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Last year I signed a letter of engagement with a Solicitor's firm (a Ltd company). It was so I could get some advice re a Probate matter that has been dragging on with another form of solicitors. The letter set out some terms which included agreeing fees on an ongoing basis and an estimate of the number of hours. I received a bill from them for more than double the number of hours and I disputed it. They replied by saying that they had informed me that they had gone over the estimated hours (in an email as a one liner that I did not actually read) and to pay up or they would go to Court and sue me. Within the week, they had issued a letter naming me and 2 other members of my family as join defendants.
I am the only one that signed their letter of engagment and in fact, the other members of my family were not involved in me seeking advice.
I asked for their complaint procedure which I have followed and written to complain about numerous issues I have, including their invoice being very vague, inconsitancies in their charging - charging 2 hours for a 3 page email, charging nearly 300 quid an hour for a junior solicitor sending me email, and not having the staff working in the practice that they claim to (not having the experince that they said they did). They have not acknowlded receiving my letter of complaint despite me emailing them twice to ask for confirmation, and sending a message on skype which I know they have received. It has been a week since they received my letter and their proceedure states that will acknowlege within 3 days.
I live in France, and I am the 1st named defendant. They have ticked the box on the claim form stating that "I state that each claim made against the defendant to be served and included in the claim form is a claim
which the court has power to determine under the Judgments Regulation and the defendant is a party to an agreement conferring exclusive jurisdiction within article 25 of the said Regulation" which is not true.
The order was served on me locally, although several pages were missing, and the pages of copy of the letter of engagement and their terms and conditions are illegible.
I am planning on sending back the acknowledgement of service forms and disputing the court's juristiction.
My questions are , would they face sanctions from the court for deliberately misleading the court about who the defendants are and lying about there being an agreement about juristiction ?
I am the only one that signed their letter of engagment and in fact, the other members of my family were not involved in me seeking advice.
I asked for their complaint procedure which I have followed and written to complain about numerous issues I have, including their invoice being very vague, inconsitancies in their charging - charging 2 hours for a 3 page email, charging nearly 300 quid an hour for a junior solicitor sending me email, and not having the staff working in the practice that they claim to (not having the experince that they said they did). They have not acknowlded receiving my letter of complaint despite me emailing them twice to ask for confirmation, and sending a message on skype which I know they have received. It has been a week since they received my letter and their proceedure states that will acknowlege within 3 days.
I live in France, and I am the 1st named defendant. They have ticked the box on the claim form stating that "I state that each claim made against the defendant to be served and included in the claim form is a claim
which the court has power to determine under the Judgments Regulation and the defendant is a party to an agreement conferring exclusive jurisdiction within article 25 of the said Regulation" which is not true.
The order was served on me locally, although several pages were missing, and the pages of copy of the letter of engagement and their terms and conditions are illegible.
I am planning on sending back the acknowledgement of service forms and disputing the court's juristiction.
My questions are , would they face sanctions from the court for deliberately misleading the court about who the defendants are and lying about there being an agreement about juristiction ?
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