What should solicitors do if a client phones you and asks for work to be done urgently? Comply with new rules for contracts made on the phone, net, and by mail order, advises nicola laver

A deal is a deal and a retainer is a retainer.

Or are they? Maybe not anymore, it seems, as solicitors across many practice areas - from conveyancing to probate, family law to e-commerce - come to terms with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.Consider this scenario.

A conveyancing solicitor gives a telephone quote for a house purchase.

When he receives a cheque in the post for disbursements, the solicitor starts to carry out work on behalf of the client.

A month later, the client cancels the transaction.

The solicitor must refund the client for disbursements and, more cruelly, cannot bill him for the work done.

He did not comply with the regulations which required him to provide certain information about his service (see box) and the right to cancel the transaction within a 'cooling-off' period.

The regulations, which came into force last October, apply to contracts with consumers made 'at a distance', for example, by telephone, mail order and the Internet.

They do not apply to one-off contracts - that is, where such contracts are not usually made in that way - or to matters relating to the client's business.Contracts for the actual sale of land are exempt from the regulations.

Michael King, chairman of the Law Society's conveyancing and land law committee, has serious concerns about the implications for the general conveyancing process.

He says: 'As contracts for the sale of an interest in land are exempt, it is surely a non sequitur for contracts for conveyancing services to be caught.' If full details of the service are provided - most of which should normally be included in the client-care letter anyway - a client has a seven-day cooling-off period in which he can cancel.

This statutory right of withdrawal does not apply where the relevant details have been given, the supplier has been informed that unless otherwise agreed, he cannot cancel, and work has already begun.

If the information has not been provided, and no notice of the seven-day period has been given, the cooling-off period becomes an additional 30 days.

This is where many solicitors will be caught off guard.

Mr King adds: 'Regulation 19 stipulates that unless the parties agree otherwise, the "supplier" shall perform the contract within a maximum of 30 days.

If not, it is to be treated as if it has not been made.'It is at least arguable that in conveyancing transactions the "performance" of the contract would include registration.

This is nonsense, and is as clear an indication as could be that the regulations were never intended to apply to conveyancing transactions.' Therefore, conveyancing solicitors in particular will be pleased to note that the 30-day period for performance of the contract can be extended by agreement.

Mr King says his committee has agreed that an exemption from the regulations 'should be sought on the grounds that it is beyond belief that the regulations were intended to catch legal services, especially conveyancing, where the result would be that they would cause chaos'.

This would undermine the intention behind part 1 of the Homes Bill - before it fell because of the general election - of hastening the home-buying process.Susan Singleton of London firm Singletons does not like the regulations.

She says: 'They undermine the principle of freedom of contract and encourage consumers to get out of contracts once made.

Leaving that aside, I think those who provide services very quickly after they are instructed should be exempt.' In the meantime, where does that leave the solicitor who just been requested by telephone to draft an urgent will for a new client before he flies off on an exotic holiday? David Long, partner at City firm Charles Russell, has a simple answer: 'You should never take instructions like that if you can possibly help it.

You can't know your client on the basis of a telephone call.

When you are receiving instructions you should at least meet.' He says, this is necessary to give advice as to tax, identity of beneficiaries, and to assess the mental capacity of the client.

Ms Singleton offers advice for solicitors acting on urgent matters: 'They can tell consumers they will be providing the work straight away.

They can do what I do when I get urgent instructions - always e-mail or fax the client-care letter immediately.

They can ensure that everyone in their firm knows what the regulations say and mean, or they could ensure they always meet clients, which is good practice.' Urgent matrimonial matters are par for the course with family practitioners.

Marilyn Stowe, chief assessor of the Law Society's family law panel, says: 'If they are caught by these regulations, family lawyers could find themselves in difficulties where they are contacted by a new client to handle an emergency out of office hours.

'Few family lawyers will put the formal submission of their firm's terms and conditions before attempting to assist the new client, who may be in considerable distress, and accordingly a great deal of work may be done for which the client might subsequently decide not to pay - when the emergency has been resolved.

Solicitors dealing with emergency out-of-office work may need seriously to consider their firm's policy in relation to protection of their costs.'Personal injury work is unlikely to be affected by the regulations to any great extent.

Colin Simpson, chief assessor of the Law Society's personal injury panel, says solicitors are not going to be doing a lot before the seven- or 30-day cooling-off period.He adds: 'Now that you have the Civil Procedure Rules, the most you can do in the seven days is file the claim form, do the protocol letter, and then you leave it to the insurers, who have 90 days to decide whether to defend the case.

Because of this, the regulations aren't going to have a major impact.' For e-commerce solicitors, the burden is greater.

Karl Vincent, assistant solicitor at London firm Olswang, acts for Web sites and says: 'Compliance costs, an ignorance among consumers and suppliers of the substantive content of the regulations, and a general reliance by UK Web sites on on-line contracts prepared for the US market, are largely to blame.' One problem Mr Vincent faces is determining when performance of the contract begins.

For example, his firm had to consider the application of the cancellation provisions to the on-line sale of top-up codes for mobile phones.

He asks: 'Does performance commence when a consumer activates their top-up code by keying it into their mobile phone? This arrangement would cause obvious problems for the supplier, because when a consumer cancels the purchase of a code, the supplier would be obliged to return the payment to that consumer.

Although there is a strong argument that the services are supplied when the supplier actually delivers the top-up code, there is a clear risk that the Department of Trade and Industry and/or the courts will view the supply differently.'Dilatory solicitors, realising they are running the risk of a cancelled transaction, need not panic.

Just send a letter with the information under regulations 7 and 8, review client-care letters - and consider refusing taking on clients without seeing them.

That way, lawyers should not get caught out.

Nicola Laver is a freelance Journalist

Step-by-step guide to Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000Summary of Information to be supplied under regulation 7, relating to information required prior to the conclusion of the contractl Identity of supplier and, if payment is to be made in advance, the supplier's address;l Description of the main characteristics of the goods or services; l Prices including taxes; l Any delivery costs; l Arrangements for payments, delivery or performance; l Existence of right to cancel where one exists; l Cost of using the distance communication if not calculated at the basic rate; l Price validation period; l Minimum duration of the contract where appropriate, and; l That alternative goods or services will be provided if those ordered are not available; if this is the intention; and that the costs of returning those goods will be met by the supplier if the consumer returns them.

Summary of information to be supplied under regulation 8, relating to written andadditional informationl Items 1-6 under regulation 7; l Conditions and procedures for exercising the right tocancel; l Geographical address to which complaints may be sent; l Any after-sales services or guarantees, and; l Conditions for exercising any contractual right to cancel the contract, where the contract is of any unspecified duration or a duration exceeding one year.