solicitors fees

[danchip]

i'm currently awaiting trial for ABH and the solicitor i have got is totally useless, i've been advised that it is too late and wont benefit me to change solicitors but i dont feel that the service i am getting is worth the fee they have told me they are going to charge. i.e not turning up for pre trial hearings when they are meant to and also telling me that i dont need to attend court when i should be which resulted in a warrant being issued for my arrest.

Should i wait till after the case is over before i tell them that i think they are charging too much or am i just stuck with it and have to pay

any advice will be greatly appreciated

[Stu Dent]

You won't be able to receive advice from a solicitor whilst you have instructed another solicitor to act on your behalf. I would contact the law society for advice on how/when you can change solicitors. It does sound as though your current solicitor lacks either compentence or organisation. Either way you should receive better representation than you are currently getting. I'd do it before your next court appearance.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contactus.law

[novalis]

Echo Stu Dent's reply. The Law Society ( based in Leamington Spa ) will send you the forms you need to fill in. The first is one which you need to send to your solicitor's practice marked for the attention of the partner handling complaints.
If your current solicitor is as incompetent as the mendacious idiot who (mis)handled my mother's will --- and it sounds as if (s)he is then put the wheels in motion immediately.
Too many of their grubby little profession feel that they can get away with murder. Don't let him or her.

[Stu Dent]

Cheers Novalis, but I take some exception to the 'grubby little profession' comment. Hope you didn't really mean that.

Of course I accept that in any profession - including the legal profession - there will be those who are incompetent. But you have to remember that unlike most other trades or professions, the legal profession is highly regulated and those within it are required to update their knowledge and skills annually.

It's probably true too that many in the profession entered it to make big bucks. But there are many who have entered it for what I feel are the right reasons - an enjoyable, challenging career where there is the opportunity to improve access to justice.

It's not all cash and pin stripe suits you know!

[danchip]

throughout the case i have been represented by 3 solicitors from the same firm and finally i got the one who is representing me now, at first he seemed as if he really knew what he was doing and got more done in 10 mins than the rest had in 2 months! however he kept getting the case adjourned for nonsensical reasons i.e he hadn't been able to get in touch with witnesses ( the truth is he hadn't tried) i was told by my dads solicitor that this is common practise within all firms to draw the case out.

The biggest problem is my next court appearance is actually the trial!

[DONNAKEBABUK]

You can sack your solicitor if they are crap. Apply to the Legal Aid Board and ask for a Solicitor change, this may mean you will have to go to Court to get your legal aid re-granted but that is no big deal, you will be in and out. People sack their solcitors (and barristers) all the time (even people sack their barristers on the day the trial is going to start). If you Solicitor is THAT CRAP ring him and ask him for the address of the OSS (Office for the Supervision of Solicitors), write to them and complain about him/her and also to The Law Society. They will cr** themselves.

Good Luck.

How DARE these people charge �160 an hour plus VAT and be incompetent.

[blondegirly]

criminal lawyers earn rubbish money so please don't go down that tired old route. if legally aided then solicitors are getting fixed fees - no incentive to drag case out at all,

am also afraid that donner is a bit out of date - for a start the legal aid board does not exist any more.

if you are paying privately change. tell them where to go. if not you can go to other solicitors and say that you would like a transfer of legal aid and you can apply to the court to do that . the courts are increasingly reluctant to do it as is additional cost to public purse but your reasoning sounds good.

Law society also no longer regulates solicitors - is done by the Solicitors regulation authority. go first to partner as advised elsewhere.