Seller suggests using same solicitor is this a good idea?

Sam_James

We have offer accepted and seller has suggested to use same solicitor to speed up the process, is this a good idea, we like the sound of it as we would like things to go without any delays. One solicitor we approached wont do this but isnt this easy money for a solicitor if they can work quicker representing both parties?.... isnt most of their work just documenting formalities anyway?
Thanks
Sam

couriervanman

Bad idea :eek:

Mrsn

Don’t do it, a lot of firms won’t do so anyway to avoid professional conflict. I worked at a barristers Chambers years ago whereby it was incredibly rare for criminal lawyers from the same set of chambers to be opposing each other in court. Things can be accidentally let slip and working relationships damaged

mklister

I was purchasing a house from friends, and we used the same firm of solicitors. They kept it professional and ensured the same person wasn't representing both parties. They went through the same processes they would have done if I'd used another firm.

I wouldn't have done so with strangers though.

AnotherJoe

Most solicitors firms won't do it.
Even if you find one that will, it likely won't speed things up by more than a few days because most of the delays are in the process and not in the time taken for communications, after all how long does an email take? There's no much paper that exchanges place between solicitors so postal mail delays unlikely to be an issue.
The solicitor now is not only on your side now they have another consideration, which is, is what they suggest you do, going to affect their other customer ?
Lastly, you are only thinking of the "good" case where it all goes smoothly. The reason you use a solicitor is for the bad case, when there's a problem not just at the time but later. Say you need to take action against the other side a month after completion? How can your solicitor suggest suing the other side and act for you when they are also suing themselves?
TL;DR won't save time and bad idea.

davidmcn

Sam_James wrote: »

isnt most of their work just documenting formalities anyway?

To some extent, but you also want them to give you advice, don't you? They can hardly give you best advice about e.g. something potentially adverse which has come up, if at the same time they're also trying to do their best to flog the property on behalf of the sellers to their gullible buyers.

Or they might lead you down the path until such a situation arose, and then be forced to dump you and/or the buyers as clients and leave you to find new solicitors at the last minute. Bad idea.

amnblog

No, not smart.

Owain_Moneysaver

Absolutely not, and the solicitors shouldn't agree to this anyway. It's a fundamental conflict of interest.

Sam_James

Super advice here.... many thanks everyone !

Mortgage_Adviser

I had this one buying my home. I have agreed to that on the assumption of this will speed the thing up with one solicitor if needing to chase the another would just walk to the desk of the other.
The things did go wromg funnily enough on the communication side resulting in upheld ombudsman complaint agaisn the solicitors firm.