Negligence letter to a Solicitor 's firm

Safeera

Hi, I'm new here so please go easy on me.

I need some help to write to a Solicitor's firm for their negligence in handling my litigation case against a builder. Can you please help me 

Safeera

Thank you 

Sandtree

What help do you need?

Outline your allegations, document the consequences, state what resolution you want and a reasonable timescale. 

How were the solicitors instructed? You paying them or via some form of legal expenses insurance?

Safeera

I have paid them unto date.

Safeera

• Failing to provide correct legal advice which has led to personal and financial losses.

• Professional Negligence

• Failing to fully investigate or properly evidence the claim: 

• Repeated lack of understanding of the case

• Poor performance of taking instructions

• Poor performance of litigation matters, not robust at times when it was needed

• Overpriced for the work that was instructed 

• The duty of care, moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well being of myself and my case

• I suffered financial loss at the hands of a professional who has failed to act within professional standards? 

• Under-settling a claim or missing out important items or categories of damages/losses from my claim

• Acting against my instructions causing me loss of opportunity instructing appropriate experts

• Not properly investigating the evidence provided 

• Consequences that resulted from the issues have caused me immense emotional and mental stress 

• I am not satisfied with the action that was taken by ..............

• ............. was negligent in many ways; and due to his negligence I would have not won my case.

• Professional legal advice should have been applied with 'reasonable skill and care' when readdressing my case. 

• Inadequate advice was provided at the time of Particular of Claim to include compensation, which I had mentioned numerous time by phone calls and in emails. 

• Not taking instructions seriously to claim compensation for health issues caused by the impact of these legal matters. For ........ it was never the right time?

• NEGATIVE ATTITUDE caused a lot of anxiety.

• ........... always needed prompting to pursue certain matters eg, ADR, Mediation, Calder Bank and Part 36  Offers and regards to the D’s bank accounts statements

user1977

This sounds a bit repetitive and vague - and people here can't fill in the blanks. It seems to be a mixture of complaints about poor service and negligence. For any negligence claim to work, I think you'd need evidence that their actions actually made a difference to the outcome of your case - which usually means getting another solicitor to review what happened.

Safeera

user1977 said:

This sounds a bit repetitive and vague - and people here can't fill in the blanks. It seems to be a mixture of complaints about poor service and negligence. For any negligence claim to work, I think you'd need evidence that their actions actually made a difference to the outcome of your case - which usually means getting another solicitor to review what happened.

hence I need help to draft this letter 

Section62

Safeera said:

I need some help to write to a Solicitor's firm for their negligence in handling my litigation case against a builder. Can you please help me 

Did you win the case with the builder?

From your list of issues it sounds like the solicitor recommended a negotiatied settlement?

TripleH

Were the solicitors in possession of all relevant facts throughout the action at appropriate times?

Do you know / what did they do wrong specifically?

Can the error/s they made be deemed reasonable based on the information they had or can you show they intentionally took the wrong action despite the information they had in front of them?

You don't necessarily need to answer the above here, but you do need to consider them when raising a complaint.

What outcome are you after? How do you come to the figure you are pursuing if it is a monetary one?

There is no point saying you would like £20,000 because the legal firm were negligent if you cannot explain how you have come up with that figure. If you have suffered a financial loss and have evidence to support that, include as part of your complaint. It shows you have carefully thought about what you are doing and can support any argument you have.

saajan_12

Start from the start..
You contracted with a builder to do xyz. What did they get wrong? 
You then engaged a solicitor to represent you in your case against the builder. What was your claim?
How was it concluded - you reached a settlement with the builder, negotiated by the solicitor? Or went to court? or ..?

Safeera said:

• Failing to provide correct legal advice which has led to personal and financial losses. - so do you have another solicitor giving opposing advice, in writing? Can you quantify your losses?

• Professional Negligence - vague

• Failing to fully investigate or properly evidence the claim: - so what specifically could have been found but was missed? 

• Repeated lack of understanding of the case - what did they focus on and what should they have focussed on, specifcally?

• Poor performance of taking instructions - okay, so do you have evidence of a specific instructing them to do x and then their refusal or your chasers because they didn't do x?

• Poor performance of litigation matters, not robust at times when it was needed - that's a complaint, not really a financial claim. 

• Overpriced for the work that was instructed  - irrelevant, you agreed to pay or could have instructed them to stop and gone elsewhere. 

• The duty of care, moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well being of myself and my case - vague. This isn't a human rights case.  

• I suffered financial loss at the hands of a professional who has failed to act within professional standards?  - repetitive and vague

• Under-settling a claim or missing out important items or categories of damages/losses from my claim - did they enter into a binding agree something on your behalf with the builder which was contrary to your instructions? If not, you could have refused and said they no longer represent you. 

• Acting against my instructions causing me loss of opportunity instructing appropriate experts - repetitive 

• Not properly investigating the evidence provided - repetitive

• Consequences that resulted from the issues have caused me immense emotional and mental stress - irrelevant

• I am not satisfied with the action that was taken by ..............- vague

• ............. was negligent in many ways; and due to his negligence I would have not won my case. - you 'would' not.. so you didwin? So whats the problem? 

• Professional legal advice should have been applied with 'reasonable skill and care' when readdressing my case. - vague and repetitive

• Inadequate advice was provided at the time of Particular of Claim to include compensation, which I had mentioned numerous time by phone calls and in emails. - okay, so were you unable to submit this later? What are your actual damages as a result? 

• Not taking instructions seriously to claim compensation for health issues caused by the impact of these legal matters. For ........ it was never the right time? - it sounds like a civil case, so the stress / health issues arising from the legal battle are indeed irrelevant. Never is the right time to unload this onto your solicitor, that's a matter for your therapist / doctor (as opposed to from physical hazards if a building fell on your head) , 

• NEGATIVE ATTITUDE caused a lot of anxiety. - irrelevant

• ........... always needed prompting to pursue certain matters eg, ADR, Mediation, Calder Bank and Part 36  Offers and regards to the D’s bank accounts statements - so a complaint, not a legal claim

Comments on your specific points in line. First step is to condense / remove all the vague and repeated points. For the others, I've mentioned where you need specific examples or details to even begin to infer whether its a valid claim and draft something that'll get any attention. 

These generally fall into 2 cattegories:
A) Complaint on the quality of service eg slow / unprofessional. You don't actually have a right to great service contractually, but you can complain. The recourse there is a letter to their complaints department, hope for a goodwill gesture and don't recommend them to your friends.

Actual damages due to failures to live up to your contract. This needs a lot more, specific evidence on exactly what they did do and should have done, as well as your actual damages as a result. Possible recourse is then a letter before action and a court claim. But you're a loong way off from that level of evidence and the sentences above. 

Thrugelmir

Consult another solicitor for proper advice. Accusation of neligence is a serious matter and you need to be carefull not to be defamatory.