Solicitors do not reply, seem to be having internal issues, what to do?

GervisLooper

I did prior research and these seemed the 'best of a bad bunch' in that solicitors seems to be largely hated similar to estate agents so loads of bad reviews but these seemed to have more good reviews than others mixed with the bad.

However one bad review I recall stated, with that these ones I went with, you had to be chasing them down all the time to get a response and that is unfortunately exactly how it has turned out. You may ask why I would go with them with such a review but the competition had equally bad reviews. It seemed a case of picking the lesser evil.

They started off good by contacting me without prompting saying what they were going to do and asking stuff they would want me to do and updating quite frequently with emails as to what they had done.

After some weeks and communication having slowed right down there was a sudden formal letter saying that the person who was dealing with me is leaving the company and that rest assured they have another person who is totally as fit and capable of replacing them and they will take over. This person seemed to be a phantom as I never could get even one response from them and their name wasn't even listed on their website and then a few more weeks of no responses from this new mystery person and then there is another email saying due to unforeseen circumstances that person no longer works at the company and I have been passed over to another solicitor.

This most recent one is supposedly the head of that part of the company so had higher expectations. They started off well by giving me reassurance they will be handling things and yet after a couple of emails again responses have petered out.

I sent a message to them on sunday and still not received a response on friday.

I am becoming concerned this may reflect badly on the seller's side. I am sure they are eager to finalize the sale and so am I but these solicitors seem to be having staffing and workload issues.

I did let the agent's know that it was not me and to pass that on to the sellers.

I would prefer if they would tell me they were having issues and at least touching base but they just do not reply to my questions.

As solicitors I would be afraid to get on their bad side. Similar how if you hired some henchmen to do some dirty work for you you wouldn't want to get on their bad side in fear you would then be the one with a target on your back.

sammyjammy

Ring them if you are concerned.  Every time you contact them and they reply it costs you money, if you believe they are getting on with the sale what are the questions you are asking?  They will be handing many cases as well as your own.

Hoenir

How many other parties are their in the chain? 

Tiglet2

It's very annoying when solicitors don't respond to a client's telephone calls or emails, but generally speaking the majority of solicitors are extremely busy so they tend to assess how urgent your request is. 

If you just want an update on progress, then the time taken to respond to you means that other more urgent matters are put aside. 

If your request is going to progress matters, i.e. you have the answer to a query they have raised with you or have some evidence/paperwork they need and have been waiting for, then they should respond far quicker.

Responding to queries which don't actually help progress the case are not important in legal conveyancing work.  As one solicitor recently remarked to a client, "we need to get on with the work, rather than talk about it".

 

GervisLooper

Hoenir said:

How many other parties are their in the chain? 

No chains. This is for land.

GervisLooper

Tiglet2 said:

It's very annoying when solicitors don't respond to a client's telephone calls or emails, but generally speaking the majority of solicitors are extremely busy so they tend to assess how urgent your request is. 

If you just want an update on progress, then the time taken to respond to you means that other more urgent matters are put aside. 

If your request is going to progress matters, i.e. you have the answer to a query they have raised with you or have some evidence/paperwork they need and have been waiting for, then they should respond far quicker.

Responding to queries which don't actually help progress the case are not important in legal conveyancing work.  As one solicitor recently remarked to a client, "we need to get on with the work, rather than talk about it".

 

Maybe but I think it is unprofessional to just ignore. It takes all of 30 seconds to give a quick status update and I am paying them money. It isn't like I am just a vagrant off the street asking for their time to chit chat.

Also this does not consider the fact that they responded fast at first to queries and petered off right around the time of staffing curfuffle. It is not that I am impatient but more that I am being left in the dark as to the status, I have no idea if this is the normal way of things and they are still on the case or if it is being mismanaged and the other end are also getting impatient. Would just like to  be kept in the loop.

EssexHebridean

OP - your final paragraph, you seem to be under the impression that solicitors are somehow akin to the Krays. Trust me, you are not going to end up buried in a motorway flyover for raising a complaint about lack of service. 

Go back to the original terms of retainer you were sent - it will detail the firms complaints process and also will name a person - probably a partner - who you can escalate to if needed. If that person is the person you are now dealing with, call the firm and ask who the supervising partner is for work being handled by that partner, note that name. Then email your current solicitor explaining that you have repeatedly tried to contact them, and that as per the firm’s documented process if you do not hear back from them within 48 hours (noting that you will discount any weekend time included within that time period) then you will be escalating matters as per their procedure. 

GervisLooper

EssexHebridean said:

OP - your final paragraph, you seem to be under the impression that solicitors are somehow akin to the Krays. Trust me, you are not going to end up buried in a motorway flyover for raising a complaint about lack of service. 

