Car Lawyer
Author
Discussion

LordFlathead

Original Poster:

9,646 posts

287 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Can anyone recommend from personal experience, a lawyer who's specialty is classic car sales? I need some advice regarding a sale I need to repudiate. Many thanks in advance.

anonymous-user

83 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Wilmots

anonymous-user

83 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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You do not wish to repudiate a sale unless you are unwise. Repudiate does not mean what you may think it means in this context. To repudiate a contract is to breach it. This shows that you are sensible to seek a lawyer.

Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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BV, is lawyer the new word for solicitor? Is it an american thing that's taking over?

Sebring440

3,209 posts

125 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Boosted LS1 said:
BV, is lawyer the new word for solicitor? Is it an american thing that's taking over?
How is "lawyer" a new word? Is a solicitor not a lawyer?



anonymous-user

83 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Sebring440 said:
Is a solicitor not a lawyer?
She could be and moonlighting in the local red-light district.


Cudd Wudd

1,118 posts

154 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Boosted LS1 said:
BV, is lawyer the new word for solicitor? Is it an american thing that's taking over?
From the SRA website (https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/choosing/legal-jargon-explained/):

“Lawyer is a general term used to describe people who provide legal services. Unlike terms such as solicitor or barrister, lawyer has no defined meaning in UK law. Anyone can call themselves a lawyer, regardless of whether they have any professional legal qualifications or not.”

The end bit shows that the OP was right to ask in here biggrin



anonymous-user

83 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
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Lawyer is not a new word. Lawyer is not a term defined or protected by statute. Types of lawyer include -

Barristers (in Scotland called Advocates)
Solicitors
Notaries
Legal Executives
Trade Mark Attorneys/Patent Agents
and some might say Paralegals

Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Boosted LS1 said:
BV, is lawyer the new word for solicitor? Is it an american thing that's taking over?
In the US, a lawyer is usually called an Attorney, sometimes "Attorney at Law" . Sometimes you see the term "Counsellor at Law". A few American lawyers call themselves Barristers, which is in fact what they mostly are, by historical origin. American lawyers call each other "Counsellor", and some of us English ones have recently started doing this in a satirical way, but only amongst friends and to wind each other up.

Note that a few pompous old Barristers in England still call themselves "Barrister at Law" but that title is no longer the official one. Irish Barristers still go by Barrister at Law and may sign themselves Paddy O' Reilly BL. A QC (Queen's Counsel) or SC (Senior Counsel - in Common Law countries that have Silks but no Monarch) is a sub set of Barristers. Called Silks or Leaders in everyday lawyer chat.

Solicitors in the UK used to be called Attorneys. The term Attorney is still used in some Caribbean Anglosphere jurisdictions.

Displacement activity: I am up early and do not want to do a document that I have got up early to do, so I can if anyone is interested do a potted and summary history of the legal profession with some explanation of the nomenclature of lawyers in Common Law (Anglosphere) and Civil Law (rest of the Western World) . countries. A good cure for insomnia, perhaps.

But far better if I go and post about old Fiats instead. Fiat justitia, ruat caelum!



S2r

787 posts

107 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Breadvan72 said:
Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.
Is the classic car market that bad legal wise ???

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Well that went rapidly OT.......

CanAm

13,957 posts

301 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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S2r said:
Breadvan72 said:
Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.
Is the classic car market that bad legal wise ???
Judging by the high profile cases that have been featured on PH, definitely!

Driver101

14,451 posts

150 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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CanAm said:
S2r said:
Breadvan72 said:
Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.
Is the classic car market that bad legal wise ???
Judging by the high profile cases that have been featured on PH, definitely!
Reading the eBay and ringing threads those cars and identities are going to pop up somewhere in the future. There must be lots of classic cars that aren't what they claim.

QuickQuack

2,811 posts

130 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Breadvan72 said:
Displacement activity: I am up early and do not want to do a document that I have got up early to do, so I can if anyone is interested do a potted and summary history of the legal profession with some explanation of the nomenclature of lawyers in Common Law (Anglosphere) and Civil Law (rest of the Western World) . countries. A good cure for insomnia, perhaps.
Yes please, I'd find that really interesting! I suspect a larger number would enjoy the piece about old Fiats though.

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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S2r said:
Breadvan72 said:
Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.
Is the classic car market that bad legal wise ???
The top end of the classic car market is riddled with fraud, so partly yes.

In the middle and bottom bits of the market, there is not enough money to litigate about.

4rephill

5,167 posts

207 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Breadvan72 said:
S2r said:
Breadvan72 said:
Wilmots is a firm of solicitors that specialises in legal work relating to classic cars.
Is the classic car market that bad legal wise ???
The top end of the classic car market is riddled with fraud, so partly yes.

