Should My Solicitor Have Done This?

Soulhawk

I had an accident at work in December 2017 and haven't worked since due to shoulder problems and a bad tremor down my right arm.
My claim is being handled by solicitors appointed by my trade union.
The solicitors have been very poor and I have had nine different solicitors so far.
The defendants have submitted a list of documents that they will be relying on in court.
One document is a photograph that they say is me playing guitar on stage with a band.
I don't even play guitar and the photo is a well known session guitarist.
I informed my solicitor of this and she has contacted the defendants to tell them of their error.
Should she have done this?
Wouldn't she have been better waiting until the hearing to point this out to undermine the defence?

Soulhawk

Oops, sorry folks.
Looks like I have posted this in the wrong section...

Sandtree

The solicitor firm will have a partner that is designated to deal with complaints and so if you have issues with the fee earners dealing with your case (and the frequent changing of them)  you should arrange to speak to them or write to them to highlight your concerns.

Court is the last resort and parties are supposed to do what they can to resolve the matter before going to court. Its not clear if the case was issued because of a fundamental issue (eg liability or quantum) or if the prognosis is still too unclear to agree quantum and therefore proceeding have to be issue to prevent it becoming statute barred.

Failure to make real attempts to settle can result in costs being barred which can get very costly depending on which track of the court you are assigned to. 

The process involves disclosures and responses before the actual hearing... its really not intended to be a "gotcha" type situation however you need proper advice from the partner at the law firm rather than strangers on a forum. 

bris

Withholding evedece would be frowned upon by the courts, as said above all parties need to know the facts.

The judge would not like a surprise like this as the only time he/she would want to see this photo is if it was in dispute as to the identity of the person in the photo if they claim it was you.

If the facts were known and withholding this evedence may have been the difference between going to court or settling out of court it could seriously jepordise the amount of compensation you would get.

Your solicitor knows this so leave it to her.

Sandtree

bris said:

If the facts were known and withholding this evedence may have been the difference between going to court or settling out of court it could seriously jepordise the amount of compensation you would get.

It wont impact compensation directly, it can mean your barred from recovering your legal/court costs and may even have to pay towards the defendant's costs. This sort of thing isnt covered by ATE and so net impact may be less money to you because of all the lawyers fees you are paying but the award would still be the full £5k or whatever it is.