Tribunal claim withdrawal but not dismissed

sangie595

Since consulting another solicitor will invalidate the union representation to which the OP is entitled, would it not be wiser, in the first instance, to seek to determine IF the solicitor is at fault here? If the union is at fault, then the OP should be able to claim from the union. And even if it is the solicitor, if this is a union funded solicitor it is the unions responsibility to sort it out - they are the funding client and not the OP.

Mersey_2

He is the client so only he can pursue a complaint to the Law Society or Legal Ombudsman.


Another solicitor would not 'invalidate' anything. You wouldn't be asking them to pursue the same cause of action - they would act re the professional negligence of the solicitor (not the union). But, of course, the end result - if successful - would be the same for the OP above, as the solicitor's insurer would compensate for losses incurred by Anon78 - by being time barred from bringing an ET claim - as a result of any negligence of the solicitor.


[But no doubt the union could also seek to separately recover any losses they have incurred. They have simply referred the client to a solicitor. They are not the client.]


Yes, it's wise to consider if professional negligence has occurred first and foremost. This should be relatively straightforward, given the chronology and the admitted facts in the letter referred to from the solicitor (that they are now out of time). After advising Anon78 that, "we're still in time."


ONLY another solicitor could 'advise' on this though. It would be a conflict of interest for the union rep to even attempt to.

sangie595

Your advice on this issue is about as good as your advice a few days ago that employment tribunals normally award costs. Unions do not refer members to solicitors. Unions RETAIN solicitors. And those retained solicitors act under the auspices of the union. The union instructs them, and the union can instruct them to stop representation too.

If the OP goes to another solicitor then they will have no union cover on this matter. The instant a union member goes outside the union they relinquish all entitlement to union support.

So unless the OP wants to self fund any possible legal action either against this solicitor or their union, they need to go through the proper procedures. Taking your advice would lead to them being self- funding immediately. It would be foolish to relinquish their union entitlements unless they have no other choice. There is no legal aid to support such cases. It would be their pocket that pays. And it is hard enough to find a solicitor who will go up against another solicitor. You are suggesting they find one that will go up against a solicitor and a union.

OK if that is a battle you must fight, then don't take it on until you have exhausted the most obvious routes first.

Anon78

So should I send back my permission to withdraw it from the ET and for it to go to the county court?

Anon78

So should I go ahead and give the solicitor my permission to withdraw it from the ET and go ahead with the county court?

Anon78

I thought the first post didn't work, sorry.

General_Grant

Anon78 wrote: »

So should I go ahead and give the solicitor my permission to withdraw it from the ET and go ahead with the county court?

It seems you should channel communication through your Union.

As long as you have in writing from the solicitor that they think they can take it to county court (and win!) and the Union confirms in writing to you that they are content with this, then why not give your permission?

If it subsequently transpires that the solicitor was wrong, you should have a legal remedy against them or your Union.

I'm not a lawyer or Union employee and you are likely to get a more categorical response from such a person. In any event I don't see harm in waiting for until first thing Monday before actually taking action - unless ET withdrawal can be effected over a weekend and the solicitor works on Sundays.

Anon78

Yeah that makes sense. I appreciate everyone's advise and answers here and I will keep updating it. Thanks again.

sangie595

If waiting for your union to respond makes it impossible to withdraw the case, then it is already too late to withdraw. But it is probably not unless your case is scheduled for Monday!

The key issue here is to determine who was responsible for the late submission of the claim. I hate to say it, but I am fairly certain that someone at the union has dropped the ball. Maybe I am wrong, but once a claim is submitted for legal consideration, it isn't much different in any union. The solicitor or barrister, depending on the complexity of the case, reviews it and sends an assessment of its chances to the union. If that assessment meets the union threshold, then they authorise the solicitor to file a claim on behalf of their member. Once the solicitor had that, it should be a simple process to file the claim. The place that this can break down is usually in the chain of responses.

That said, I am perplexed as to why the claim was delayed for ACAS mediation. If a claim is submitted then ACAS are immediately involved anyway, and the clock stops on the deadline for pre- claim mediation to take place. I can't understand why that didn't happen. That would be the route any of us should take - we wouldn't normally go to ACAS independently of a claim, but as part of one.

Anon78

I'm not waiting for the union to respond, I just thought maybe speak to them first. I did email them and explained everything, not that it will make a difference I suppose.

I also don't understand why the claim was delayed for acas mediation now. I was concerned about the time limit at the time but the union and the solicitor assured me we was still had time left.

I'm just wondering what our chances would be at county court, but according to some replies then it doesn't look good.