Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solicitor

[tifo]

Hi,

I took a company to court and the day before the hearing their solicitor called and agreed a settlement sum. He then wrote to the court to say we had settled.

The next day before the hearing we signed a consent order (myself and the third party solicitor). I went to the hearing and the judge put through an order as per the consent.

The third party did not pay and despite chasing their solicitor he always said "I'm waiting further instructions".

During the claim I did not speak or deal with any of the third party, only their solicitor.

The company went into liquidation some 6 months later and I am not getting any payment (nothing left liquidator says).

Can I sue the third party solicitor as he signed the consent order and I believed his client will pay? Solicitor says this was not an undertaking, just following instructions.

Thanks.

[nemesis45]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

Hi,

I took a company to court and the day before the hearing their solicitor called and agreed a settlement sum. He then wrote to the court to say we had settled.

The next day before the hearing we signed a consent order (myself and the third party solicitor). I went to the hearing and the judge put through an order as per the consent.

The third party did not pay and despite chasing their solicitor he always said "I'm waiting further instructions".

During the claim I did not speak or deal with any of the third party, only their solicitor.

The company went into liquidation some 6 months later and I am not getting any payment (nothing left liquidator says).

Can I sue the third party solicitor as he signed the consent order and I believed his client will pay? Solicitor says this was not an undertaking, just following instructions.

Thanks.

I don't think the solicitor is at fault, as he/she acts on the instructions from their client, using consent
orders in this way is not uncommon I'm afraid.
Personally if the first payment was not made and another became due I would have applied for
summary judgement with an forthwith order for payment of the full amount.

nem

[Openlaw15]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

Hi,

I took a company to court and the day before the hearing their solicitor called and agreed a settlement sum. He then wrote to the court to say we had settled.

The next day before the hearing we signed a consent order (myself and the third party solicitor). I went to the hearing and the judge put through an order as per the consent.

The third party did not pay and despite chasing their solicitor he always said "I'm waiting further instructions".

During the claim I did not speak or deal with any of the third party, only their solicitor.

The company went into liquidation some 6 months later and I am not getting any payment (nothing left liquidator says).

Can I sue the third party solicitor as he signed the consent order and I believed his client will pay? Solicitor says this was not an undertaking, just following instructions.

Thanks.

Every legal professional owes a duty of care at the same standard as equivalent professional. What do you mean by third party solicitor, third party to whom?

[tifo]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

I had default judgment against the company, they applied twice with N244 to set this aside but failed, the defendant solicitor then settled and signed consent order prior to the disposal hearing .... I applied for enforcement but could not locate the director to serve documents, the company is now in liquidation ... all this was over a 11 month period.

Did the defendant solicitor have no duty of care to make sure payment is made for the consent order HE signed? Otherwise they've both played the system, defendant solicitor can sign with no fear of reprisals, defendant does not pay with no fear of enforcement, this makes a mockery of the proceedings and hearings .... meanwhile i agreed settlement of my claim from £2,000 to £1,400 because I thought they'll pay, i end up getting nothing, plus costs are £750 inc time, court fees, postage (papers, folders, SD delivery x 2).

[nemesis45]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

I had default judgment against the company, they applied twice with N244 to set this aside but failed, the defendant solicitor then settled and signed consent order prior to the disposal hearing .... I applied for enforcement but could not locate the director to serve documents, the company is now in liquidation ... all this was over a 11 month period.

Did the defendant have no duty of care to make sure payment is made for the consent order HE signed? Otherwise they've both played the system, he can sign with no fear of reprisals, defendant does not pay with no fear of enforcement, this makes a mockery of the proceedings and hearings .... meanwhile i agreed settlement of my claim from £2,000 to £1,400 because I thought they'll pay, i end up getting nothing, plus costs are £750 inc time, court fees, postage (papers, folders, SD delivery x 2).

The solicitor had a duty of care to his/her client, he/she is not representing you in any way.
The solicitor signs as the claimants representative not as a party to the consent order.
You could have applied for summary judgement the day after the first payment should
have been made.
nem

[tifo]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

You could have applied for summary judgement the day after the first payment should
have been made. nem

I don't get what you mean about summary judgment?

I had default judgment against the company, they unsuccessfully tried to set this aside and consented to pay the agreed settlement at the disposal hearing. They then did not pay.

During the whole claim i dealt solely with their solicitor, who agreed settlement and signed the consent order. It would seem this signature is without any responsibility if his client does not pay, whether he knew/did not know about this?

[nemesis45]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

I don't get what you mean about summary judgment?

I had default judgment against the company, they unsuccessfully tried to set this aside and consented to pay the agreed settlement at the disposal hearing. They then did not pay.

