Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

[Spellkaster]

I had to employ a solicitor mid 2010 over civil proceedings which were out of my control.

The solicitor failed at the time to provide a full breakdown of costs.

I was not legally minded back then.

Begining of October this year, I asked for a breakdown of costs , which they finally provided.

I was horrified at what I had received.

They had added things onto the bill which I have never received; they alledged I had meetings with people I had never heard off, exagerated on traveling expenses, claimed I received 11 letters (I did not).

I reported all this to the Legal Ombudsman who refused to investigate saying this fell out of their time limits.

The bill was issued in around August 2010 and paid in full in September 2010.

The bill was paid in full even though the work was sill ongoing; is this normal practice??

The bill came to a whopping £7000.

I have raised the issues directly with the firm, who basically dont want to know about my concerns!!

What can I do although it is now just over 3 years old!!??

[bluebottle]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

Contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

[EXC]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

Contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Unfortunately SRA don't deal with service issues (which includes billing), only conduct issues. And even then they don't settle disputes.

I don't think that the OP can do much other than trying to enter into a meaningful dialogue with the solicitor.

[PlanB]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

Begining of October this year, I asked for a breakdown of costs , which they finally provided.

I was horrified at what I had received.

They had added things onto the bill which I have never received; they alledged I had meetings with people I had never heard off, exagerated on traveling expenses, claimed I received 11 letters (I did not).

I reported all this to the Legal Ombudsman who refused to investigate saying this fell out of their time limits.

Appeal. The Legal Ombudsman Service has a duty to investigate all complaints made within 12 months of your awareness of the problem* see edit below. If you didn't know you had a problem with your solicitor until October this year when they sent you a breakdown of the bill then the LOS have to investigate.

I have just won an appeal on this basis


* From 1st February 2013 (i.e. this year) the LOS Scheme Rules changed to accept complaints up to six years after the act/omission. New rules here on page 14 paragraph 4.5 (b):

http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/dow...heme-Rules.pdf

[PlanB]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

I had to employ a solicitor mid 2010 over civil proceedings which were out of my control.

The solicitor failed at the time to provide a full breakdown of costs.

The bill was issued in around August 2010 and paid in full in September 2010. The bill was paid in full even though the work was sill ongoing

^^^^ can you clarify what you mean by "the work was still ongoing". Was this an interim bill which was sent to you in 2010 which you paid 'on account' ? Have you subsequently been provided with a Final Bill of Costs?

What was the outcome of those legal proceedings? Did they go to court or were these settled prior to any hearing? Were you the Claimant or the Defendant and did your lawyers advise you to settle (if you did settle)?

[pt2537]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

may i ask why you thought £7k was whopping?

I ask simply because you need to look at a number of factors. A) the hourly rate and grade of fee earner B) the complexity of the issue C) the time engaged on the matter and whether the time itself is reasonable to name but a few.


If your matter was managed by a £250 per hour lawyer, then when you add VAT and Dibs it doesnt take many hours to make up that amount


Have you run the bill by a costs draftsman to see what they think?

[Amethyst]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

They had added things onto the bill which I have never received; they alledged I had meetings with people I had never heard off, exagerated on traveling expenses, claimed I received 11 letters (I did not).

I think those are the issues rather than the hourly rate and VAT.

[pt2537]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

I think those are the issues rather than the hourly rate and VAT.

Ahh yeah sorry didnt see that.

Ok well 11 letters doesnt sound excessive if this was legal proceedings to trial in say a consumer matter. Equally if it was a simply advice then it would be ott. I think it would help to have some more info about the case.

I wonder if the meetings may be the solicitors conference with counsel? ive seen this cause confusion before so just wanted to mention it, likewise if the solicitor needed to instruct an expert witness etc.

I think we need some more info about this case, otherwise we may as well try guessing what the problem was, and that is no help to anyone.

[PlanB]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

Have you run the bill by a costs draftsman to see what they think?

PT does a solicitor have a duty to advise their client that they can have the bill formally assessed if not agreed?

[pt2537]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

PT does a solicitor have a duty to advise their client that they can have the bill formally assessed if not agreed?

its in my retainer for legal proceedings but in this case, was there proceedings? the issue of costs only arises when theres proceedings, if there were only pre action matters then no the costs are client solicitor only and the client pays

Of course there are costs that are not recoverable interparties so the client would pay no matter whether they had the right to have their costs assessed. Things like legal research still have to be paid but is not recoverable from the opponent. just one example

[PlanB]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

So there may be a duty for the solicitor to have advised their client what they will charge from the outset and give updates if that prediction is likely to change/increase (in the absence of a court deciding on this issue). If they didn't do that then maybe the OP has a reason to challenge the bill

[pt2537]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

So there may be a duty for the solicitor to have advised their client what they will charge from the outset and give updates if that prediction is likely to change/increase (in the absence of a court deciding on this issue). If they didn't do that then maybe the OP has a reason to challenge the bill

No may about it, there is a duty to give an estimate of costs, and to update the client has those costs estimates change / increase

[Spellkaster]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

The firm I went to never kept me up to date regarding fees, and never produced a full itemised bill when the account was paid in September 2010.

The meetings I had to discuss the contents of witness statements were held by an advocate in the office, the firm alledges I had a meeting with a woman and a barrister. These meetings never took place, and I had a witness present who can verify these meetings never occured.

I certainly did not receive 11 letters as they are claiming, and I can prove they exagerated on travel costs to incurr further monies.

I have spoken to the Legal Ombudsman again, to say that I wish to appeal in their decision to refuse to investigate the bill.

I was the defendant in civil proceedings, the solicitor refused to write to the Council to argue the matter before going to court.

I feel that this matter could have been settled before going to court because of the amount of evidence I had produce; yet the solicitors completely refused point blank to write to the Council on any matter even though I did object to their refusal to do so.

I lost the case in court as a result of the solicitors not sorting this before going to trial.

[enquirer]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

See Solicitors Act 1974 s37A and Sch.1A Redress for inadequate personal services.

As to the question of 'conduct' - the SRA is being disingenuous. Invoicing for services that have not been rendered will amount to fraud, and that most certainly is a conduct issue.

[Spellkaster]

Re: Solicitor fiddled bill and Legal Ombudsman WONT help

See Solicitors Act 1974 s37A and Sch.1A Redress for inadequate personal services.

As to the question of 'conduct' - the SRA is being disingenuous. Invoicing for services that have not been rendered will amount to fraud, and that most certainly is a conduct issue.

So what can I do with this matter of the bill then if the Legal Ombudsman repeatedly refuse to investigate even though there is clearly fraud?

Whom else can I report this matter to?