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In early march this year I contacted a solicitor for advice regarding divorce. I spoke to the solicitor's PA and initially asked to pay for an hour of his time. The PA advised that they offered 30min free initial consultation and that I might as well go for that first. I agreed to this and made an appointment.
During the meeting we spoke at length about my situation and the solicitor made lots of strong suggestions about how to proceed. During the meeting I did not instruct the solicitor to carry out any further action following the meeting.
A few days later I received an email with a substantial write up of the points discussed. The email also contained a summary of the solicitors hourly rate, including specifying "the amount requested on account of costs is £1,000.00".
Included was a 'Letter Of Engagement' document. This opens with "Thank you for instructing us to act on your behalf", and also includes "If you do not sign this your continuing instruction will be deemed acceptance of our terms".
Then the pandemic hit and my wife and I decided to delay divorce proceeding to focus on supporting the children. I have not entered into any further correspondence with the law firm, nor have I received any correspondence from them, such as statements or bills.
While I initially assumed the email and documents they sent me were standard procedure following an initial consultation, reading other thread in this forum detailing surprise bills received months after initial meetings, I'm now concerned that there is an unresolved case and potential liability. I am also concerned that contacting them again may actually increase, or trigger further costs.
Can anyone advise on what would be best to do in this situation (or maybe tell me I'm worrying about nothing).
Many thanks.
During the meeting we spoke at length about my situation and the solicitor made lots of strong suggestions about how to proceed. During the meeting I did not instruct the solicitor to carry out any further action following the meeting.
A few days later I received an email with a substantial write up of the points discussed. The email also contained a summary of the solicitors hourly rate, including specifying "the amount requested on account of costs is £1,000.00".
Included was a 'Letter Of Engagement' document. This opens with "Thank you for instructing us to act on your behalf", and also includes "If you do not sign this your continuing instruction will be deemed acceptance of our terms".
Then the pandemic hit and my wife and I decided to delay divorce proceeding to focus on supporting the children. I have not entered into any further correspondence with the law firm, nor have I received any correspondence from them, such as statements or bills.
While I initially assumed the email and documents they sent me were standard procedure following an initial consultation, reading other thread in this forum detailing surprise bills received months after initial meetings, I'm now concerned that there is an unresolved case and potential liability. I am also concerned that contacting them again may actually increase, or trigger further costs.
Can anyone advise on what would be best to do in this situation (or maybe tell me I'm worrying about nothing).
Many thanks.
