Muzzy

[Muzzy]

Hi, this is my first post.

[Muzzy]

I don't know where to start here.
My problem is regarding a solicitor asking for costs of a case off me, when I didn't sign consent to work for me.
The solicitor did act for the mother of my son, who did sign, and I did work closely with the case, but it was always understood by the acting solicitor that it was my son's mum that had taken on the solicitor.
MY son's mother and I have not been together for 28 years and have been involved in a COP case after our son received a brain injury 4 years ago and lost all ability to make decisions for himself.
The bill is over £15,000 and although legal aid was asked for by his mother it was never put through.
She now has no means of paying so they have turned to me and are threatening court action in 30 days to pay it.
I never wanted a solicitor but his mum did, so solicitor asked for many bits of info off both his mother and myself, knowing that I did not sign for him to work for me, so I took this as acting for his mum and needed me for info too.
Where do I stand as I've never signed anything but merely being there and helping with the case.
Solicitor admits it was her account but the firm are pushing to get money off me.

[atticus]

Have you asked the exact basis on which they claim to be entitled to seek payment from you? Ask to see the "client care letter".

Consider sending the firm a Subject Access Request.

[Muzzy]

I've arranged to speak to them this Friday. One part is at one point a Barrister was involved and he needed paying. My father helped with this and I paid it through my bank account. He is no longer with us but adored his grandson and felt he could help.
Now it is bing implied that by paying this, shows that I am now contracted to this case and liable for the rest of the costs.
I have always stipulated that these were voluntary payments by my father anyway.

[R0b]

Agree with Atticus regarding the client care letter. Although technically the regulatory rules don't require a client care letter to be issued (though they do recommend it in their guidance and it is usually frowned upon not to issue a client care letter), law firms and solicitors are required under their regulatory obligations to provide certain information at the point of engagement such as the scope of work, cost estimates, how to complain, who the lawyer is working on the matter etc. Once the information is supplied, you would have to indicate your acceptance to engage them, usually by signing and returning the client care letter.

Failing to comply could be a serious breach of their obligations although I suspect they are being chancers here if you definitely haven't signed or agreed to something. Paying for an element of the legal costs does not, on its own, mean you have instructed them as a client rather you are merely paying them on behalf of someone else and this is no different to paying someone's gas or electric.

If I were in your shoes, I would be standing firm on this from the outset and explain to them in no uncertain terms that you are not their client as you never engaged them, but their client is your son's mother. No client care letter has been issued and I am assuming none of the letters have been addressed to you but instead your son's mother has received all the correspondence and you are not happy that they are suggesting you are now responsible for these costs. If they try to argue that you paid some of the costs already, I would just repeat what I said above.

You may want to go as far as saying that following the phone call you are also going to report them to the SRA on the basis that they are in breach of several of their regulatory obligations but they are also acting in a fraudulent manner by attempting to coerce you into paying for something you are not liable for - personally I would do this anyway because if they are doing this to you, I wouldn't be surprised they have also done it to others in the past or present and it needs to be investigated. No law firm wants the SRA sniffing around their offices, particularly where allegations of fraud are being thrown about so mentioning this may very well prompt them to close the matter and no longer pursue you (which you should get in writing). Of course, if they have reasonable belief and grounds that they are lawfully entitled to pursue you, then this shouldn't bother them at all and you should make a subject access request as per what Atticus has suggested.

Whatever happens on the phone, you should take the person's full name and email address and then follow up with what was discussed and said on that call for evidential reasons in case they try to argue something was or wasn't said.

Following the call, I would strongly recommend you keep all correspondence between you and the firm in writing and make that clear to them.

[Muzzy]

The solicitor has sent emails to me and his mum. I assume this to be normal as part of me handing over witness statements. The witness statements were asked by the solicitor having to get in information for the case. At no point had I thought of this as working for me as his client but it was part of the bigger picture were he had to get in information.
He would then rewrite this and hand it as part of his mum's case.
I would never have used a solicitor as I felt that it wasn't necessary but his mum thought otherwise. That was her prerogative and I simply did what was asked to help her case.
Does this in any way change anything.
His mum was never going to be able to manage it all alone.
I have still never signed anything other than the completed witness statements.

[R0b]

Are you able to disclose to us who the law firm is?

[Muzzy]

I could but maybe not a good idea. Would you like to get in contact direct. Is that allowed!

[R0b]

If you are not comfortable disclosing the name at this stage that's fine, I was just curious whether it's a reputable firm or one of these small high street firms that you are dealing with who perhaps may not necessarily follow the rules as stringently as they should be doing.

