Please observe the detailed notes about contacting us in an emergency, set out at this link. We do ask new clients to undertake proper due diligence on us, at the very least confined to a careful review of the details of this website. before contacting us. Please make initial first contact with us making it clear who you are. Writing to us with unusual email addresses, stories about companies that cannot be verified through basic due diligence, unusual mobile telephone numbers, etcetera will be immediately be met with the response "who are you and how can we help you?". If you cannot give us a satisfactory answer to these elementary questions then the opening discussion will come to an immediate conclusion.

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Please also be prepared to explain in full chronological detail the nature of your problem; and prepare to be asked many questions about it. We aim to work using the truth, and if you do not work within a process aimed at establishing the truth, then you cannot hire us. The problems we deal with are complicated enough without our clients deceiving us or withholding important information.

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We are particularly aware of people contacting us who are not who they say they are and for purposes they seek to hide from us. We spot these things very quickly and we promptly discard the client with referral to law enforcement authorities if we consider it appropriate.

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Please also, before contacting us, read the following notes with particular care.

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No paranoia without grounds

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Very few people are having their electronic communications routinely monitored. That having been said, some are and some of our possible clients may be in those risk categories. If you are at risk of having your electronic communications eavesdropped, then you should assume that there is no way of preventing this (governments currently have the upper hand in the constant battle between those who would surveil and those who would seek to defeat them) and you should simply accept that some government intelligence service or other is aware that you have instructed us and for what purpose.

But most probably, even if you are very senior person, this is not happening (or at least not in the way you think) most of the time. It is hugely resource-consuming to a monitor a single person's electronic communications 24/7 and that is why it seldom happens, even to senior politicians.

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On the other hand, if you are certain that this is happening to you (i.e. you are convinced that you are in one of a tiny minority) and you think it is essential (for your safety, for example) that the eavesdropper not listen into our discussion, then please contact us and ask for a meeting in person. To ensure good faith on your part, we will raise an invoice to cover travel time and expenses where we have to travel to initiate client contact. We never permit our clients to make travel or accommodation arrangements for us.

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Do not contact us without compelling reason

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We treat every piece of communication we receive seriously. If you send us Spam, it will be reported and blocked. We do not accept marketing materials, offers or invitations to purchase services from any business whatsoever.

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We are not an intelligence agency nor a proxy for one. Please do not send us requests for information about sensitive or other matters you think we might know something about, or correspondence leading to such requests. We do not convey routine intelligence information, unless we have a specific client mandate to do so. We act for clients who pay; (and in very limited circumstances, we act pro bono where a client specifically asks us to and we accept their proven grounds both as to their impecuniosity and the justice of the cause). If you are not interested in becoming a client of The Paladins Organisation, it is unlikely that you have sufficient reason to contact us.

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If you send us "trolling" (i.e. offensive or threatening communications), then we will study each one on a case-by-case basis and decide how to react so as to deter such future communications, if necessary by exposing those communications and/or reporting them to the Police.

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You should not contact us unless you have prospective client business; or you are a third party with a legitimate interest in business we are conducting on behalf of a client. Even then we may not be able to respond to you; our clients are confidential and we cannot disclose their identities without that client's consent.

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We are not a media relations firm and we do not issue press statements, save such statements that may be perused on the "News" section of our website. We do not respond to unsolicited media queries. They will be treated in the same way as Spam.

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Official Secrets Act 1989

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As an organisation, we endeavour at all times to comply with the provisions of the United Kingdom's Official Secrets Act 1989. However we neither assert, concede nor deny that any part of that Act is applicable either to our organisation to any person or entity associated with that organisation. Notwithstanding all the foregoing, we have published a critique of the Official Secrets Act 1989, but that publication does not represent our official policy towards the 1989 Act. The extent of our official policy towards the 1989 Act is as set out in this paragraph.

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Terms, conditions and miscellania

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In the absence of contrary agreement, a person contacting us for advice or assistance is agreeing to pay an hourly rate of GBP650, plus disbursements at cost, to such person or entity as we may present upon the faces of our invoices. This rule overrides all other terms and conditions contained herein unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.

Confirmation of identity: as a rule (subject to what is set out below), we need to know who our clients are. As a general rule, we need documentation confirming their identity. For regulated work (i.e. provision of services regulated in the jurisdiction in which they are undertaken), we will typically ask for a copy of the client's / UBO's passport photo page and a utility bill or other document confirming address. These documents may be privileged, and therefore in the ordinary course of business they may remain confidential to us. The same documentary requirements apply where we are asked to hold client money for any purpose other than an advance provision on account of our fees. We may also ask for the same such confirmation of identity documents in unregulated work, at our exclusive discretion, depending upon how easy it is for us to verify our client's identity using other means.

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In the event that we undertake regulated work it will be covered by a retainer letter and undertaken through a regulated person or entity; in any such case the contracting party will be identified. We will make the contracting party clear in correspondence and/or advance payment invoices.

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In the absence of contrary agreement, the client is agreeing to pay the various hourly rates of the Paladins working on their project and the hourly rates of the staff members. Full confidentiality and legal privilege within the maximum limits of the law is always implied, subject to these terms and conditions.

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We always take an advance provision on account of fees and costs (save where we agree to work without fee - something that, if it occurs, will always be recorded in writing). This applies irrespective of the solvency of the client or the amount of work that client may send us. Payment is always in advance. We will stop work when the advance provision is exhausted, pending receipt of a further advance.

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In many cases we will work for a fixed fee, which must be paid either entirely in advance or, if agreed in writing, against milestones. We will never ask for a tail-end fee or success fee of any kind, and we never provide credit to our clients.

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Our billing and banking currency for all purposes is GBP, save where we reach exceptional contrary written agreement with our clients.

