VERY VERY worried please help

newlywed

sorry not up to speed on tribunal cases. However, I was interested to see that a non-qualified solicitor is signing letters as an "Employment Solicitor".

Working in a law firm - I understood the Law Firm could be fined if a staff member signed letters claiming to be a "Solicitor" when they were not yet qualified. (We had to update all the automatic signoffs for trainee solicitors when they qualified).

I would query this with the Law Society.

newlywed

Actually just found a quote regarding trainee solicitors:

"Section 1 of the Solicitors Act 1974 requires all solicitors to have a practising certificate before they are allowed to practise as solicitors. It is a criminal offence to practise as a solicitor without one."

And:

"Once your training contract has been completed, it would be misleading for you to continue to be held out as either a trainee or a trainee solicitor. However, you must not use any description which would hold you out as a solicitor or as a lawyer (unless you have another professional qualification which would justify you doing so)."

(So between qualifying as a solicitor and gaining the practising certificate they are still not allowed to call themselves a solicitor!!!)

References from a PDF downloaded here http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/practisingcertificates.law

boo2905

Newlywed is right on this - you can't sign yourself as a Solicitor if your a LEX.

It's like saying your a director when your a team leader. It's misrepresenation.

Working in a law firm he obviously knows a lot more about it than me and although you can become a solicitor from being a qualified legal exec you can only officially call yourself a solicitor once you have passed all the levels and examinations.

boo2905

you maybe could do something about it as you were sold a solicitor and given a legal exec (although I know that qualified legal execs can become solicitors).

bikebarbie

why don't you ask for a copy of the summary of the case and the outcome.

thanks about this I will do. With regards to the legal exec signing the letter as a solicitor I know it's wrong but I dont want to chase that one as then I am going off track. All I wanted is win this case and prove the company that they were wrong, more than anything it was a moral victory (or I would have accepted the £10K they offered and the legal exec advised me to turn down - DONT START ME ON THAT ONE :mad: ). I am very very disappointed.

How long time will I have to make an appeal? I dont want to fall into this time trap again.

Also can I represent myself as I am working so I doubt I will get Legal Aid and I still wont be able to afford a solicitor.

boo2905

It is all on the website link that I gave before

Time limits are strictly enforced in the EAT.
The usual rule is that your appeal must be received complete by the EAT no later than 16:00 on the 42nd day after the date on which the ET sent you the judgment, decision, direction or order.
The judgment, decision, direction or order is not the same as the reasons. You may need to ask the ET for the reasons, but (unless one of the circumstances below applies) you should not wait until you receive them before sending your appeal, or it may be out of time.

It looks like it will be quite strict but there are forms and things on there so you should probably spend some time looking at them.

You need to remember though that you can only appeal if there is a point of law that is wrong and not the facts of the case being wrong.

With regard to representing yourself I think you should be able to do so, I would speak to citizens advice who are really good at helping with this sort of thing. the only problem with representing yourself is that you might tend to lead with your heart and not your head which might cause problems.

jobbingmusician

Oh BB, I am so sorry that you lost! However, I think you may be going down the wrong route in appealing. I assume you lost the case because you were out of time? In that case, there is no point in appealing - that won't change the law or the timescales. I'm afraid that what you have to do is to raise a complaint to the Law Society about your 'solicitor'. From what you have said, they advised you that you had a strong case for turning down £10,000. Of course they will say that they advised you no such thing. But they do seem to have been negligent on two counts.

1. They did not file your case in time

2. It seems that one of their employees may have been falsely claiming to be a solicitor :eek: I can see why you think this second point is a red herring to your main case, but actually the main case is lost - you have to show that you suffered detriment (to the tune of at least £10k) due to the fact they are a bunch of incompetent *()&*)&*)s.

bikebarbie

Hi jobbingmusician thanks for your reply, and yes I see your points. To be honest with you I was longing so much to put this behind me after suffering so much at the hands of the employer and employees (also with clinical depression) and all that negative stuff I dont want to fall into that whirpool again and be dragged down, I think I have fooled my self into thinking that I was going to win (after all how in my view the case was very strong and it was too - apart from the flow of the time scale) now I dont know if I have the energy to pursue another claim, go to court, find another solicitor who will represent me as no win no fee (very difficult these days) as even if I work I would not be able to afford a solicitor.
I am going to ask for a copy of the summary of the case and the outcome, which I know is going to eat me inside but I need to know and maybe it will help me accept it or grief, but knowing me regardless of anything is going to play on my mind for such a long time.

I think that considered that whistleblowing cases are so rare they were very wrong in sticking to the timescale (which could have been extended - and mayne this is where I can appeal) all that means is that if I am in a similar (HOPE NOT) situation where public or myself are at risk I have no faith in the system and for sure I will NEVER ever take an employer to court again. They have the big money and the crap solicitors and still win, what a farce, what abortion of justice!

eira

This situation makes me so angry-total exploitation. Get together ALL the paperwork-every scrap and take it to a Legal Advice Centre (these are council run and are free).Contact the Law Soceity with your initial queries. They have a free 1 hour scheme that they keep very quiet ,about that advises you whether you have a negligence claim or not. DO NOT contact another solicitor re this as it cancels out the Law Society freebie (I suffered from this-they have the whole thing sewn up) There is also another avenue I found which is the Solicitor Litigation scheme which involves professional indemnity insurance.

Barristers have their own complaint section but getting them to itemise their bills in detail is like trying to unravel the Da Vinci code. When I asked the barrister to detail a bill of £15500 for 'researchng tax issues'-it took me 10 minutes (one phone call to the Inland Revenue and an e-mail to the IRS)to sort out the issues. When I asked what he'd done for the money-the reaction was pure horror.He was so ill prepared that the judge told him to go away and do his homework. What other profession can charge a fortune for ----what? and then shut the door on you.

WHEN DEALING WITH SOLICITORS KEEP EVERYTHING IN WRITING/TIME ALL COMMUNICATION/ CHOOSE WORDS VERY VERY CAREFULLY (THEY RELY ON PEOPLE NOT KNOWING THIS)/DO YOUR OWN CHECKING OF SITUATIONS VIA WEBSITES FORUMS LIKE THIS SELF-HELP GUIDES AND KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE BULLIED AND REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Good luck-thinking of you

eira

So sorry to hear of your situation. Initially contact the Law Society-notify the solicitor of this. They will give you initial advice on the phone and possibly look into the bill and the way the solicitor did the work-it will give you some breathing space