In the middle and bottom bits of the market, there is not enough money to litigate about.
A classic example [ excuse the pun ] (From: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C816650 ):



The car is being misrepresented as being a genuine RHD car - When in fact it's a converted LHD car that is worth a lot less than a genuine RHD car.

The car is also being advertised as being a 1984, when it is actually a 1981 model, which for many, is a less desirable model.

If you know what you're looking at, then you know exactly what it is, and you know it's not worth anything like the asking price.

If you didn't know what it really is, you could end up paying over the odds for the car (as a converted LHD, it's worth @ £10K~£20K less than a genuine RHD in the same condition)

The sad part is, the seller has been notified on several occasions that they are misrepresenting the vehicle, and could face legal action from any buyer who finds out about it, and although they have modified the advert to a degree (the original advert from @ 2 years ago made even stronger claims to being a factory supplied RHD - Which it never was!), the car is still being advertised giving the impression that it is a genuine RHD.

Should anyone buy the car for anything like the asking price (God forbid!), then they will be in need of specialist classic car legal representation for any litigation to address the situation, when they find out that they have been misled.


anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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carandclassic will pull an advert if it is iffy. The people who run the website are very approachable. Drop them an email.

4rephill

5,167 posts

207 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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Breadvan72 said:
carandclassic will pull an advert if it is iffy. The people who run the website are very approachable. Drop them an email.
Good call - I'll give that a try.

I did get in touch with the people selling the Ferrari in the past via email, pointing out the misrepresentation, in the hope they would see sense, and advertise the car in a more legal manner.

I received a very abusive reply, telling me: "Mind your own f&$king business!" - Which didn't exactly come as a surprise to be honest.

(And made them sound like lovely people to do business with!rolleyes )

JNW1

9,477 posts

223 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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4rephill said:
A classic example [ excuse the pun ] (From: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C816650 ):



The car is being misrepresented as being a genuine RHD car - When in fact it's a converted LHD car that is worth a lot less than a genuine RHD car.

The car is also being advertised as being a 1984, when it is actually a 1981 model, which for many, is a less desirable model.

If you know what you're looking at, then you know exactly what it is, and you know it's not worth anything like the asking price.

If you didn't know what it really is, you could end up paying over the odds for the car (as a converted LHD, it's worth @ £10K~£20K less than a genuine RHD in the same condition)

The sad part is, the seller has been notified on several occasions that they are misrepresenting the vehicle, and could face legal action from any buyer who finds out about it, and although they have modified the advert to a degree (the original advert from @ 2 years ago made even stronger claims to being a factory supplied RHD - Which it never was!), the car is still being advertised giving the impression that it is a genuine RHD.

Should anyone buy the car for anything like the asking price (God forbid!), then they will be in need of specialist classic car legal representation for any litigation to address the situation, when they find out that they have been misled.
Hmm, that is a bit naughty. However, I suppose when you read the advert there's enough in there to make you ask the question whether it's an original RHD car; the headline certainly suggests it is but from the text of the advert it's clearly a LHD car that's been converted.

The same applies to the year of manufacture - the headline says 1984 but again when you read through the text of the advert it says 1981 (and hence there's enough there to prompt a savvy buyer to ask the question). As you say, it does make a difference though - I'd have thought a 1984 308 would (should) be the Quattrovalvole whereas one of 1981 vintage most certainly wouldn't be; I suppose some might prefer carburettors to fuel injection and the 32 valve head but I suspect many would prefer the later model (and nobody would want to pay 1984 model money for a 1981 car!).

These inconsistencies might be excusable as genuine mistakes but if the seller has had them pointed out you can only conclude they're hoping to catch a buyer who's gullible enough to pay for something they're not really getting. All says to me that particular seller is probably best avoided - sadly I don't have the money to afford a toy like that but if I had I'd want to be going to someone reputable to buy it.....

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 31st August 2020
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I used to be a poor people lawyer, or at least some of the time. Sometimes I was a taxpayer people lawyer (ie acting for the Government- my most notorious villain of a client was one M Thatcher - that ages me). These days, somewhat regrettably (but needs must) I am more of a rich people lawyer. My view is naturally a jaundiced one, because I see the Pathology of the broken promise and the deal gone sour, but my opinion of rich people is not in general a high one. One of the things that rich people like is very high end classic cars. The World built around those cars is, to say the least, spivvy.

You do not need to operate out of a caravan on a bomb site to be an Arthur Daley. Interestingly, the upmarket spivs are just as tastelessly over-dressed as Arfur was. Actually, he was quite well dressed compared to these shysters.

If legit concerns about the ad are reported to carandclassic, the site managers may ask the seller to justify the ad's claims or pull the ad.