Our billing philosophy is not based upon a client's wealth (save where we work without charge), but rather upon our assessment of the complexity and difficulty of the matter. Whether you be a local business or Elon Musk, our fees will be the same for the same piece of work. We charge travel at 50% of our hourly rates plus expenses. We fly in Business Class and stay in business standard hotels unless there is an operational reason not to do so.

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Where our client is a government entity we may not require a written retainer agreement unless a regulator so mandates, but we will need to satisfy ourselves that the person instructing us on behalf of that public sector body has sufficient authority, for example by writing to that person setting out the scope and principal terms of our mandate.

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Trading with the Enemy

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As an organisation subject to English law, under the Trading with the Enemy Act 1939 we cannot act for any client that is a public body, person or entity of any state with whom the United Kingdom is formally at war. At the time of writing there are no such countries.

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Nevertheless, with every respect and courtesy intended to the lawful authorities of those jurisdictions, we do not as a rule accept instructions in a lawyer-client capacity from the government (or any public authority or proxy of a public authority) of the following jurisdictions: the Russian Federation; the People's Republic of China; the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, the Republic of Abkhazia; the Republic of South Ossetia (a/k/a the State of Alania); the People's Democratic Republic of Korea; the Islamic Republic of Iran; the State of Kuwait; the de facto authorities of the Gaza Strip; Hamas; Hezbollah; the Syrian Arab Republic; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (also known by various regional names); Al-Qaida or any of its derivative affiliates, the Taleban (by which we mean the de facto lawful authorities in the predominant parts of Afghanistan). Our inability to act for any of the aforementioned public authorities should not be construed as our having any particular political position in respect of any dispute in which they may be immersed.  

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However we are prepared in principle to act for private entities and private persons in those jurisdictions, if a just and equitable case is made out. Moreover we will consider any application to us to exclude the above mentioned rules and to act for one of the aforementioned governments and/or public bodies (or otherwise) on a case-by-case basis, where we consider that accepting the instructions would be indisputably in the greater good.

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Security issues, emails and Instant Messaging

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No contract terms can be created using self-imploding messages or messages otherwise timed to self-erase after any particular period.

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Each instant messaging service you may use to communicate with us has different security advantages (and disadvantages relating to ease of use). If you wish to communicate in one of these ways and you are not certain which messaging application you should use, start with Viber or Signal (both free) and we will guide you.

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It is often preferable to use instant messaging services not on mobile telephones but on laptop or desktop computers.

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We are not responsible for any losses that occur as a result of electronic communications interference with emails or instant messaging services. Nor are we responsible in instances where imposters may falsely hold themselves out on our behalf.

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It is possible to fake a person's identity using electronic communications, and this is well within the capacity both of some less salubrious governmental authorities and certain private individuals with access to software generating electronic communications interference. We counsel all parties who may use electronic means to communicate with us to exercise caution.

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No holding out

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No individual or entity has the legal authority to hold themselves out as representatives of The PALADINS Organisation (or any entity or individual associated with us) except the Managing Partner, whose name and identity details are provided on the "Paladins Legal" webpage of this website.

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No relationships with other organisations with similar names

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We are not the only organisation with the moniker "The Paladins". There are a handful to our knowledge, including one that is a computer game and one or more that may appear to be far-right / racist organisations. We have no relationship with any other organisation or group calling itself "the Paladins" or anything similar, and we never will do. Nor do we support or have any sympathies with with any such organisations. The PALADINS Organisation prides itself upon the ethics and integrity with with which it undertakes its work, including an abhorrence of racism and extremist political views. Also we are strictly neutral in issues of religion, working with people of all faiths and none.

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Terms and conditions of engagement by Hidden and Undisclosed Principals

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1. English law (that applies to these terms and conditions) distinguishes between where a party come to us on behalf of a principal who does not wish to be identified (a "Hidden Principal"), and one in which a party comes to us not in their own capacity at all but on behalf of a party we are not told exists (an "Undisclosed Principal").

2. Undisclosed Principals are a form of deceitful concealment and fraud upon us. If we find that there is an Undisclosed Principal, we reserve the right to terminate the relationship; keep all funds paid to us; undertake no further work; report the matter to law enforcement authorities; and/or commence civil litigation.

3. By contrast hidden principals may exceptionally give us instructions in certain circumstances by way of their agents, subject to the following provisos.

4. The agent and the hidden principal warrant that there are no conflicts of interests between our accepting these instructions and any other client mandate we may have or have had (or will have).

5. We accept instructions of a generic and objective nature only, e.g. to provide a piece of objective advice on a specific geopolitical situation.

6. We reserve the right to terminate the relationship at any time, keeping all moneys received.

7. The agent is always liable as though he were principal.

8. We do not accept in respect of regulated work on behalf of hidden principals.

9. Nor will be hold moneys on account or trust for such clients.

10. We offer no conflicts of interest protection in respect of such a relationship.

11. We offer no confidentiality obligation in respect of such a relationship.

12. The agent warrants that all instructions conveyed to us are lawful.

13. We may require disclosure of the hidden principal's name and coordinates at any time, terminating the relationship upon such request if not honestly and frankly complied with.

14. We must know the identity and coordinates or our payor, for the purposes of invoices.

15. All funds for any work payable fully and in advance.

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Governing law and jurisdiction

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This website is governed by English law. Any relationships entered into entities and/or individuals (howsoever the PALADINS Organisation may from time to time contract, which will be clear from the face of the first invoice which will always be payable in advance) whose work it describes are governed by English law. All legal relationships created by interactions with The Paladins Organisation or any person of entity(ies) associated with it are governed by English law, and the English courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes arising out of or in relation to any such legal relationship.