I feel sick - solicitor has been negligent. Please help!

MissMoneypenny

foreversummer wrote: »

Hi Missmoneypenny

Thanks for your post. I have also found the Law Society to be very helpful and they spent a lot of time on the phone with me. They did say however that you have to allow 28 days for your solicitor to deal with your complaint and then they can look at it for you. However, they told me they can only deal with cases of poor service not negligence - if it is negligence then only another solicitor can deal with it, they cannot. Interesting that they helped you with a negligence case. Can you post a bit more information.

Hi Foreversummer

Firstly I would like to say that I admire your attitude in what must be a very stressful situation for you.

Unfortunately solicitors are human and we all make errors... some more than others. About 20 years ago we had a local solicitor contact us to ask if he could rent our empty house for his clients as he had made an error. So some solicitors do try to compensate for their errors. I feel sure that your solicitor will be stressed too over the error he appears to have made.

I think you are doing the right thing in keeping it all in writing. It avoids any misunderstanding and gives you proof if you do need to take it further. Every solicitors' firm has a solicitor who deals with complaints. I think it is usually a senior partner?(Nikki, is this right about the senior partner?) If you don't think your solicitor is doing enough or is acting quick enough, then ask for the name of the solicitor at that firm that deals with complaints and write to him. Or you may feel that you want to do that now to keep him in the picture (if you haven't already done it). The Law Society likes you to contact the senior partner before you contact them. The person dealing with complaints has to reply to you, so if they don't, give them a second letter with a deadline and advise them that you will report them to The Law Society if they don't. If they then don't reply, report their inaction to the The Law Society.

Not sure if this is any help to you, but this was my experience. I used a big solicitors firm to deal with my divorce. So I had one solicitor dealing with my divorce, another for the house sale and another for my will. I was on first name terms with with divorce and house sale solicitors'.

The house sale was a problem due to the solicitor making errors when we bought the house. I lost a house sale because of this and it cost me just under £800 to get my new solicitor to put it right. I agree with Nikki when she said that solicitors will take action against other solicitors. My new solicitor advised me to to contact previous solicitor and helped me get all this money back. It took several letters and my solicitor did all this in his own time, told me what to write and charged me nothing for his help. There are nice solicitors out there. He knew I was under stress with everything that was going on and became a friend when I needed one most. And no, there was nothing going on between us despite what my mother thought:D He was just a very kind person. Not all solicitors are as bad as some would make you believe.

My divorce solicitor was the one who made error after error. He was a nice person, but I think he was pushed into being a solicitor by his mother, (I was on friendly terms with him too and helped him with his home pc). I also know that he had a boss who the whole office was afraid off as I heard staff discussing this in the lift. I was in the offices so much that I think they assumed I was staff too.:D It was when this solicitor looked me in the eye, while he ran his fingers through the pile of papers on his desk, and said "where did I say that" that I knew I had to stop the errors continuing.

My meeting with the senior partner was a friendly affair and we had tea together, but he lied in his letter to me that summed up our meeting. So remember that his loyalties are with his firm and not with you. Fortunately, the other solicitor had advised me to agree to the meeting in writing and put that "it was for information gathering only". I then was able to write back to this senior partner, site my previous letter and dispute his claims. Despite the fact that I told this senior partner that I had every letter and email, he thought I was bluffing, so I could prove to The Law Society I was telling the truth. The Law Society even mentioned in their summing up that although the solicitors had provided lots of letters to prove their point, they had omitted the one letter that Mrs xxxxxx had provided, that proved who was right.

I listed several complaints against the solicitor to The Law Society and from what I can remember (as it was 10 years ago now) it was things like losing signed legal documents which had taken us ages to get my ex to sign, not giving me the correct information, not serving a penal notice in time before court (plus they wanted me to pay for that), and claiming I hadn't signed papers which then cost me more money plus claiming that I had refused to correspond with my solicitor when he asked me to sign. In the latter, they even sent me a copy of the papers I hadn't signed, but strangely, they omitted the page that had my signature on it. So I asked for copies of the papers from where the solicitors had filed them...and there was my signature and I still had the emails that showed that my solicitor and I had continue to correspond. Those emails even had general chit chat between us in them. They gambled that I was bluffing when I said I had all the papers still. That is all that I can recall at the moment (unless I go in the loft and find the boxes of papers):D

Re The Law Society, I guess there is a thin line between negligence and failure of service?

