Solicitors Legal (fixed) fees for he acquisition of a commercial building

DigitMillennial20

Lately, I  have been entangled in a very awkward sitation with my commercial  solicitor, well settled in Scotland. To secure a (conditional) purchase of an office in North Lanarkshire, we had agreed by email last November some fixed fees (£1,500 + VAT disbursement - a bit more expensive than their local competitors but I was looking for some great legal services). This amount was paid in February when missives were concluded.

  After a 3-month of silence to clear these conditions, I have reached my solicitor to finalise the purchase and he agreed to reach out the seller's party to progress the case. Shortly after,  he came back with an additional fees of £1,303. Despite reminding him our initial (gentlemen) agreement, he has ignored it, referring to overtime spent to conclude missives.

My solicitor has delegated the case to different team members, the last one was not aware about the property case, on the day of the acquisition settlement. On that day, the purchase settlement has been actually  put on hold because of the " unpaid fees" - disbelieve!

Honestly, I feel trapped in a very bad scenario, not looking very professional, and, fairly stressed by the additional asked money to be paid. A reasonable solution to close that chapter would be very welcome ! Thanks much for your advice

MovingForwards

Lodge a complaint, ask for a full breakdown of the fees and if it's for work which wasn't mentioned under the original quote then that explains it. Unexpected things can pop up during purchases, especially with commercial transactions.

Have you actually concluded missives? If so, you're now in breach of them due to not completing the settlement.

DigitMillennial20

Thanks Moving forward for the advice ! A breakdown of the hours spent is definitely required  indeed.  Although my solicitor has got a business to take care of, I have also to consider mine. I am uncomfortable with the +40% increase from  the intial bill. 
May I ask the consequences about the potential breach on not completing the settlement ? Thanks again

MovingForwards

It's all written in the contract (missives) what will happen if settlement doesn't occur.
Although if it was February when missives were legally concluded between yourself / seller (solicitors), then I would have expected the seller to have taken steps to recover the money from you by now / force you to complete the transaction.

I can't find any links for commercial transactions and what happens in these cases, therefore I would suggest you urgently contact your solicitor to check the exact position. It could be missives haven't legally been completed, especially as the extra money (legal fees) hasn't been paid by you. 

DigitMillennial20

Thanks again Moving Forwards for your feedback

The contract was agreed in  February,  based on a conditional purchase. These conditions,  now cleared, were  meant to be , no  later than the 31st of May. 
The  settlement was agreed to  be executed  last Friday. Now my solicitor seems to say the transfer of the funds to the seller could happen  this coming Tuesday  (after the bank holiday). Let's  clarify it asap  though.

 Thanking you much for your help