What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

[BACK OF THE NET]

Hi i am new on here and looking for some much needed valid advice.

For a qualified solicitor to be able to act as to legally represent a client am i right to assume that a legitimate contract between both parties would have to be in place to (a) represent (b) instruct.

I had assumed the solicitor that had previously represented me as i had not reason to doubt otherwise had this in place but she is not providing what i would assume would be compulsory but not quite sure on request the paperwork/applications for LA that would have been documented and signed before she could represent me.

I am to say the least slightly confused and do not have a clue how a solicitor works under a contract so any advice would be appreciated as i am in the dark, THANKS ALL.:doggieyes::doggieyes:

[Kati]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] might be able to explain (I've tagged her ) xx

[Diana M]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Do I sense you've had a negative experience with a qualified solicitor?

The short answer to your general question is solicitors are regulated up to the hilt. You can make a complaint about a qualified solicitor to the SRA.

What has gone wrong in your case?

There's a Legal Ombudsman who can deal with complaints about how your own solicitors have dealt with things, but maybe your immediate need is to get things back on track (if you have an outstanding legal problem).

Di

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

@Diana M might be able to explain (I've tagged her ) xx

Thank you for that Kati :stars:

Diana M has giving a response x

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Do I sense you've had a negative experience with a qualified solicitor?

The short answer to your general question is solicitors are regulated up to the hilt. You can make a complaint about a qualified solicitor to the SRA.

What has gone wrong in your case?

There's a Legal Ombudsman who can deal with complaints about how your own solicitors have dealt with things, but maybe your immediate need is to get things back on track (if you have an outstanding legal problem).

Di

Good evening Di and thank you for the response.
SRA have been provided with a complaint against the solicitor and i am waiting for a response but have been told this could be some time.
Solicitor i feel let me down as she did not i feel act in my interest which i suspected and complained to the company she worked for but never got got a reply. not even an acknoweledgement.
I have asked the solicitor if she could provide and show me the contract but she keeps making excuses and tells me that i am not entittled to see the contract which CAB are now claiming is wrong.
If the solicitor did not have a proper contract in place she should not have worked for me, is that right or wrong?

[Diana M]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Solicitor i feel let me down as she did not i feel act in my interest which i suspected and complained

What did the solicitor do wrong in your view and have you lost money as a result?

Did you pay any fees to the firm?

Di

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

What did the solicitor do wrong in your view and have you lost money as a result?

Did you pay any fees to the firm?

Di

If she acted on my behalf without a contract in place am i right in thinking that this would be a loss of opportunity to be repsented by a solicitor who would want to recover all loses.
The solicitor wanted me to settle my claim by an agreement i did not want to do this but i signed the agreement without being fully explained what i was signing.
Can a solicitor be part of the agreement or negotiate an agreement if there was no funding or contract for them to negotiate in place? thanks

[Diana M]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

It would be easier to respond if you were specific about what went wrong.

You've reported the firm to the SRA who you say are investigating any conduct issues. There seem to be two separate ones from what you say.

Were you given a client care contract to sign, and were you given bad advice. The SRA will deal with both.

In the meantime have you lost money as a result of the advice given? You say you willingly accepted an offer to settle a dispute. Has something happened that has made you have second thoughts as to whether that was a wise move?

I wouldn't dream of commenting on whether a solicitor gave incorrect advice especially without seeing the file, but I hope that by helping you to analyse the issues you can see whether you have a grievance to pursue through formal channels.

Di

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Hi Di and thanks for your response.
If the solicitor has acted and without a legitimate contract in place this would in itself i assume be open a litigation because what i would be claiming and what she would be defending would be secondary if she acted without a retainer in place.
If she is not willing and is currently breaching DPA by not providing the material that demostretes a contract was in place that would be the key issue that shows that not only has she been negligent but also fraudulently by false misrepresntation which is not allowed i have been told

[Diana M]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

If the solicitor has acted and without a legitimate contract in place this would in itself i assume be open a litigation because what i would be claiming and what she would be defending would be secondary if she acted without a retainer in place.
If she is not willing and is currently breaching DPA by not providing the material that demostretes a contract was in place that would be the key issue that shows that not only has she been negligent but also fraudulently by false misrepresntation which is not allowed i have been told

That's a serious allegation to make against anybody.

If that's what the CAB told you then ask them to help you progress matters in any way they feel is appropriate.

You have already made a complaint about the solicitor to the SRA and they are investigating it for you.

SRA have been provided with a complaint against the solicitor and i am waiting for a response . . . .

I have asked the solicitor if she could provide and show me the contract but she keeps making excuses and tells me that i am not entittled to see the contract which CAB are now claiming is wrong.

[EXC]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

SRA have been provided with a complaint against the solicitor and i am waiting for a response but have been told this could be some time.

You won't get a meaningful response from SRA. Even if they decide that there is a conduct issue they won't tell you what, if anything, they will do about it. SRA don't resolve complaints.

It seems to me that you have a service issue for which you'd need to go to the Legal Ombudsman once you have gone through the complaints procedure with the solicitor/law firm.

[Amethyst]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Did you not have a client care letter ?

[Diana M]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

You won't get a meaningful response from SRA. Even if they decide that there is a conduct issue they won't tell you what, if anything, they will do about it. SRA don't resolve complaints.

It seems to me that you have a service issue for which you'd need to go to the Legal Ombudsman once you have gone through the complaints procedure with the solicitor/law firm.

The SRA do publish their regulatory decisions and they make quite sobering reading https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/sol...decisions.page

I agree it won't necessarily resolve the complaint but naming and shaming gives some satisfaction and could be helpful if a claim for professional negligence were to be in the pipeline as a result of any conduct issues.

I suggested the Legal Ombudsman to the OP but they seem reluctant to say what the issue is other than they don't recall signing a Client Care letter (I did ask).

An earlier post said that they believed they were given wrong legal advice on a settlement which they accepted.

The short answer to your general question is solicitors are regulated up to the hilt. You can make a complaint about a qualified solicitor to the SRA.

There's a Legal Ombudsman who can deal with complaints about how your own solicitors have dealt with things

Di

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

You won't get a meaningful response from SRA. Even if they decide that there is a conduct issue they won't tell you what, if anything, they will do about it. SRA don't resolve complaints.

It seems to me that you have a service issue for which you'd need to go to the Legal Ombudsman once you have gone through the complaints procedure with the solicitor/law firm.

Thanks for that EXC
So if matters or making a false misrepresetation which would contravene the Fraud Act 2006 and could involve a criminal prosecution what would be the likely stance or the involvment if any be taking by SRA?

[BACK OF THE NET]

Re: What is a legitimate contract solicitor/client

Did you not have a client care letter ?

Hi
No i did not get a client care letter but one was produced after representation was made and i instructed another firm to establish if i had a claim for negligence which they felt there were grounds against the solicitor for negligence and in particular not explaining the agreement that was signed.
This matter goes beyond negligence though, the solicitor did not have the relevant contract in place to act nor to negotiate and thats not me saying that the evidence would prove this to be more likely than not.