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    Solicitors’ negligence – what do I do?

    Author: admin
    October 16, 2009

    Do you think your conveyancing solicitor has been negligent? You think that he’s missed something or has given you incorrect information?

    Before going any further, you need to contact your conveyancing solicitor and ask that he explain why. There might be issues that you’re not aware of because they are complex legal issues or standard practice. You need to give the person time to explain before you make a complaint.

    If after hearing the full explanation, you’re still not satisfied, then you need to find out who the firm’s Complaints Partner is. Ask for a copy of the firm’s Complaints Procedure and follow it. Unless you do this, you cannot proceed any further and it may be that negotiations can resolve this issue before things become unpleasant.

    If the Complaints Partner still doesn’t deal with the issue satisfactorily, then you can contact the Legal Complaints Service for advice. They deal with solicitors’ negligence and will listen to what you and your conveyancing solicitor have to say. If they believe that your solicitor was negligent, then they will order the solicitor to resolve it.

    You can contact the Legal Complaints Service (and not the Law Society, who no longer deal with client complaints) at http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page.

    The most common complaints relate to “poor service” i.e. that you were either given incorrect information or not told something that you should have been, or that you were charged much more than you originally expected without being told in advance. All such issues can be investigated fairly by the Legal Complaints Service, but you must go through the Complaints Procedure first.

    Don’t be too quick to make an accusation of solicitor negligence – make sure you have the fullest information first.


    6 Responses to “Solicitors’ negligence – what do I do?”

    1. Jack Says:
      November 13th, 2009 at 7:25 am

      That’s really good advice for such case, it’s helpful.

      Thank you.

    2. Helen C Says:
      December 22nd, 2009 at 6:03 pm

      Hi
      We have recently sold our leasehold flat. During the selling process however it became clear that noone would purchase the property due to it having what was considered a short lease (75 years remaining). We had purchased the flat 5 years previously.
      After a year of negotaitions with the freeholder, we extended the list but legal fees and the actual extension cost us £20,000.
      Is this something that would have been considered reasonable for our conveyancing solicitor to flag to us at the time of purchase? We used the conveyancer linked to the estate agents who we purchased the flat through and I can’t help but think that this may be to do with the reason that the lease (or our options) were not flagged to us.
      Thanks

    3. admin Says:
      December 31st, 2009 at 2:42 pm

      Hi Helen,

      On the information that you have given, I feel that you should consider making a complaint to the solicitors’ firm who acted on your behalf. A short remainder on the lease should be drawn to a buyer’s attention and to the attention of any mortgage lender. I am truly shocked that the legal fees and extension of the lease have cost you so much money and I feel very strongly that this could and should have been avoided. You should pursue this through the Legal Complaints Service for lack of service and I would also suggest that you consider speaking to a solicitor dealing specifically with solicitors’ negligence issues.

      Hope this helps,

      Gemma

    4. Karen Says:
      June 2nd, 2010 at 6:23 pm

      Hi gemma – I am in a similar situation to the poster above. I don’t suppose you know if she progressed the complaint? Thank you….

    5. admin Says:
      June 4th, 2010 at 11:58 am

      Hi Karen,

      Unfortunately, I don’t know, but I would advise you to do exactly the same if your conveyancing solicitor has left you in the same position. The Legal Complaints Service won’t act unless you’ve already been through the solicitors firm’s complaints service though, so the first point is to file an official complaint with them and see how they are willing to resolve it. Then if it is still not resolved to your satisfaction, you can contact the LCS for further action.

      Hope this helps!

      Gemma

    6. Karen Says:
      June 4th, 2010 at 6:23 pm

      Thanks Gemma. I have written a complaint letter to the firm’s complaint handling partner and will follow up with the LCS after that. Karen

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