Ever wanted to throttle your own solicitor?

u6c00 wrote:

Also, they filed my paperwork in a court 45 minutes to an hour away, and then charged me £300 travelling for each appearance, that''s £900! Why the hell did they file it so far away?!

More to the point, how are they getting there?? Private helicopter??

jslgb wrote:

More to the point, how are they getting there?? Private helicopter??

They''re charging me at a rate of £175 per hour they spent travelling (+ VAT). Also 45p per mile travelling. As if it was even worth them charging the mileage!

The most important point is that they seem to have grossly exceeded their estimate. Have a look at Reynolds v. Stone Rowe Brewer. It''s out there on the web. Although an estimate is not a fixed price quote, a solicitor needs a good reason to depart from it and its obliged to write to you in advance before incurring them. If you want to know more about how to challenge this, get in touch with me. The procedure is a bit long for a post.

I disputed my last solicitors bill and sent it off to taxation office to get checked..... Admin Cost £115....Then had to appear before the taxing master who reduced the bill by £250..... I had to pay more taxation costs re day in front of the taxing master. Total cost of dispute to me £365.. Bill reduced by £250.... In all honesty a total waste of time.

" Some solicitors" can get away with charging so much, mine charged for me for their own mistakes. I didn''t get a customer care letter and was missing lots of information they supposedly sent. Needless to say advice given was ridiculous. I Also made complaint to ombudsman who stated that advice given is not a cause for complaint.???etc.... My papers have still not been released..a year on even though the bill is now paid.


Complaining adds more stress to an already stressful situation. "If it''s not a large discrepancy"... It''s. not worth the hassle. I know it''s not right but believe me I''ve had to pay another to start from scratch costing more money..... Good luck.

Just feel a positive word may need to be said here. I totally recognise solicitors can charge over the odds but they can be honest and good people. My solicitor charged me at her secretarys rate to attend my FDR, she wanted to gain experience and I wanted her there. I trust her completely there are good honest solicitors out there finding them is the problem:( I suppose I have been lucky, I got a friends recommendation, pot luck really, right time right place I suppose. How do you know you are getting a good one?

An update to the situation.

I wrote to the solicitors outlining all of my complaints. They wrote back to me today with their response.

Some of my complaints were accepted, some firmly refuted but the outcome of which is that they have written off all the fees outstanding.

The total amount outstanding was around £2000 so I am very very happy today. It means I can put that money towards my future battles!

Just to reassure folks that complaining to a solicitor does sometimes work!

I do believe that the decision was based on the fact that they did not keep to their estimates more than anything so a massive thank you to Jonathan for your advice.

They did reject all criticism of the legal advice given, which was not unexpected.