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Slow Solicitor

chewthecarpet
Posts: 33 Forumite

Hi,
I wonder if anyone here can help? My sister's relationship has broken down and she has moved out of the house that she owns outright with her partner. He is refusing to sell the property and she has signed up with a solicitor to sort it out, but in a whole YEAR the solicitor has sent one letter and has run up a bill of £1000 (which my sister has agreed to pay once the house is sold). She cannot contact the solicitor, whose Secretary uses various excuses to prevent contact, and she feels that she cannot change to another because she has not the £1000 to pay the bill. Why is the solicitor doing nothing? What should she do? Thank you.
I wonder if anyone here can help? My sister's relationship has broken down and she has moved out of the house that she owns outright with her partner. He is refusing to sell the property and she has signed up with a solicitor to sort it out, but in a whole YEAR the solicitor has sent one letter and has run up a bill of £1000 (which my sister has agreed to pay once the house is sold). She cannot contact the solicitor, whose Secretary uses various excuses to prevent contact, and she feels that she cannot change to another because she has not the £1000 to pay the bill. Why is the solicitor doing nothing? What should she do? Thank you.
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Comments
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I had a solicitor like this, albeit not this bad. Some are very slow and see no reason to rush ANYTHING. Sometimes I would call and the letter he needed to read had been in his in-tray for two weeks and he was "getting round to it". Other times, he would his secretary would gatekeep. My advice, cut loose and get another and explain to the new party that you want to to do this fast as possible. Settle the bill with the other solicitor. There's no rule you saying you can't go from one solicitor to another.
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Well, one thing she can do is to follow the solicitor's complaints process (which should have been provided in the initial client care letter)
How have they run up £1,000? That's more than one letter. it might be a long meeting, plus letters to her and one to the other party, but they should be able to explain.
And she can go ease where. Worst case scenario is that she first solicitor won't release the file but it's unlikely that have anything she can't replicate. They might, depending on the terms agreed, put a charge against the house (which would then be cleared when it is sold) but step one would be a complaint about the poor communication and lack of progress.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
Thank you,
I cannot see where the £1000 has gone either, but my sister tells me that it is for emails (when she enquires what is happening, if she gets a reply they charge for it) and valuing the house. She is frightened to use the complaints procedure in case they drop the case and ask her to pay the bill, as she has no money.0 -
Has you had your sister an instruction letter or quotation, from the solicitor? A good place to start would be to establish what the solicitor has been contracted to do specifically.0
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Thank you. I know that she signed an instruction letter, which I assume means that the solicitor is acting to force the sale of the house and the division of the proceeds.0
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This morning my sister called me and said that the solicitor has emailed and told her that he wants to pass the case over to a barrister, whose fees are astronomical! So what now? I have told her to refuse to pay any bills as the contract has not been fulfilled, and to find a new solicitor asap. Any advice?
Thanks.0 -
If a bill has been raised, then a breakdown of costs should also be available. Your sister should ask for that.
The bill will state the process for challenging that bill - it usually involves paying a proportion and then following a procedure to challenge the whole amount, or just a part thereof.
Your sister will also have been informed of who the "supervising partner" in the firm is for her matter - assuming it is not a single partner firm. She can contact this person at any time if she isn't happy with the way her case is being handled, and they should listen to her, investigate, and report back.
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Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Inform the solicitor via email to hold fire on doing any further work, you are having to take action to limit the cost and therefore the way forward is for you to deal with them direct.
One letter in a year at a cost of £1000...... report them to the SRA0 -
Thank you, much appreciated. I cannot believe that a professional person can be so cavalier.0
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Hard to make a judgement of any sort without clarity on instructions given by your sister.
£1000 is not a large amount of money, given the task at hand.
If the solicitor wishes to pass the case over to a Barrister, some work has been done. I'm making an assumption now, but this to me sounds like preparation for court action.
Could you accompany your sister to an apt either with the suggested Barrister, or with the solicitor to get a handle on what actions are complete and what actions still to come?
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