Family law solicitor dispute over bills with no contract

bluetail14

I had a family law solicitor who did not sent me his terms of business to sign. Five months into the case he sent it  raising the rates from what was initially agreed. I did not sign it and told him I no longer wanted his services. Now I'm disputing half of the fees with him and he wants me to sign a "mandate" which is to acknowledge him as my solicitor "I authorise /him/ to forward all fees and sums from the divorce settlement proceeds".

Where do I stand on this?  Do I even have to pay him the remainder of his fees if no contract signed?  in all honesty, he's been useless as a solicitor both in court and with paperwork failing to provide me with itemised invoices as well.
I have been to CAB who don't advise me anything rather than to pursue it through the legal ombudsman, and I don't want to sign his mandate as it'll be the only document I have signed with him.

I have contacted the legal ombudsman back in April who refer me back to him, and he threatens me with legal action for non-payment. I asked the ombudsman to appoint an auditor to review his invoices, yet they said its up to him to arrange an auditor (and he wants me to sign his mandate for this). I do not want to sign anything until the ombudsman intervenes. 

Any advice?

AskAsk

I am sorry to hear that.  It is bad enough going through a divorce, without having to deal with disputes with your own solicitor, who is supposed to be helping you! 

Did you get reviews on him before you instructed him?  I always read reviews before I instruct any business. 

How much are we talking about that is in dispute? 

It is shoddy that he didn't send you a contract to sign, to agree the cost and term & conditions, but this on its own, wouldn't stop you being liable for the cost of the work.  A contract doesn't have to be formal, it could be written correspondence, where you agree for him to start work and he telling you his hourly rates.  He doesn't have to provide itemised invoices, if that is not his practice but the challenge would be that you think the cost is unreasonable for the work that had been carried out. 

Have you paid him anything at all?  Solicitors normally ask for a payment on account before they start work, and this in itself, will be proof that you had instructed him to carry out the work. 

Do you have written record of how much his hourly charge were when you first instructed him as you said it is a less than what his bill is now showing?

Exodi

bluetail14 said:

I had a family law solicitor who did not sent me his terms of business to sign. Five months into the case he sent it  raising the rates from what was initially agreed.

Sorry, it feels like there's been a lot of detail left out as it is quite inconsistent in my mind to say 'raising the rates from what was initially agreed' and making a point of '(he) did not send me his terms of business to sign' as you have clearly acknowledged that you had an agreement and I presume you used his services for 5+ months. While it is preferable, a wet signature is not mandatory to form a contract.

bluetail14 said:

I did not sign it and told him I no longer wanted his services. Now I'm disputing half of the fees with him and he wants me to sign a "mandate" which is to acknowledge him as my solicitor "I authorise /him/ to forward all fees and sums from the divorce settlement proceeds".

Where do I stand on this?  Do I even have to pay him the remainder of his fees if no contract signed?

Again, it appears like there is a lot of information missing. For example, why are you only disputing half the fees? I thought your point was that you had no contract? Have you paid the other half or do you accept he provided a service, but you were unhappy with the quality of the service?

bluetail14 said:

in all honesty, he's been useless as a solicitor both in court and with paperwork failing to provide me with itemised invoices as well.

I have been to CAB who don't advise me anything rather than to pursue it through the legal ombudsman, and I don't want to sign his mandate as it'll be the only document I have signed with him.

I have contacted the legal ombudsman back in April who refer me back to him, and he threatens me with legal action for non-payment. I asked the ombudsman to appoint an auditor to review his invoices, yet they said its up to him to arrange an auditor (and he wants me to sign his mandate for this). I do not want to sign anything until the ombudsman intervenes. 

Any advice?

I think we get to the heart of the matter here. I think you'd be taken more seriously if you framed your issue around the service level, instead of trying to suggest you had no contract with someone you agreed prices with and had worked together for 5+ months (which personally I think would be given short shrift by a judge)..

bluetail14 said:

I have been to CAB who don't advise me anything rather than to pursue it through the legal ombudsman, and I don't want to sign his mandate as it'll be the only document I have signed with him.

I have contacted the legal ombudsman back in April who refer me back to him, and he threatens me with legal action for non-payment. I asked the ombudsman to appoint an auditor to review his invoices, yet they said its up to him to arrange an auditor (and he wants me to sign his mandate for this). I do not want to sign anything until the ombudsman intervenes. 

Any advice?

I'm not suprised CAB wouldn't want to get involved with this. If the Ombudsman also refuse to get involved, but you refuse to do anything without them getting involved, then it appears you are at a stalemate. What do you think should happen, as I suspect the solicitor isn't going to forget about the bill.

To play devils advocate, you could interpret your thread as a divorcee taking their anger out on their solicitor, trying to stitch them up for the bill on a whipped up technicality, and now refuses to pay at all while trying to escalate anywhere possible (with no luck).

Hoenir

The solicitor will have a detailed time log of how the money was spent. Like every business at some point prices are increased , more often or not annually.  Solicitors know the law and will use it to recover any monies owed. 

VyEu

So you're disputing the bill for the period of five months when you instructed them? Why? They did the work at the agreed rate. If you dispute the service that's a LeO job but doesn't automatically entitled you to a discount of 50%

sheramber

There can be a verbal contract, it does not need to be on paper.

If he has been doing work you must have given the onformation needed for him tom proceed. That would indicate that there was a contract.

The ombudsman is not going to intervene if he has passed you back to the  solicitor.  


https://www.gov.uk/challenge-solicitors-bill#:~:text=You must apply to the,of what you owe upfront.

Jemma01

I think the real issue you have is that you used them for 5 months. The moment you didn't like their service, it should have ended promptly with bills paid up to that period. You can't come 5 months later and refuse to pay.

I suggest you agree an auditor from your side and an auditor from his side to review this together.

TBagpuss

There are fairly forma rules around solicitors bill BUT Ithin if you cotinued ti instruct them for 5 months then you would not be in a strong position to argue that you had not accepted the terms.

The ombudsmanwon't get involved until you have been through the solicitros own complaints process.

You are of course free to disinstruct the solicitor and to stop building up costs, but that doesn't mean that everything before that is free or hafrpice.

I'd sugget that you make a formal complain, following the solicitros complaints proceure if it is available (normally should be available via their website, if they have one, or on request from the firm)  

Set out what you feel they did which was incorert - e.g. delay, failure to follow instructiosn, andwjhat you want the firm to do to correct it. (e.g. reuqiest a diclount) However, a 50% discount is a huge amount, and it's hard to assess whether you have valid grounds for a complaint, based on what you have said.

In your compalint, don't say that he was 'rubbish in court' - be specifc about what he did, or didn't do, andwhy you feel that his work was not good enough. 

TripleH

Did you get a 'letter of engagement' which is a document outlining what the solicitor will do for you / reason you are using their services. I would expect this at a minimum, as that normally specifies rates for work.

Or was it all verbal?

Neil8419

I tried a company called Eventum Legal when I needed a solicitor, not sure if they do family laws but upon request they provided a clear breakdown of all associated cost and charges! 

Criminal Defence Lawyer | Manchester