Hope this helps.

Just edited to say that I never really fell out with my solicitor over this and would still say Hi if I met him in the street and help him with his home pc if he still wanted it. Keeping it friendly is less stressful imho.

foreversummer

Wow, Missmoneypenny

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to post! It is really useful and encouraging to hear of your experiences and very well done with the outcome. You clearly handled the situation so well.

I have generalised in my posts when I refer to 'my solicitor'. My solicitor who did the conveyancing was a lady. I have now complained to the Senior Partner of the firm who just happens to be her husband, (although the Law Society say that I should not be overly concerned about that!!?), and he is the guy that I now refer to as 'my solicitor'. I hope that makes sense.

I agree totally with you, all solicitors are human beings and obviously do make mistakes, but hopefully as human beings they will also take some personal pride in their work and have the satisfaction of making good those errors. Surely no one likes to make a huge mistake and then just walk away leaving an innocent client to it, and then face having a colleague from another firm look at the mistakes you have made. I'm holding out for that, but I realise that I might be bitterly disappointed.

I agree that there is a very fine line between negligence and poor service and I'm not exactly sure how you define each.

I certainly have a much clearer head than I had when I made my first post on this thread! Thanks to all the help I have received I can now see that I am doing everything that I should be doing at this stage and that gives great peace of mind.

Foreversummer

Loretta

cathy2702 wrote: »

Nicki dont even respond, it's not your job to spoon feed people and defend your profession, if thats how it was I'd have some explaining to do and so would plenty others. I have issues with every job going, well I just have issues lol

Goodluck everyone I hope you all get some success with all your problems

Cate

eira and I were not asking nicki for help, Nicki said that she knew loads of solicitors who do this sort of work, it is very easy to make these sweeping statements when you really haven't any idea at all, eira and I know for a fact that this is not true and I was just trying to see how she would respond. Interestingly she sent me a pm with the name of one firm of solicitors who do not in fact do this sort of work at all for either side. I think I have made my point!!

foreversummer

Loretta

Have you not viewed the links that CFC very kindly posted? Eira seems to be delighted - perhaps you may find what you are looking for there.

Foreversummer

Nicki

There is just no helping some people!

Loretta, one last chance to give you some advice if you can calm down enough to take it.

Solicitors do not specialise in suing other solicitors. That's absurd! Most solicitors specialise in certain areas of work - eg matrimonial law, criminal law, conveyancing, etc. If a solicitor makes a mess of a case he is handling for you, you should consult another solicitor who also specialises in that area of work. Therefore if it is a divorce which went wrong, you would consult a matrimonial solicitor, who would both put right what has gone wrong, and if appropriate would advise you in relation to suing your first solicitor for negligence.

Not being sure exactly what your bone of contention was with your solicitor, other than that he was struck off, I gave you the name of a very highly regarded solicitor in London who deals with a wide range of very different areas of law, and has to my certain knowledge on occasion taken on other solicitors in negligence actions. Please don't post your exact problem expecting me to help you further, as to be honest I'm fed up with you attacking me just because I am a solicitor, even though I have tried to help you.

The other thing to bear in mind is that just because you don't get the result you want from a legal situation does not mean that your solicitor was negligent. In any contentious matters there are winners and losers, and both sides usually consider themselves to be right. If every single solicitor that you have approached has turned you down this may be because you would be throwing good money after bad by pursuing your original solicitor because you have no case. Alternatively, you may have been as rude to them as you have been to me, in which case their reluctance to help you becomes more understandable.

Loretta

foreversummer wrote: »

Loretta

Have you not viewed the links that CFC very kindly posted? Eira seems to be delighted - perhaps you may find what you are looking for there.

