Employer wants to sue me!

zzzLazyDaisy

TrickyWicky wrote: »

I vaguely seem to remember you locked horns with SarEL too in one thread - possibly the one about loosing the ET iirc.

SarEl was certainly handy to have around but like many legal pros could have a bit of an arrogant attitude that the layman finds hard to handle and that is the problem. Legal people are used to it and see nothing wrong with being blunt and to the point whereas non legal people and lay people take it as hostility.

I had dealings with a solicitor and barrister a while back in the same office. Solicitor was a lovely lady, the barrister wouldn't speak at all. Nuff
said.

Hmmmm? I am not sure 'about locking horns'? We have occasionally agreed to disagree, but that is the way of the law - if we never disagreed, court cases would be decided by ticking a few boxes on a computer - a bit like ATOS does with ESA assessments, and look where that is getting people.... but I digress

One of the differences between solicitors and barristers that people generally don't realise is that, as a general rule, the solicitor is interface. We develop people skills because if we didn't we'd have no clients. So we learn to handle difficult clients (and then go and exchange a few 'f' words in the safety and privacy of a colleagues office )

Barristers, at least until recently, were prohibited from dealing directly with clients. They receive referrals from solicitors, and whether those referrals keep coming depends on how good they are in court, and how succinct and accurate their drafting skills are when they are required to give counsel's opinion, or draft court proceedings. It just isn't part of their remit to have a good bedside manner, and they don't need one, because - by and large - it doesn't matter if the individual client has confidence in them, since they are probably not going to be back with repeat custom (at least when you work with employees as SarEl did). What DOES matter is that s/he has a good working relationship with the solicitors who are putting work their way.

I was a bit of a hybrid as I did a lot of my own advocacy, and also took referrals from solicitors who didn't have the expertise within their own firm to deal with tribunal cases. But when I did instruct counsel, I was looking for experts in their field, who held the respect of the local tribunals and courts. I couldn't care less if the barrister was 'nice' to people!

So now I have waffled on.... but maybe it explains things a bit?

Dx

Mara69

dseventy wrote: »

I wish she would too, but she did have a, shall we say, unique posting style, that was "her way or no way".

Agree with this - I found her advice excellent but her posting style was abrasive to say the least. That said, I think those in MSE towers are fools of the highest order. Typical of this place though.

Nine_Lives

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

She did. Various MSE'rs complained about her (again) and the higher-ups in MSE Towers warned her off.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

You can't be serious? WARNED her off? For what? Complained about her? For what? Other than occasionally her attitude, which wasn't bad enough to warrant a complaint, hell fire!!

getmore4less wrote: »

So just gone off in a huff like last time.

I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but i doubt it'd be "in a huff"

She always gave advice & was 99% the time pretty spot on whether OP liked it or not.
I was occasionally on the receiving end of her attitude. It was my only gripe about her - that sometimes she'd form an opinion of you & assume it as fact without giving you the chance to respond.Was never enough to go crying to the powers that be though. Jesus!! Some people really need to toughen up.

dseventy

Nine_Lives wrote: »

I was occasionally on the receiving end of her attitude. It was my only gripe about her - that sometimes she'd form an opinion of you & assume it as fact without giving you the chance to respond.

for what its worth I agree. Though its not conducive for a internet forum!

D70

getmore4less

missed this first time round but since the thread is resurected.

Nine_Lives wrote: »

Some people really need to toughen up.

SarEl was one of them, perfect troll fodder.

oopsadaisydoddle

I want to know how the cleaning guy got on!

Takeaway_Addict

oopsadaisydoddle wrote: »

I want to know how the cleaning guy got on!

Probably cleaned up

I doubt he got into a lather about the situation though :cool:

Though to be fair its a bit of a pane in the glass :eek:

Ok I'll stop...

sharpy2010

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Including MSE themselves, who decided her posting style wasn't to their liking. Regardless of all the people she was helping for free.

Weird isn't it... An employment barrister was giving her own time and effort FREE, with loads of fantastic advice and help (Barristers charge a fortune for their time normally!!!!!) and yet people here couldn't appreciate it or see it.

Well, it is the forum goers on MSE's loss.

absolutereturn

sharpy2010 wrote: »

Weird isn't it... An employment barrister was giving her own time and effort FREE, with loads of fantastic advice and help (Barristers charge a fortune for their time normally!!!!!) and yet people here couldn't appreciate it or see it.

Well, it is the forum goers on MSE's loss.

That may not have been the case: http://www.redundancyforum.co.uk/redundancy-employment-lounge-new/7716-gday-peeps/

zzzLazyDaisy

As far as I am aware, SarEl doesn't work out of any chambers.... she is retired.

In any event, it is unreasonable (in my view) to demand that ANY poster should provide their real name and/or details of their place of work, whether in a private pm to some nameless, faceless stranger, or on open forum (in fact on MSE exchanging personal details is actively discouraged).

The bottom line is, you do not know who is giving advice on these forums or whether they are who claim to be. Information obtained on a forum is just that. In the case of legal issues, it is always best to take your own independent advice before acting on such information.

(By the way, in my past work, I was really a cleaner in a solicitors office, but it really is quite surprising what you can learn from the stuff those guys throw in the bin )