Go back to the original terms of retainer you were sent - it will detail the firms complaints process and also will name a person - probably a partner - who you can escalate to if needed. If that person is the person you are now dealing with, call the firm and ask who the supervising partner is for work being handled by that partner, note that name. Then email your current solicitor explaining that you have repeatedly tried to contact them, and that as per the firm’s documented process if you do not hear back from them within 48 hours (noting that you will discount any weekend time included within that time period) then you will be escalating matters as per their procedure. 

No but merely an analogy that since they are legal wizards if you got on their bad side they would flex their respective legal muscle.

TBG01

GervisLooper said:

Tiglet2 said:

It's very annoying when solicitors don't respond to a client's telephone calls or emails, but generally speaking the majority of solicitors are extremely busy so they tend to assess how urgent your request is. 

If you just want an update on progress, then the time taken to respond to you means that other more urgent matters are put aside. 

If your request is going to progress matters, i.e. you have the answer to a query they have raised with you or have some evidence/paperwork they need and have been waiting for, then they should respond far quicker.

Responding to queries which don't actually help progress the case are not important in legal conveyancing work.  As one solicitor recently remarked to a client, "we need to get on with the work, rather than talk about it".

 

Maybe but I think it is unprofessional to just ignore. It takes all of 30 seconds to give a quick status update 

Everyone says that. Everyone says "Oh if they just said they were busy I'd leave them alone", however solicitors know this won't be the case.

Arguably this is nothing new, but solicitors work in an age of main character syndrome. Clients think their transaction is more pressing than everyone else's. Solicitors work in an age where people can turn to the Internet and read one sentence that makes them think they know better than the solicitor. Solicitors work in an age where emails can be sent and received instantly with a response demandad instantly.

EssexHebridean

GervisLooper said:

EssexHebridean said:

OP - your final paragraph, you seem to be under the impression that solicitors are somehow akin to the Krays. Trust me, you are not going to end up buried in a motorway flyover for raising a complaint about lack of service. 

Go back to the original terms of retainer you were sent - it will detail the firms complaints process and also will name a person - probably a partner - who you can escalate to if needed. If that person is the person you are now dealing with, call the firm and ask who the supervising partner is for work being handled by that partner, note that name. Then email your current solicitor explaining that you have repeatedly tried to contact them, and that as per the firm’s documented process if you do not hear back from them within 48 hours (noting that you will discount any weekend time included within that time period) then you will be escalating matters as per their procedure. 

No but merely an analogy that since they are legal wizards if you got on their bad side they would flex their respective legal muscle.

Still not something that is going to happen. This IS an SRA Regulated firm you’re using isn’t it? 

EssexHebridean

TBG01 said:

GervisLooper said:

Tiglet2 said:

It's very annoying when solicitors don't respond to a client's telephone calls or emails, but generally speaking the majority of solicitors are extremely busy so they tend to assess how urgent your request is. 

If you just want an update on progress, then the time taken to respond to you means that other more urgent matters are put aside. 

If your request is going to progress matters, i.e. you have the answer to a query they have raised with you or have some evidence/paperwork they need and have been waiting for, then they should respond far quicker.

Responding to queries which don't actually help progress the case are not important in legal conveyancing work.  As one solicitor recently remarked to a client, "we need to get on with the work, rather than talk about it".

 

Maybe but I think it is unprofessional to just ignore. It takes all of 30 seconds to give a quick status update 

Everyone says that. Everyone says "Oh if they just said they were busy I'd leave them alone", however solicitors know this won't be the case.

Arguably this is nothing new, but solicitors work in an age of main character syndrome. Clients think their transaction is more pressing than everyone else's. Solicitors work in an age where people can turn to the Internet and read one sentence that makes them think they know better than the solicitor. Solicitors work in an age where emails can be sent and received instantly with a response demandad instantly.

Painfully true. Look at it this way, if a solicitor has 50 clients on their books at one time, and each of those clients asks for an update, then by the time those emails have been read the file has been got out and checked through so the solicitor can refresh their memory on that particular case. Then a response drafted, checked and sent - that is going to be a minimum of 20 minutes per file. That is a decent chunk of the solicitors time each and every week which then can’t be used in doing the work that clients are actually paying for. 

In the case of the OP’s matter it does sound as though some courtesy is lacking, and in the light of the repeated fee earner changes I do think they should be receiving a little more TLC than they are at the moment, but there has to be a balance. Think of it this way - when your matter is approaching exchange, how long are you happy for that exchange to be delayed because your solicitor is busy sending update emails to countless other clients whose matters are still way off that point? Ultimately if someone feels that they should be getting updates every few days when there is nothing different to say (far from uncommon) then they also have to accept that this will have a knock-on effect on timescales through the transaction.