Challenging solicitor abortive fees

doodling

Hi,

user1977 said:

doodling said:

Hi,

TBagpuss said:

Most terms of business will have a clause allowing them to withdraw - and the AML rules add complications because of the rules against tipping off etc.

They haven't done anything wrong by declining to continue to act and unless the terms of business specifically say that the fee for the work is only payable if it is you who withdrew then I cannot see any reason why you would not have to pay it. 

Those two factors (the ability to decline to act) and a requirement for you to pay them if they do are not compatible in the world of consumer contract law.  A lot depends on the precise contract between the OP and the solicitors however.

It should be noted that the idea of solicitors withdrawing, leaving their client in the lurch is frowned on within the legal profession.  Withdrawal is expected to be for a good reason and I'm not sure that "the client doesn't comply with our internal policies which we didn't tell them about" is a valid good reason.

The breach of confidence to the EA is also quite frankly unforgiveable.

I would be making a formal complaint to the solicitors about the withdrawal and about the breach of confidence.  If that doesn't yield results then I would complain to the SRA, I can see several clauses in the SRA code of conduct which may be relevant here.

Withdrawing from acting for a buyer at a very early stage in the transaction isn't any sort of "lurch" to be in (in the context of a transaction which typically drags on for months anyway), so I wouldn't think that relevant, and (even if not spelled it in terms of business) it's inevitable that the solicitors have to be entitled to withdraw if they're not satisfied about the source of funds. If their policy is "we don't touch crypto" than it would be nice to have that highlighted at the start, but it's still quite a niche point.

Withdrawal is fine.  Doing so and expecting to get paid for it (especially when the transaction didn't actually involve crypto) doesn't fit with consumer contract law.

I still recommend a complaint, with follow up to the SRA if necessary.

At the very least, the solicitors have behaved disreputably.

pinkshoes

I would contact them in writing firstly asking them to highlight the part in the terms and conditions of the contract which shows that cryptocurrency is not permitted as part of the deposit, and secondly that the money accumulated through cryptocurrency is irrelevant as you can fund the deposit from other traceable funds.

I would then perhaps even say that you are assuming the termination fee is payable by them to you as it is them that is terminating the contract, not you. You are happy to proceed and have met all their T&Cs.

Tomtad

Thanks for everyone's advice. This my latest chain with them:

Solicitor:

I have already explained to you that we cannot act where there is any crypto involvement.  I appreciate you stating that these funds would not be used but this does not satisfy our requirement.  Had this of been brought to our attention earlier, we could have terminated instructions without any cost.

 

We are now closing the file.

Me:

Can you please share with us the t&c that states that crypto withdrawal cannot appear on a bank statement?

Or any written guidance on when we should have brought that up.

Can you also share where it says you can charge us an abortive fee when we didn't choose for the case to be aborted?

Solicitor:

We cannot divulge our internal company policy and your request for this is unreasonable.

If you wish to discuss this further, please contact head office as I do not feel that I can help you any further. Contact details are found in the initial documents.

___________________________

My next steps are contacting their head office for some more explanation and if nothing comes from that, lodge a formal complaint 

gazfocus

To be honest, I think it stinks that they think they can close your case without showing you the terms and conditions that they are relying on to do such, and still expect you to pay the abortive fees. 

You are definitely right to take this to head office and if I were in your shoes, I’d take this as far as I absolutely could, out of principle if nothing more. 

Are they actually solicitors rather than conveyancers? The reason I ask is the last statement from them does seem to suggest they don’t have a clue about the legalities of a contract. 

MultiFuelBurner

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor

housebuyer143

100% fight this to the end. It isn't an unreasonable request to see the T&Cs so reading between the lines it isn't written anywhere, so expecting you to just know their internal processes when you neither work there, have any legal training or where not told seems ludicrous. Then to charge you for this is disgusting. 

Formal complaint all the way. I would be surprised if they could win this one if it got to the ombudsman. 

MeteredOut

These are NOT T&Cs, they are internal policies. You are not bound by their internal policies. Your route via head office and the complaint is the way I'd go too.

saajan_12

Bit taken aback by their tone, definitely would make me want to escalate that much harder. 

Your points would be 
- You asked for a reference to no crypto in T&Cs whereby you AGREED to it, not their internal policy. 
- If they want to impose a hidden internal policy, that's fine but that's not standard given mainstream providers are beginning to offer crypto investment. Had this 'of' been brought to your attention earlier, we could have terminated instructions without any work. You wouldn't reasonably have known to mention to them something unrelated to the transaction at hand. 
- By imposing their non standard policy, they are choosing to not do business and you expect all invoices rescinded and fees paid to be returned. 

pinkshoes

Tomtad said:

Thanks for everyone's advice. This my latest chain with them:

Solicitor:

I have already explained to you that we cannot act where there is any crypto involvement.  I appreciate you stating that these funds would not be used but this does not satisfy our requirement.  Had this of been brought to our attention earlier, we could have terminated instructions without any cost.

 

We are now closing the file.

Me:

Can you please share with us the t&c that states that crypto withdrawal cannot appear on a bank statement?

Or any written guidance on when we should have brought that up.

Can you also share where it says you can charge us an abortive fee when we didn't choose for the case to be aborted?

Solicitor:

We cannot divulge our internal company policy and your request for this is unreasonable.

If you wish to discuss this further, please contact head office as I do not feel that I can help you any further. Contact details are found in the initial documents.

___________________________

My next steps are contacting their head office for some more explanation and if nothing comes from that, lodge a formal complaint 

I would absolutely take this further and refuse to pay.

What sort of shoddy law firm forces customers to adhere to "internal company policy" that they refuse to share with a client?

It comes under "unfair T&Cs" and in court would be deemed unfair. T&Cs need to be fair for both parties.

I assume they've put this nonsense in writing?! I'd like to see them try and defend that policy.

doodling

Hi,

You need to send a formal complaint to their head office.  Please see the law society website which explains how to complain about a solicitor.

You need to complain about the unreasonable charges following their termination of your engagement and also about their failure to keep your information confidential.

You have to give them 8 weeks to give you a satisfactory response. If you don't get one then I would complain as follows:

1. To the Law Society for
A ) charging you for abortive work arising as a result of them unreasonably ending their engagement.
B ) failing to protect the confidentiality of your dealings with them.

2. To the SRA for failing to follow their code of conduct in:
A ) Behaving disreputably in either not adhering to their contract or having a contract which is not in accordance with the law.
B ) Failing to keep your dealings with them confidential.

Please be aware that if the reason they have terminated your relationship is as a result of you failing money laundering checks and them being instructed not to tell you of that fact then those complaints will eventually fail.  It doesn't sound like that is the case as you would expect absolutely no comment at all rather than them coming up with ridiculous reasons.