysis, chronology preparation, document review, report preparation or ongoing engagement requires an individual written quotation.

The quotation MUST be matter-specific. It MUST state whether pricing is fixed, hourly, staged or otherwise agreed and MUST identify any estimate limitations. No ongoing engagement is created solely by booking a consultation.

Fees and payment terms

The client must pay fees, approved expenses and applicable taxes in accordance with the accepted quotation and invoice. The quotation MUST state amounts or calculation methods, currency, GST treatment, deposits or milestones, invoice timing, payment due dates and the consequences of non-payment.

Forensys Veridica may suspend substantive work for overdue payment after providing any notice required by the final legally reviewed terms. No late fee, debt-recovery charge, interest or non-refundable amount may be imposed unless expressly stated in the legally reviewed accepted terms and permitted by applicable law.

The conditional AUD 110 consultation credit applies only where Forensys Veridica confirms it in writing as part of an approved substantive engagement. It is not automatic.

Consultation cancellation and rescheduling

Clients may cancel or reschedule without charge up to 24 hours before the scheduled consultation.

Requests made less than 24 hours before the scheduled consultation may be subject to the business cancellation policy.

This is an owner-updatable business policy. Any update MUST be version-controlled and reflected consistently in the Book page, FAQ, Website Terms of Use, Calendly settings and booking confirmations. Refund terms remain subject to the accepted terms and applicable law.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Client responsibilities

The client is responsible for providing timely, accurate and complete instructions; identifying deadlines; preserving original material; supplying material lawfully; confirming authority to instruct and disclose information; reviewing factual outputs; obtaining legal advice where required; and making all legal, procedural and strategic decisions.

The client must not direct Forensys Veridica to alter, conceal, fabricate, destroy or misrepresent evidence or to undertake unlawful, misleading or unethical conduct.

Confidentiality, privacy and secure transfer

Forensys Veridica will handle client information in accordance with the final Terms of Engagement, Privacy Policy, applicable law and approved operating controls. Confidentiality does not itself create legal professional privilege.

The public website does not accept evidence uploads. Sensitive evidence must not be sent by ordinary email unless an approved method has been confirmed for the material and matter. The client is responsible for following secure-transfer instructions and for identifying material that may require special handling.

Disclosure may be permitted where authorised by the client, required to provide the service through approved suppliers, required by law, necessary to protect lawful interests, or otherwise addressed in the legally reviewed final terms and Privacy Policy.

Deliverables and intellectual property

Pre-existing business methodologies, templates, know-how and tools remain owned by Forensys Veridica or the relevant rights holder. Client-supplied material remains subject to existing client or third-party rights.

The individual quotation MUST state ownership or licensing of final deliverables, permitted client use, whether modification is allowed, treatment of third-party material and any working-paper retention arrangements. Unless the final accepted terms state otherwise, no broader transfer or licence should be implied.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Reliance and use of outputs

Deliverables are factual consulting outputs prepared for the accepted scope and source material. They are not legal advice, legal opinions or a guarantee of outcome. The client is responsible for checking factual accuracy and obtaining legal advice before filing, serving, tendering, publishing, providing or relying on an output in a legal, regulatory, employment, insurance, administrative or dispute process.

Forensys Veridica does not determine admissibility, compliance, legal relevance, legal merit, procedural sufficiency or legal rights.

Termination

The final terms SHOULD allow either party to end the engagement by written notice, subject to appropriate notice, payment for completed work and approved expenses, return or handling of information, delivery of completed or paid-for outputs, and any continuing confidentiality, privacy, intellectual-property, liability and dispute provisions.

Forensys Veridica SHOULD be able to suspend or terminate where continued work would be unlawful, unsafe, unethical, outside scope, affected by non-payment, based on materially incomplete or misleading information, or otherwise inappropriate under the legally reviewed final terms.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Dispute resolution

A client should first raise a concern through the contact pathway stated in the quotation or invoice. The business should acknowledge the concern, preserve relevant records, investigate proportionately and attempt good-faith resolution.

The final clause MAY include escalation, negotiation or mediation steps but MUST preserve any non-excludable statutory rights, complaint avenues, urgent relief and jurisdictional requirements.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Liability framework and statutory rights

Forensys Veridica does not guarantee any legal, administrative, employment, insurance, commercial, court, tribunal or dispute outcome. Outputs depend on the scope, instructions and source material available.

Any exclusion, limitation, indemnity, reliance restriction, remedy limit or consequential-loss clause MUST be tailored by an Australian legal practitioner. Nothing in the final terms may exclude, restrict or modify a guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable law.

These draft terms do not state that the client waives all future claims or statutory or common-law rights.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Governing law

The draft governing-law baseline is Western Australia and applicable Commonwealth law, with submission to courts and tribunals having jurisdiction in Western Australia, subject to mandatory law or forum requirements.

The final clause MUST be confirmed for the contracting entity, client type and service context.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Entire agreement

The accepted quotation, engagement schedule, final Terms of Engagement and any documents expressly incorporated into them are intended to record the entire agreement about the accepted services and replace prior discussions about that scope, subject to representations, guarantees, rights and remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded.

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED

Variation

A variation to scope, deliverables, timing, assumptions, exclusions, fees or payment terms must be recorded in writing and accepted through the approved method. A change to standard legal terms requires owner approval and any further legal review appropriate to the change.

No AI developer, website editor or supplier may silently vary the approved legal wording.

Draft client acknowledgement

LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED: By accepting the individual written quotation and final Terms of Engagement, the client acknowledges that Forensys Veridica provides factual forensic consulting rather than legal services; is not the client’s solicitor or barrister; does not provide legal advice, representation, legal opinions or determinations of legal rights; and that the client remains responsible for obtaining advice from an appropriately qualified Australian legal practitioner where needed. This acknowledgement records the service distinction and does not purport to waive any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be waived.

Contact and acceptance

Questions about scope, fees or the proposed terms should be raised before acceptance. The final page MUST provide the owner-approved business contact details and the quotation MUST state the approved acceptance method.