Professional Negligence?

[Dracos21]

Hello all and apologies if this is in the wrong place as I'm new to this.
I will try and keep this brief. My ex wife’s father is a partner in a Solicitors firm, this firm acted for myself and my ex wife previously.
We split up in April 2015 and decided to Divorce in January 2016. My exs father asked if his firm could handle the divorce to help out his daughter at no expense to myself or my ex wife, I agreed on the basis that it was about just the divorce and signed an Authority to that effect stating it was just for the divorce I gave authority for.
At no point before signing did the firm inform me to seek legal advice. Following signing the authority my ex wife then decided to use the Solicitors firm to make my life hell, sending letters and demands regarding not just the divorce but also financial matters and children matters – they even sent me a letter regarding soft toys for the children at one point! to say that I was harassed is an understatement!
Early October 2016 I received a phone call from a solicitors stating that I had initiated a joint claim for a tenancy deposit against their client. I knew nothing about this claim but then found out that my exs father had sent them letter of action and draft claim demanding the return of the tenancy deposit from a couple of years ago. This claim was in my name and my ex wife’s name and the address was the former marital home where she still lived. I did not at any point give my authority for them to do this and wrote to them and the solicitor stating this.
In November I made a formal complaint to my exs father firm stating all of the above, regarding the authority, no advice, dealing with other matters not just divorce as agreed, and the fact he tried to use my name to obtain money without my knowledge.
The response I got was I didn’t think you would mind!
I am both shocked and appalled and want to take further action as they shouldn’t be allowed to treat people like this.
Please can anyone tell me if I have sufficient cause to make a claim, report to the legal ombudsman or sra.
Any help appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

[ULA]

Re: Professional Negligence?

Hi [MENTION=96839]Dracos21[/MENTION]. Just so that I am clear you yourself do not have a solicitor acting on your behalf either to deal with the divorce itself or any of the ancillary matters which will need to be agreed such as the financial arrangements and provisions for the children?

[Dracos21]

Re: Professional Negligence?

Hi @Dracos21. Just so that I am clear you yourself do not have a solicitor acting on your behalf either to deal with the divorce itself or any of the ancillary matters which will need to be agreed such as the financial arrangements and provisions for the children?

Hi and thank you for replying.
The divorce has now been concluded, but the ancillary matters and children matters are ongoing. Due to my complaint the exs fathers firm can no longer act I don't think as I have been informed that she is looking for another solicitor to deal with a clean break order. I have not been told this formally though and there is no answer apart from the 'I didn't think you would mind' comment from her father.

and no, unfortunately when we separated I was left with nothing, I am self employed and cannot afford a solicitor, I am self representing as I have no other choice.

I do see my children with 5 overnight stays a fortnight and two evenings, but as my ex has and threatened to stop contact for no reason on numerous occasions I am taking it to court for a child arrangements order.

this matter is more about the solicitors conduct though as it I think they have acted against laws/sra rules etc. Thank you.

[ULA]

Re: Professional Negligence?

My understanding of making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman about a firm is that you would need to have been the client of the firm in order to do so. In this instance it was your ex-wife who was the client and not you therefore you are not able to make a claim via the Legal Ombudsman.

Since this was a divorce matter the firm would not have been able to act for both of you as this would have been a conflict of interest. Therefore I am a bit concerned about your statement. "My exs father asked if his firm could handle the divorce to help out his daughter at no expense to myself or my ex wife..." If you were representing yourself you would not be incurring solicitor's fees anyway as you did not instruct one. Who was the petitioner in the case was it you or your ex-wife as that party would be responsible for the Court Fees?

[Dracos21]

Re: Professional Negligence?

My understanding of making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman about a firm is that you would need to have been the client of the firm in order to do so. In this instance it was your ex-wife who was the client and not you therefore you are not able to make a claim via the Legal Ombudsman.

Since this was a divorce matter the firm would not have been able to act for both of you as this would have been a conflict of interest. Therefore I am a bit concerned about your statement. "My exs father asked if his firm could handle the divorce to help out his daughter at no expense to myself or my ex wife..." If you were representing yourself you would not be incurring solicitor's fees anyway as you did not instruct one. Who was the petitioner in the case was it you or your ex-wife as that party would be responsible for the Court Fees?

He said that she was divorcing me on my unreasonable behaviour as I did not support her mental health issues enough. If I contested this she would seek costs of the divorce from me - if I didn't contest then they would pay it all so the divorce wouldn't cost me anything.
My ex was the petitioner and I was the respondent

[Peridot]

Re: Professional Negligence?

Hi Dracos21,
Unfortunately there is not a path for you to complain to the Legal Ombudsman as currently they will not generally deal with complaints from third parties except in very limited circumstances. To approach the LeO you would have to complete the complaints process within the firm which would only be open to you as a client, which you aren't.
I am concerned about the evident conflict in your ex's father acting on her behalf, however favourable the lack of charges would seem. However you agreed to his acting in relation to the divorce.
The fact that this would appear to have continued into the realms of dealing with the finances and child arrangements may simply be that your ex has instructed him to act on her behalf in relation to this. Just because you agreed that he could act in relation to the divorce and not the finances does not mean that your ex can not continue instructing him on the financial/children side. It does not 'sit right' with me, but no doubt the argument would be that you agreed with the obtaining the divorce and that they had no other information regarding finances etc that would prevent him acting on her behalf after the divorce application. How true this would be when it is a family member acting depends on how close you were as a family I would suppose?
With regard to the deposit that is being chased, whose name was the tenancy in and who paid this? If it was in your ex's name then that is up to her to chase. From the sounds of it, probably it was in both names hence they needed you to sign the claim form. In which case you would be entitled to half the deposit for yourself, if successful. You should therefore have been consulted properly about this to ensure that any funds were divided appropriately.
The SRA code of conduct provides the framework for Solicitors and conflict is obviously a huge area. There is also a section on responsibilities to third parties http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/han...5/content.page
Rule 3 deals with conflict and can be found here http://www.sra.org.uk/documents/code...-interests.pdf
It appears to be very muddied waters as far as your situation is concerned. Before contacting SRA or LeO I think you need to decide whether the issue is sufficient to cause more animosity. Yes on the face of it there is a huge conflict which may or may not have been dealt with by your signing the agreement.
You appear to indicate that you complained to his firm what was the outcome? Are they still acting for your ex? What's happening over the rent claim?
Her dad has professional obligations to comply with in regard of providing his advice and services. It may be that he believes he is helping by keeping fees out of the equation but only you can decide if this is appropriate for your situation. What is more important keeping costs down or removing any conflict? Personally I wouldn't want an ex's father dealing with any legal issues of mine, but then you would need to get independent legal advice yourself which will cost you. The costs would be paid from the pot so to speak in the divorce proceedings, so effectively by both of you.
I would suggest maybe speaking to the firm about what they are doing or have done in relation to this and then taking a decision whether to ask for further advice from the SRA.