How to "manage" my Solicitor?

akorn77

Hi All, 

I'm using the same solicitor now for a second time, for a new transaction. On the first occasion, he got the job done however I found myself constantly chasing (literally constantly), which made the process very stressful and cumbersome. The reason I went with him again, is because he got the transaction over the line with no issues & its a reputable law firm which is sensibly priced. 

Now that the conveyancing has started on the new property, I'm again finding that he's very slow at responding to emails (e.g. draft contract was sent out by Seller last week Wednesday, I emailed Solicitor on Tuesday to ask if he has received them yet and still no response...). I dont want to be pushy and annoy him so to speak, but is constantly chasing really the best way to manage the relationship with a Solicitor? 

Would be great to hear some experiences and advice. 

Tiglet2

The solicitor should be managing you and your expectations, not the other way round.  Constantly chasing a "sensibly priced" solicitor is a great way of interrupting the work he is trying to do.  If you want to slow things up, constantly chasing (along with all his other clients chasing) is a sure fire way of dragging the process out even longer.  Why is it even necessary for the solicitor to confirm receipt of draft papers?  Great that you get confirmation they've arrived, but how soon after that do you then want further updates as to when enquiries go out, come back, go out again for clarification etc.  They receive the papers and then take several days, even a week, to review all the information and compile their list of enquiries.  A "sensibly priced" solicitor has probably got hundreds of clients and cannot respond constantly to clients trying to manage them.  If they have an online case tracker, all relevant steps in the process should be updated there.  

Marvel1

The way I see it is you constantly chasing up stuff and everyone else is doing the same, then nothing would get done.

TBagpuss

I agree. In most cases, the solicitor will contact you once they need something from you or once documents are ready for you to review. 
It is very common for agents (and some high volume conveyancers) to blame the other party solicitor for any delays. I recall when I last moved house (and had a ringside view as I was a personal friend of my solicitor, and was working in the same building at the time) we would be waiting for the other conveyancer to do something, they would send it afer a long delay and *immediately* tell the agents "we are waiting for Bagpuss's solicitor" - which was technically correct, but they would do it when they'd been sitting on something for a fortnight, and my conveyancer had had it for 5 minutes (literally, in one case, we checked the timestamps of the emails!) 
If your solicitor knows his job (which it sounds like he does) then he will get on with it and will let you know wheen you need to do stuff. 
I would say only contact him if you have had (say) 3 chase ups *for the same thing* in a week from the agents and haven't heard from him, or if you have asked him for information and haven't heard back for over a week.
Also - if he has an assistant or secretary, speak to that person in the first instance. In most cases they will know what is going on 

Surrey_EA

I speak to a lot of conveyancing solicitors/conveyancers and it is pretty common for them each to be handling 100 - 120 individual files at any one time. If each client was "constantly chasing" I can't imagine them getting much actual work done.

coachman12

We had a similar chat on a recent thread somewhere on MSE about the benefits of using a trainee solicitor or conveyancer for handling house sale/purchase. The general concensus was that avoiding a solicitor is a good thing, and using juniors-----less busy , more eager to please etc-----is the way to go. In my experience, solicitors ( the bigger the worse ) need continual chasing , and it is a real hassle at a time when a buyer/seller just doesn't need it. You could have a face-to-face with the solicitor and tell him it's obvious he's got too much work on to give you the service you require, ask him whether he can delegate the case to a trainee who is not so busy; or, if no such trainee at the firm, tell him that you intend to sack him and move to a conveyancer or even a more responsive solicitor (having already got firm written agreement with a local conveyancer /solicitor who understands your problem and is willing to accept a mutually agreed timetable will be met or you'll get a reduction in charges-----subject to any valid unforeseen legal problem arising from your own case). 
But now you've started with one solicitor, you have probably backed yourself into a corner and are stuck this time-----just remember the aggro this time and  make a firm agreement with a different solicitor/trainee/conveyancer next time you move home.  Grit your teeth .Good luck, akorn, in your new home which your solicitor will hopefully eventually succeed in completing, along with his other 100 current conveyance files  

Thrugelmir

akorn77 said:

Hi All, 

I'm using the same solicitor now for a second time, for a new transaction. On the first occasion, he got the job done however I found myself constantly chasing (literally constantly), which made the process very stressful and cumbersome. 

How did you manage to get any work done of your own for your employer?