Foreversummer

Yes those links were very helpful I was just making the point that Nicki put herself over as an 'expert' and in fact wasn't!!

Loretta

Nicki wrote: »

There is just no helping some people!

Loretta, one last chance to give you some advice if you can calm down enough to take it.

Solicitors do not specialise in suing other solicitors. That's absurd! Most solicitors specialise in certain areas of work - eg matrimonial law, criminal law, conveyancing, etc. If a solicitor makes a mess of a case he is handling for you, you should consult another solicitor who also specialises in that area of work. Therefore if it is a divorce which went wrong, you would consult a matrimonial solicitor, who would both put right what has gone wrong, and if appropriate would advise you in relation to suing your first solicitor for negligence.

Not being sure exactly what your bone of contention was with your solicitor, other than that he was struck off, I gave you the name of a very highly regarded solicitor in London who deals with a wide range of very different areas of law, and has to my certain knowledge on occasion taken on other solicitors in negligence actions. Please don't post your exact problem expecting me to help you further, as to be honest I'm fed up with you attacking me just because I am a solicitor, even though I have tried to help you.

The other thing to bear in mind is that just because you don't get the result you want from a legal situation does not mean that your solicitor was negligent. In any contentious matters there are winners and losers, and both sides usually consider themselves to be right. If every single solicitor that you have approached has turned you down this may be because you would be throwing good money after bad by pursuing your original solicitor because you have no case. Alternatively, you may have been as rude to them as you have been to me, in which case their reluctance to help you becomes more understandable.

I have not had a result, there was no right or wrong, my solicitor was doing routine work, no auguments involved.

My solicitor was a criminal who had access to client's money while he should not have been acting as a solicitor at all, long enough to steal from me and other clients. I know that there are bad apples in all professions, this happens. What surprised me is the way his employers covered it up and and closed ranks with other local solicitors who knew he was working while being struck off. The Law Society are dealing with this, very very slowly and needing a lot of 'encouragement' to get on with it, they would really prefer it if the problem just disapeared. I am not a disgruntled client I am the victim of a crime which unfortunately involved dishonest professionals who you would expect to know better

Nicki

Loretta wrote: »

Yes those links were very helpful I was just making the point that Nicki put herself over as an 'expert' and in fact wasn't!!

Nicki said she was a solicitor and she is

Nicki said she had acted for clients who alleged that their previous solicitors had been negligent, and she had

Nicki said she knew of many other solicitors with whom she had worked with in the past who had also acted in such cases, and she does.

Nicki said she did not know any solicitors who would refuse to act just because it was a case of suing another solicitor and this is true. Other posters have posted that they have found solicitors to help them in these circumstances.

On that basis, I am afraid that I do feel that I have the experience and the expertise to say what I did.

You have taken one problem which you have encountered, and have extrapolated to all solicitors throughout the country in all circumstances, which is both unreasonable and profoundly unhelpful to the OP. You have also been extremely rude and argumentative in relation to every single post of mine, including those which were intended to help you, and have not acknowledged, much less thanked me, for providing you with the name and contact details of a solicitor who has acted in a range of diverse situations in the past (often for free), and has certainly acted for those who have been the victim of crimes. If you have a good case against your original solicitor, and are approaching prospective solicitors in a polite and civilised way, you should have absolutely no problem in finding someone to represent you. Having seen the total unreasonableness of your posts on this thread, I for one however have no difficulty in understanding why no one would touch you with a barge pole.

Its not me who has held themselves out as knowing a lot about something about which I know nothing, I'm afraid.

