Terms & Conditions

  1. These terms and conditions apply to entries for The Client Choice Awards (Awards), irrespective of whether the firm’s entry has been accepted or not.
  2. The promoter of the Awards is Beaton Research + Consulting (ABN 48 135 310 459) of Suite 9.12, Level 9, 9 Yarra Street, South Yarra, Victoria, 3141, Australia (‘Beaton‘). Beaton independently conducts the research and adjudication of results for the Awards.
  3. Any information on the Awards website relating to entry into and conduct of the Awards forms part of these terms and conditions. This information includes the Beaton Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.
  4. Beaton is ineligible to apply for the Awards.
  5. A firm may only enter in one of the professions categories covered by the Awards.
  6. Beaton will acknowledge all entries on receipt of the firm’s completed entry form. If you have not received an acknowledgement within two working days, you should contact Beaton as your firm may not be entered in the Awards.
  7. Beaton may waive the entry criteria for any firm or may enter a firm that has not applied for the Awards.
  8. Only complete client databases will be valid for inclusion in the Awards. A complete client database refers to a complete list of the applicant firm’s clients and referrers (described hereafter as clients). Clients include current (last 12 months) and non-current clients to whom the firm has provided services. This list must include each client’s first name and email address. Actions that may render a database invalid include, but are not limited to, the firm submitting a database which contains only a portion of its clients.
  9. Beaton may reject an entry, including an entry that has previously been accepted, where the entrant has not complied with these terms and conditions, or where Beaton believes it is necessary in order to protect the integrity of the research process and the Awards. This would include, without limitation, where Beaton believes, for any reason, including our own testing, the entrant is attempting to manipulate ratings or has provided an invalid database of its client contacts.
  10. To ensure the integrity of the research, prior to announcing finalists and winners, Beaton may invite a prospective finalist or winner to allow an audit of the client database provided or used to ensure that it is a complete client database. Prospective finalists or winner must provide all reasonable assistance and information to Beaton to conduct the audit. Beaton may disqualify a finalist or winner if Beaton believes that the firm has not provided or used a complete client database.
  11. By entering, firms acknowledge that Beaton will de-duplicate and clean each firm’s database before the survey commences.
  12. Beaton agrees to hold the contents of firms’ databases confidential and will use the databases and the associated analyses only for the purposes of The Client Choice Awards and related research services that are by-products of the survey process, including Beaton Benchmarks and Beaton Compass, unless express instructions to do otherwise are received by Beaton.
  13. Beaton agrees to destroy the databases and any copies of it within 24 months of the completion of the survey process unless express instructions to do otherwise are received by Beaton.
  14. Beaton disclaims all liability to entrants in relation to any representations made in relation to The Client Choice Awards, except those liabilities that cannot by law be disclaimed. In particular, Beaton disclaims any liability for the accuracy of the research and the choosing of winners and finalists, subject to any rights that cannot be waived. Entrants waive their rights to injunctive relief in relation to The Client Choice Awards, the research process or use of the research data, including an injunction to prevent publication of winners.
  15. As the research depends upon an individual respondent being prepared to rate professional service providers and then identifying firms and practitioners as providers, Beaton makes no representation regarding the availability of client rating data in relation to a particular firm or practitioner.
  16. As the research process depends on third parties’ willingness to respond to an online survey, Beaton cannot guarantee that sufficient rating data will be collected to a) identify finalists or winners of particular Awards, b) include entrants in the Awards, or c) provide the performance ratings of specific firms and/or practitioners.
  17. Where Beaton receives a delivery failure message when sending the online survey to an email address, Beaton may exclude that individual from the research process without any further attempt to ascertain the individual’s correct email address.
  18. Client contacts provided by an entering firm may be asked to rate the performance of a firm or practitioner in addition to or instead of the entrant. This may be for reasons that include the research method and the fact that individuals may be nominated by several entrants as a client contact.
  19. Beaton reserves the right to not select finalists or winners in an Award category.
  20. Beaton is the exclusive owner of the research data, intellectual property rights in the research data and research process, and the Client Choice Awards.
  21. If, as a result of a firm both a) entering the Client Choice Awards as a single brand; and b) using Firmchecker for individual offices of the firm, a firm qualifies for more than one size category within a profession, that firm will only be eligible to be recognised as a finalist in the largest size category for which it has qualified.