Solicitors fees

letsbehonest

I have just been asked to help with this one, I don't know what if any board to post on so here's hoping.
A friend of mine passed away in May this year and left a minor probate problem, his widow contacted the company they had used to organize their wills. An appointment was made in her house and during the discussion a professional fee of £2,800 was verbally agreed for services rendered. This week a letter enclosing a bill for £4,128. arrived, when queried over the phone the excuse was that the original figure was only a ball park figure. In my limited understanding of contracts and agreements a verbal agreement is valid. Any advice would be useful please.

Optimist

Difficult to say if a contract was formed the solicitor will just say it was an estimate however if you think it unreasonable then at this time do not pay it instead ask your solicitor for a Remuneration Certificate which they should get from the Law society. Do this in writing.

They can ask for 50% of the fees to be paid at this point although you might be able to defer this

Have a look here for more information

http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/how-we-handle-complaints/remuneration-scheme.page

Bamber19

Solicitors rarely give a set price for their services. They give an advisory price based on the amount of hours they think they will have to spend on the matter. If they go over this number of hours then they will still charge you for them, and to do so is quite reasonable. Solicitors also keep track and file the amount of hours they've worked so it's probable that £4128 is exactly what it cost by their hourly rate. Whilst a contract can be formed verbally what was said can be hard to prove and in addition there's a very high likelihood that it was said that this was an estimate. What you can do when instructing a solicitor is ask them to tell you when costs get to a certain level and keep you updated but there's no real benefit there as if you ask them to stop when they get to a certain point you still owe them for the work done but they wont yet have finished what you asked them to do.

Bossyboots

Having typed all of the stuff below, I have re-read the opening post and am now not convinced this is a solicitor firm the OP is talking about and thus the following is irrelevant, as is mention of remuneration certificates and the legal complaints service. Perhaps the OP could confirm the status of the company instructed and whether it is a law firm or a will writing service.



If solicitors -

If an estimate is given, the final bill must come reasonably close to that sum. That has not happened here. There must be an exceptional reason for exceeding the estimate by so much and even then, if it was foreseeable work then the firm will have to swallow the loss.

The firm should have sent a client care letter when they first started acting for the widow and this should have contained the estimate and details of the hourly rates. If the solicitors believed they were exceeding the estimate given then an interim bill should have been submitted with details of estimated future costs and an explanation of why the costs were exceeding the estimate.

These are not optional actions for solicitors, they are things they have to do. It is very important to check whether the widow has received their client care letter and what it said. That letter forms the basis of her retainer with the firm.

From the limited information given here, it does seem that the firm have not met the basic rules of setting out their retainer and the first step is a complaint to the complaints partner of the company concerned.

A remuneration certificate will only show that the work undertaken was reasonable in terms of the work done and the rates applied. The issue here is that they have vastly exceeded their estimate without, it would appear, informing their client of the over run. That is not allowed.

While it is also true that the firm should have a detailed log of the time spent and therefore costs incurred, again they cannot over run the estimate by this sort of amount.

letsbehonest

Further to the OP I have clarified the original info, It is a will writing service who advised that there were issues that needed to go to probate and that Barclay's would charge considerable more (why Barclay's), all this took place within a week of the death so the widow was emotionally very low. After a visit to the CA she was advised to write to the appropriate ombudsman as it sounds like a bit of malpractice is happening.

brightonman123

should have got (or been goven?) a scale of fees IN WRITING, before any contract written up / signed..

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

letsbehonest wrote: »

Further to the OP I have clarified the original info, It is a will writing service who advised that there were issues that needed to go to probate and that Barclay's would charge considerable more (why Barclay's), all this took place within a week of the death so the widow was emotionally very low. After a visit to the CA she was advised to write to the appropriate ombudsman as it sounds like a bit of malpractice is happening.

What utter tosh

She needs to challenge them for a breakdown of the bill and see if it is justified.

If it isnt then she can look at complaints etc, however, I dont for a second think they can prove it was said this was the final figure and since its not practice to give a final figure for stuff like this at the beginning without proof a court wouldnt take her side

Legal issues are expensive, unless you can show the bill is inflated, pay up

letsbehonest

Many thanks for all comments, the lady did have a witness to the fee conversation, & brightonman123, when you are in an emotional state having just lost your loved one discussing the finer points of fee scales does not really figure in your thinking I suppose.
regards

Tozer

brightonman123 wrote: »

should have got (or been goven?) a scale of fees IN WRITING, before any contract written up / signed..

Slightly wise in hindsight....

I would expect that they would have to face similar obligations to solicitors. Even if it was an estimate then it should have been updated to advise that the estimate was going to be breached and to take instructions.

letsbehonest

As an update,
I have just been told that the Will writing company have now contacted my friend and made mild squirming noises probably because the Ombudsman has become involved,anyway an offer of £1800 with a take it or leave it note attached has been made, (cheque cashed) hopefully case closed and said company goes bankrupt and sinks

brightonman123

apologies for any upset caused by my comments- I was referring to requirements by the lawyers to make sure people were aware of likely costs..