Complaints Against Solicitors
Discussion
A friend of mine has been using a solicitor in a divorce financial settlement case in England. She has lost faith in the conduct of this solicitor and accuses them of incompetence, negligence, inflated bills, you name it. She has complained verbally to the head partner (and says she was charged for that appointment!) but I haven't yet persuaded her to follow up with their full internal complaints procedure. Her financial settlement case is still being handled by the same solicitors and I think her main goal is to not rock the boat before it is completed. Fees so far are upwards of £100000, her ex lives in Italy.
She has found a No Win No Fee company who she wants to use to 'get the b
ds' as soon as she can. i.e. she wants the fees reassessed. The one she has fixed on is Advocate Legal Services a.k.a. Freeway Legal services of Knutsford. I can't find any reviews good or bad online, odd for a 3 year old company? She is aware that they would take 1/3 of any financial settlement. Their MD shows as previously associated with 8 dissolved companies and presently also is Director of a Crash Claims Management company and insurance claim lease car company all through the same address as A.L.S. Assets and liabilities seem crap if the company is any good. Am I wrong to feel this is something my friend ought to stay clear of? On another thread someone recommended JMD Law in Cardiff:
http://www.jmdlaw.co.uk/suingaprofessional
Does anyone have experience of them or would like to suggest an alternative?
She has found a No Win No Fee company who she wants to use to 'get the b
ds' as soon as she can. i.e. she wants the fees reassessed. The one she has fixed on is Advocate Legal Services a.k.a. Freeway Legal services of Knutsford. I can't find any reviews good or bad online, odd for a 3 year old company? She is aware that they would take 1/3 of any financial settlement. Their MD shows as previously associated with 8 dissolved companies and presently also is Director of a Crash Claims Management company and insurance claim lease car company all through the same address as A.L.S. Assets and liabilities seem crap if the company is any good. Am I wrong to feel this is something my friend ought to stay clear of? On another thread someone recommended JMD Law in Cardiff:http://www.jmdlaw.co.uk/suingaprofessional
Does anyone have experience of them or would like to suggest an alternative?
It isn't a wind-up. Did you think I'd write all that to troll the site?
She's very headstrong, has no faith that the solicitor's internal complaints will deliver what she feels has been overcharged and does not think the SRA has the teeth to deal with it. She probably isn't wrong.
I''ve said similar things to her but she seems hell-bent on using a professional negligence-type firm, so I wondered if anyone had a suggestion other than the one I posted in my OP, or info on the one I mentioned.
She's very headstrong, has no faith that the solicitor's internal complaints will deliver what she feels has been overcharged and does not think the SRA has the teeth to deal with it. She probably isn't wrong.
I''ve said similar things to her but she seems hell-bent on using a professional negligence-type firm, so I wondered if anyone had a suggestion other than the one I posted in my OP, or info on the one I mentioned.
Thanks for the level headed responses, reaffirms what I've already suggested to my friend about engaging with this company. I hope I can nudge her back towards the complaints procedure and the ombudsman route.
I think she has caused some of the additional costs with her decisions, whether she can accept that I doubt. Her case was always going to be expensive, her ex is in Italy and not communicative so the solicitors would have had a lot of work on their hands with him. She's a hotheaded type too.
What's latched in my friends mind though is that she found that some of the partners were found to have been guilty of falsifying some documentation and fined fairly heavily. To her that shows that they can' the trusted any more to abide by any professional rules.
I'll see how it goes when I talk to her next.
I think she has caused some of the additional costs with her decisions, whether she can accept that I doubt. Her case was always going to be expensive, her ex is in Italy and not communicative so the solicitors would have had a lot of work on their hands with him. She's a hotheaded type too.
What's latched in my friends mind though is that she found that some of the partners were found to have been guilty of falsifying some documentation and fined fairly heavily. To her that shows that they can' the trusted any more to abide by any professional rules.
I'll see how it goes when I talk to her next.
She's got the judgement she wanted regarding a property in Italy so she doesn't need the services of an international divorce lawyer any more. The loose ends are being tied up at the moment, it's just the way her case was handled by her solicitors that is the sticking point for her.
I'll point he in the direction of the PNLA for now as Lurking Lawyer suggested.
I'll point he in the direction of the PNLA for now as Lurking Lawyer suggested.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff