What happens if they dont respond to a solicitor

swingaloo

My partner has an ongoing claim against his ex employer concerning an accident at work.

His first solicitor was useless and he has changed to a different one as time was getting on and a court date has to be arranged before the 3 year deadline.

The new solicitor has been great up to now but we are getting concerned now. The solicitor has written 3 times to the company concerned and has never had a response. With the old solicitor they wrote back to say they denied liability and would defend any action.
However with the new solicitor they are just not replyng to any of his corespondence and the clock is ticking.

WHat happens if they continue to acknowledge his correspondence?

princeofpounds

You take them to court.

Frankly, it sounds to me like they feel they have already replied to your old solicitor and would have nothing to add. It is also a possibility that the change of solicitor has been interpreted as you timewasting.

swingaloo

thank you princeofpounds, I think!

Why would the change of solicitor be time wasting? The first solicitor had personal problems we were not aware of at the time and finally left the country in a hurry leaving us stranded.
The new solicitor has not even been able to access the paperwork from the old solicitors company as everything was left in such a mess.

Surely the company we are claiming against have an obligation to reply to solicitor letters, if not, its not going to look good for them at the court stage is it.

csnann

You are not obliged to reply to a solicitor's letter - only to an official Court summons. You can be arrested if you ignore one of those, although its not usually done in a civil case. If you don't turn up to court in a civil case, the judge would probably find in favour of the person who did show up.

peachyprice

swingaloo wrote: »

Why would the change of solicitor be time wasting?

It might appear to them, as they'd replied to your previous solicitor that they were not liable, that that solicitor had advised you not to proceed because you wouldn't win, so now you've found another solicitor and are trying again.