Bloody lawyers
Discussion
Went to court today, went go too much into detail of what it was about, but it was a civil matter.
I spent 3-4 hours breathing the solicitor on the facts of the case, I provided a statement saying what I thought should be sent to the court. The solicitors said leave it with us don't worry.
On the day of the hearing:
1. The barrister turns up with a fax saying where he should be and a brief summary (none of the evidence filed).
2. The statement to the court prepared by the solicitor turns up 2 minutes before the hearing and is full of inaccuracies and we are pressured to sign it.
3. When the barrister goes into court, he is totally unprepared other than a 2 page fax, he gets wrong the details of the case and the judge gives him a ticking off for being unprepared.
A cut and dry case then has to go for a further hearing.
Why do we have a solicitor/barrister system in the legal profession, if I was ever before the court of a criminal offence I would be terrified of the legal consequences of having duff barrister (or a judge in a bad mood).
Anyone else suffer the same? Any lawyers care to respond and defend their profession.
I spent 3-4 hours breathing the solicitor on the facts of the case, I provided a statement saying what I thought should be sent to the court. The solicitors said leave it with us don't worry.
On the day of the hearing:
1. The barrister turns up with a fax saying where he should be and a brief summary (none of the evidence filed).
2. The statement to the court prepared by the solicitor turns up 2 minutes before the hearing and is full of inaccuracies and we are pressured to sign it.
3. When the barrister goes into court, he is totally unprepared other than a 2 page fax, he gets wrong the details of the case and the judge gives him a ticking off for being unprepared.
A cut and dry case then has to go for a further hearing.
Why do we have a solicitor/barrister system in the legal profession, if I was ever before the court of a criminal offence I would be terrified of the legal consequences of having duff barrister (or a judge in a bad mood).
Anyone else suffer the same? Any lawyers care to respond and defend their profession.
www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/redressscheme/howtocomplain.law#service
Did you not get the outcome a competent Solicitor should have achieved? If not you can take advice about suing your Solicitors.
The Law Society said:
If you would like to complain about your solicitor’s standards of service, you should first raise your complaint with them.
You don't have to complain in writing – you could phone (make sure you get the name of the person you speak to) or make an appointment to visit the solicitor.
If you want to complain in writing we have a form (called the resolution form) to help you do this – available from our helpline (0845 608 6565) or most Citizens Advice Bureaux.
If you don't receive a detailed reply from your solicitor within a reasonable time (we suggest 28 days) or you are not happy with the solicitor's response you need to get in touch with us. Our helpline – 0845 608 6565 – is a good starting point. We might then ask you to put your complaint in writing.
Did you not get the outcome a competent Solicitor should have achieved? If not you can take advice about suing your Solicitors.
pies said:Yep, but it is better than paying for a fool of a lawyer.
A person who represents himself has a fool for a client
I have been hacking around the criminal courts for the last decade or so. The quality of some of the lawyers is frighteningly bad.
There are some fantastic solicitors and barristers out there, but there is an equal number of goblins.
I sincerely hope that the medical profession does not share the same hit and miss quality amongst its oncologists and surgeons.
One incredibly clever chap who is the friend of the family started out as a dentist until the government took legal action against him for some silly reason that turned out to be their mistake in the end, but his lawyers were realyl incompetant. So this fellow, really, really smart, could do anything he wanted, starts looking in the law stuff himself, reading up on it in his spare time and ends up representing himself and winning the case!
He enjoyed it so much he packed in the dentistry and went back to university and became a lawyer, now he is a top judge!
So yes, you can do it yourself, though normally the judges dont like this as they then have to explain everything, which they find annoying as it interrupts their nap
.
He enjoyed it so much he packed in the dentistry and went back to university and became a lawyer, now he is a top judge!
So yes, you can do it yourself, though normally the judges dont like this as they then have to explain everything, which they find annoying as it interrupts their nap
.I apologise for the profession, but this sounds like dreadful amateurish work. I am a aparnter in a firm that charges a lot of money, but we will not get paid that money if we don't give client sthe service tehy need and deserve. Firms like mine are under the spotlight all the time.
That said, there are many smaller firms that give very good service to consumers, but unfortunately they are not as prominent and so the consumer has a tougher job finding a good firm than the big corporate.
That said, there are many smaller firms that give very good service to consumers, but unfortunately they are not as prominent and so the consumer has a tougher job finding a good firm than the big corporate.
Thanks for the responses.
I think I will start off with a strong letter to the principal of the law firm concerned.
The work was for my partner (I was posting on her behalf) and due to her situation, she managed to get legal aid (so it's all of us who paid and not her!!!). She's Mexican which makes language a slight problem, my partner has represented herself in the past, but I am always concerned about the nuances of the English language.
We have a couple of other cases with the same law firm, we need their assistance with, so I am hesitant to alienate the relationship. However, I am very concerned that a case which was apparantly an easy win, was not prepared for and has now gone to another hearing, which wastes more money and time for all concerned.
I'm thinking that suing a law firm sounds like a very long and expensive road to go down.
If I do not get a satisfactory explanation then I will advise my partner to take her business elsewhere, even if she is getting legal aid.