CFC

Loretta wrote: »

I have not had a result, there was no right or wrong, my solicitor was doing routine work, no auguments involved.
I am not a disgruntled client I am the victim of a crime which unfortunately involved dishonest professionals who you would expect to know better

Professional people commit crimes, just as other people do. I am very sorry that you have been the victim of a crime and I totally sympathise. However I think that you need to get some perspective on this:

Not all solicitors are criminals or even sycophantic workshy lackwits
Strangers on here have offered you advice out of the pure helpfulness of their hearts
One of them happens to be a solicitor.
There is still kindness and goodness in the world.
Don't let the criminal give you a false perspective of the world and make you bitter and twisted, because if that happens, you've lost a hell of a lot more than money. We don't have a choice in what happens to us and life can be very hard and unfair, we only have a choice of how we decide to let it affect us.
Very best of luck and I hope you reach a point with your issue where you get some kind of closure.

Loretta

Nicki wrote: »

Nicki said she was a solicitor and she is

Nicki said she had acted for clients who alleged that their previous solicitors had been negligent, and she had

Nicki said she knew of many other solicitors with whom she had worked with in the past who had also acted in such cases, and she does.

Nicki said she did not know any solicitors who would refuse to act just because it was a case of suing another solicitor and this is true. Other posters have posted that they have found solicitors to help them in these circumstances.

On that basis, I am afraid that I do feel that I have the experience and the expertise to say what I did.

You have taken one problem which you have encountered, and have extrapolated to all solicitors throughout the country in all circumstances, which is both unreasonable and profoundly unhelpful to the OP. You have also been extremely rude and argumentative in relation to every single post of mine, including those which were intended to help you, and have not acknowledged, much less thanked me, for providing you with the name and contact details of a solicitor who has acted in a range of diverse situations in the past (often for free), and has certainly acted for those who have been the victim of crimes. If you have a good case against your original solicitor, and are approaching prospective solicitors in a polite and civilised way, you should have absolutely no problem in finding someone to represent you. Having seen the total unreasonableness of your posts on this thread, I for one however have no difficulty in understanding why no one would touch you with a barge pole.

Its not me who has held themselves out as knowing a lot about something about which I know nothing, I'm afraid.

I did not ask for any help, foreversummer asked for help with a solicitor who was not doing their job properly and asked if it would be a good idea to get advice from another solicitor about negligence. I explained that she would be better to make this solicitor put their mistake right than to try and find another solicitor to sue him for negligence as this is viturally impossible and very expensive.

I explained that the legal profession close ranks when one of their own is in trouble

I explained that there are many solicitors who act for solicitors who have been accused of negligence as there is plenty of money to be made out of it, their insurance will cover them with funds to take a very small claim right to the Court of appeal and no normal person can match that. This is a fact not an opinion

Nicki states that there were lots of solicitors who take on this sort of work for the person not the solicitor and this is not true.

Nicki did not say that she has done this sort of work, she said it was not her area of expertise

I was explaining that when a solicitor is negligent or a criminal the Law Society is there to help the solicitor not the client so not to relie on help from them. I also once had faith in the law. I was not always angry.

I repeat I have not asked for help from Nicki or anyone, I was simply warning foreversummer that just because a solicitor was negligent was was not easy to get anything done about it

The firm of solicitors you gave me the name of does not do this sort of work,I also have access to the yellow pages

I have not asked a solicitor to act for me. I have only phoned over 100 firms to ask if they accept work on behalf of clients who have had solicitors who are negligent and was told everytime that they only work for the insurance company of the solicitor who has been accused. I have not given details or spent more than 1 minute on the phone to any of the telephonists who answered the phone. At first I did not realise that this would be so difficult, I was not always this cross.

NO SOLICITOR HAS REFUSED TO ACT FOR ME.

The police and the courts have dealt with my criminal solicitor, a judge advised me that the Law Society would deal him him as a matter of routine and then a solicitor acting for me would have the proof and claim conpensation saving me huge legal costs. Th Judge said 'you have been very badly let down by your solicitor and his firm and you have an excellent claim against them, I am ashamed to be part of the legal profession that has left you in this position. I believed that this ws true.

31/2 years later the Law Society are writing me letters saying they had written to this firm asking for an explanation and the firm are refusing to answer and what would I like them to do!! this is the solicitor's governing body. This is what I am cross about.

I hope that this is clear