During the whole claim i dealt solely with their solicitor, who agreed settlement and signed the consent order. It would seem this signature is without any responsibility if his client does not pay, whether he knew/did not know about this?

If the consent order failed as it seems it did you enforce the judgement pay the fee get a High Court Warrant and use HCEO's to
get the money or seize goods / Cars any assets of the company, well before What was it ? 11 months, 1st missed payment enforce.

nem

- - - Updated - - -

I don't get what you mean about summary judgment?

I had default judgment against the company, they unsuccessfully tried to set this aside and consented to pay the agreed settlement at the disposal hearing. They then did not pay.

During the whole claim i dealt solely with their solicitor, who agreed settlement and signed the consent order. It would seem this signature is without any responsibility if his client does not pay, whether he knew/did not know about this?

The solicitors signature is on behalf of his / her client he is not responsible for his clients failures. Very simple really.

nem

[tifo]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

I do understand that the solicitor signed the consent order on behalf of his client, but does he bear no duty of care towards me, as the party he was dealing with, to ensure that his client did what he the solicitor was signing for, i.e. chase his client to make payment within the 14 days or make sure funds are on account before signing the consent order?

As he was my sole contact for the whole claim, I dealt with it in the way I did because of the information he provided me.

It is an unusual situation where the defendant has gone into liquidation ....

[nemesis45]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

I do understand that the solicitor signed the consent order on behalf of his client, but does he bear no duty of care towards me, as the party he was dealing with, to ensure that his client did what he the solicitor was signing for, i.e. chase his client to make payment within the 14 days or make sure funds are on account before signing the consent order?

As he was my sole contact for the whole claim, I dealt with it in the way I did because of the information he provided me.

It is an unusual situation where the defendant has gone into liquidation ....

Quite simply no, it would be an impossible situation for a solicitor to be in, one can advise a client but
has no control whatsoever over the clients actions.

The solicitor as said before take instructions from his client and passes on the information to you in
this case, you still had free choice.

There is in my opinion nothing to prove this solicitor has done any wrong.

A Barrister takes instructions from a solicitor to defend an accused person who when tried pleads not
guilty is acquitted but later offends again the barrister and solicitor cannot be " blamed " for that.

nem

[Amethyst]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

The consent order should have been lodged with the court, then as soon as it was breached you ( depending on the terms of the consent order agreed to) would have been in a position to enforce the terms. Ahh just seen this bit

I applied for enforcement but could not locate the director to serve documents,

Sadly if the liquidator has already said there is nothing left and the claim was against the ltd company that is pretty much the end of it.

And no there's no claim against the solicitor - he was acting on his clients behalf to agree settlement. That the client then failed to keep to the terms of settlement isn't down to the solicitor.

[nemesis45]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

Posts Crossed.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

The consent order should have been lodged with the court, then as soon as it was breached you ( depending on the terms of the consent order agreed to) would have been in a position to enforce the terms. Ahh just seen this bit

Sadly if the liquidator has already said there is nothing left and the claim was against the ltd company that is pretty much the end of it.

And no there's no claim against the solicitor - he was acting on his clients behalf to agree settlement. That the client then failed to keep to the terms of settlement isn't down to the solicitor.

Op has 6 years to make a claim in tort. Actually, the solicitor owes a duty of care to act reasonably and responsibly. If this legal professional has done anything wrong he or she could be liable to third parties. This would apply where a legal professional has forgot to deal with an important part of a will and the beneficiaries in consequence are deprived so are therein entitled to claim for any such losses, for example. However, the duty of a solicitor has such a high threshold of care because he is simply expected to be au fait with the law including the law of torts: Court of Appeal judge in Evans v Vowles [2003],

Whether a solicitor has breached his very high professional standards of his/ her duty of care to any third party depends on the facts. The tort question then that we need to ask ourselves is would the hypothetical solicitor where he is in the same circumstances as the Op's relationship to third party solicitor have acted in the same way, if not it's not reasonable, in the circumstances: Vowles [2003], which means there is or has been a breach of an owed duty of care.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

oops i meant 3 years to make a claim in England in Wales

[wales01man]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

What are the chances the Solicitor would be liable?

[Amethyst]

Re: Consent order signed by third party solicitor and client not paid can I sue solic

The Solicitor acted for the other party.

A consent order was agreed and filed with the court.

There will have been a sanction in the order in the event of non payment - we don't know if the OP had their own legal advice, it seems not? and relied on a solicitor who acted for the other party.

The order was not enforced when it was breached.

Chat with the Legal Ombudsman or SRA by all means.