I think I will start off with a strong letter to the principal of the law firm concerned.
The work was for my partner (I was posting on her behalf) and due to her situation, she managed to get legal aid (so it's all of us who paid and not her!!!). She's Mexican which makes language a slight problem, my partner has represented herself in the past, but I am always concerned about the nuances of the English language.
We have a couple of other cases with the same law firm, we need their assistance with, so I am hesitant to alienate the relationship. However, I am very concerned that a case which was apparantly an easy win, was not prepared for and has now gone to another hearing, which wastes more money and time for all concerned.
I'm thinking that suing a law firm sounds like a very long and expensive road to go down.
If I do not get a satisfactory explanation then I will advise my partner to take her business elsewhere, even if she is getting legal aid.
smithsi said:
....if I was ever before the court of a criminal offence I would be terrified of the legal consequences of having duff barrister (or a judge in a bad mood).
Anyone else suffer the same? .....
Been there, read the book and all the rest of it and it was a criminal case. However my barrister was well prepared for my case, but the judge and opposition barrister seemed to be mates and my barrister seemed to be the wrong colour. The judge wouldn't listen to anything my brief said and even ignored facts from a previous hearing. I was terrified and ended up sacking my barrister in desperation. Even though he was good at his job the judge was over riding everything he said and I felt I wouldn't have got a fair hearing.
The judge then gave me a bollocking and threatened to make me go it alone. I stood my ground and was given a chance to find another barrister for the following morning. Luckily I ended up with one of the top barristers in the country who wouldn't take any crap off the judge and eventually was vindicated.
Good luck to you, I would never want to go through that again.
I learnt a lot about the law and British justice that week.
I shant try to defend that as it sounds appalling.
The problem with Legal Services funding though (previously Legal Aid) is that firms are paid at a really low rate (it was £66 per hour a couple of years ago - I don't think it is much more now) and the LSC will go over each bill with a fine toothcomb and strike out anything that they consider inappropriate. The upshot of this is that fewer and fewer firms with touch LSC work as the rates are too low to pay the overheads and those that do with use the lowest level of staff that they can to avoid racking up costs that the LSC might then refuse to pay. Blame the system as much as the individuals.
Hope you work it out.
The problem with Legal Services funding though (previously Legal Aid) is that firms are paid at a really low rate (it was £66 per hour a couple of years ago - I don't think it is much more now) and the LSC will go over each bill with a fine toothcomb and strike out anything that they consider inappropriate. The upshot of this is that fewer and fewer firms with touch LSC work as the rates are too low to pay the overheads and those that do with use the lowest level of staff that they can to avoid racking up costs that the LSC might then refuse to pay. Blame the system as much as the individuals.
Hope you work it out.
Piglet said:If only.....
The problem with Legal Services funding though (previously Legal Aid) is that firms are paid at a really low rate (it was £66 per hour a couple of years ago...
Magistrates' Court Legal Aid Rates (per hour):
Travel and Waiting: £26.30
Preparation and Attendance: £49.70
Advocacy: £62.35
Crown Court and Police Attendance rates are broadly similar.
Averaged out over a case, most criminal lawyers are billing at at less than £45 per hour.
The only solicitors who do criminal defence work are either:
1. So crap that they can't find work elsewhere or
2. They do it because it is their vocation.
I only make a passable living out of it because I absolutely nail the overheads and work my nuts off.
I choose to work in the Grim North where the cost of office space and staff is the lowest in the country. Criminal decence solicitors in the South cannot possibly be doing the job because of the financial incentives.
I've met some brilliant ones, and also some complete numpties who try to be smart and end up in knots.
I guess it comes down to how seriously they take their job, and how much effort they would like to put into it.
It's interesting for me to hear 'the other sides' view on cases. I have a couple of friends who are solicitors and another who is a barrister. As you can imagine we have some 'lively' debates.
I think a complaint to the firm is in order for this particular case though.
All the best.
I guess it comes down to how seriously they take their job, and how much effort they would like to put into it.
It's interesting for me to hear 'the other sides' view on cases. I have a couple of friends who are solicitors and another who is a barrister. As you can imagine we have some 'lively' debates.
I think a complaint to the firm is in order for this particular case though.
All the best.
To answer the question as to why there are several cases on the go.
We have a 'vexatious litigant' who is harassing his ex-wife 4 years after separation. Had we been represented, I would hope that this would have been shown to the judge based on the evidence given or at least we would have been able to show that the evidence put by the claimant did not prove anything.
That we were not represented was not just the view of me and my partner, but the view of the judge and we will be writing to the law firm concerned to complain. My partner is strongly considering representing herself, rather than risk the circumstances which occured on Friday.
We have a 'vexatious litigant' who is harassing his ex-wife 4 years after separation. Had we been represented, I would hope that this would have been shown to the judge based on the evidence given or at least we would have been able to show that the evidence put by the claimant did not prove anything.
That we were not represented was not just the view of me and my partner, but the view of the judge and we will be writing to the law firm concerned to complain. My partner is strongly considering representing herself, rather than risk the circumstances which occured on Friday.
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