[ULA]

Can I just add something further to the great advice you have received from atticus and rob and it would be to request on the Fri call that you be sent a copy of the client care letter because I would like to see what their response is. If you are not detailed on the client care letter as having instructed them, then they should not provide you with a copy as you are not their client. If they do provide a copy then two things you will know that you are not detailed as a client and secondly that they fall under the point already raised about how reputable the firm actually is to disclose a client care letter to a person who is not the client.

[Muzzy]

It is the largest firm in my area. I would be happy to disclose who they are, but not on a open forum.
The reason is that it only takes one person to tell them what I'm doing here and straight away this would show how worried I obviously am.
Another thing is that on the 30 day notice of court action for money, they have my name followed by my son's mum's name with my address.
My wife, who's house this is, would not be best pleased about this and it feels like, if I fill in the paperwork denying that I owe this money, I would be justifying my son's mum's name being on the paperwork in the first place.
Should this concern me and should I ignore that paperwork.
Thank you all by the way too.

[R0b]

If you've received a letter that threatens legal proceedings then it sounds like they have issued a letter before action. Ideally, we need to see the contents of that letter (personal information redacted) to understand the legal basis as to why or how they believe you are liable for the money which is what the firm is required to do under the rules for pre-action legal proceedings.

If that is the case then you should absolutely respond otherwise you may find yourself on the receiving end of a court claim. However, any response should probably wait until after the conversation you have had with them on Friday, that is assuming that the deadline to reply is after Friday.

[Muzzy]

Yes I've got 21 days as of Friday. I have had no correspondence other than saying that I owe money by email. I told them via email that it isn't my account and that it is his mum's account, which his mum accepts.
During a more recent conversation they made the assumption that because I'd paid in monies, that that is and agreement of liability to pay. I stated that it was a voluntary payment, mostly from my late father, who wanted the case to be finished.
On the forms sent to my address, where it asks as to whether I accept or don't accept liability, the form was addressed to myself, his mum at my address.
His mum has also received the same forms at her address but only with her name on it. She has continued to pay £20 a month,, which is all she can afford.
It feels like they are trying to tie myself and her together, at my address to make me jointly responsible.
As I've said, I would never have let any bill get to this level had I had signed anything. His mum did sign a form to stray work, which in it had my name on it. But I said that I won't be signing, right at the beginning, because it is something his mum wants to do.
The form has never been changed but also has never also been signed by me, only his mum.
I believe this form should have been changed and never was.

[Muzzy]

I believe the solicitor called it an ENGAGEMENT LETTER where he initially thought that I and my son's mum were jointly agreeing for him to handle the case with it having my name along with his mum's name on it. But I never signed this explaining that it was his mum that was agreeing to this and that I would support her with this decision.
So I didn't sign it. It was never changed I don't think.

[R0b]

Well, it sounds like you have reasonable grounds of a defence for this but it will be determined on the facts of the case. It is good that you never signed any client engagement letter which as a starting point shows that you did not intend to instruct them on a joint basis. The onus is on them prove that you did indeed instruct them and I think the presumption is that in the absence of a signature, the judge might take the stance that there is a presumption you did not engage them and so you were not a client of theirs.

That presumption is of course a rebuttable one and you would have to look at the wider picture. For example, aside from your name being on the engagement letter, have you received anything else with your name on it such as invoices, have you been sent any correspondence in your name about updates to the case, did they ever ask you for instructions on how to proceed or anything like that? More importantly, is your ex-partner willing to agree in a statement that you were not the one engagement them or do you have anything in writing that supports this?

If you can essentially show that the firm has been dealing directly with your ex-partner on all matters and decisions, it could be inferred there was no client-lawyer relationship with yourself. Not to mention the fact they would be breaching several elements of the code of conduct because firms and lawyers should be acting only on the instructions of a client. Joint clients will require joint instructions unless they have been authorised to do so otherwise and a failure to comply would likely amount to a serious code of conduct breach.

Anyway, we can only speculate at this stage until you have had that phone call, but whatever the outcome, you have time to respond formally to that letter and put your points across as well as anything you wish to say on the call. If you let us know how that goes we can assist you in formulating a response and go from there.

Given the size and value of the alleged debt owed, it may be sensible for you to seek some independent legal advice and see if you can get someone to give you a provisional view and maybe consider instructing someone yourself to defend the case. As the sum of money is over £10k it means that legal costs are in play should you lose the case.

Out of curiosity, does the letter mention anything about the pre-action protocols for debt claims?