Refusing to pay my solicitor.......

Hi, had my final hearing a few weeks ago and, to cut a long story short, I didn''t ''win''.

I instructed my solicitor back in October last year: at that stage my ex had legal aid so had a solicitor (I work so had to pay for mine). I made it very clear to my solicitor that the matrimonial assets after the mortgage etc were paid were virtually nothing but I needed to get the former matrimonial home sold asap (my ex was still living in it but not paying the mortgage).I also made it very clear that my ex would make things as hard as possible and would probably prefer the house to be repossessed rather than agree to a sale and move out.

Well after months of letters, meetings and phonecalls getting me nowhere I had to instruct my solicitor to commence court proceedings as he told me this was the ONLY way to force a sale. By the FDR court date my ex had lost her legal aid (probably due to non or false disclosures) and was representing herself.

At all three hearings my ex showed complete contempt for the legal process, turning up late, failing to complete most of the documentation and lying in court.

I was advised that it was a question of how long she would have before having to leave the FMH, not IF: the outcome was pretty much nailed on....

Needless to say I was shocked when the judge ruled that she could stay in the house indefinitely as long as the mortgage was paid, with my name still on the mortgage, despite having no children under 18 and no evidence of proper earnings.

Over 2 weeks since the Final Hearing my solicitor hasn''t even had the courtesy to call me: he has just suggested ANOTHER meeting which I have said I cannot afford. I have already paid him about £6k for his ''services'' so far and I believe he is sitting on a bill of a similar amount that he is yet to send me.....

So....what happens if I refuse to pay due to my unhappiness with his services provided? I am also having to consider bankruptcy due to the situation but this is a last resort....

You cannot just refuse to pay because you don''t like the judge''s ruling.
You could appeal if the judgement flies in the face of the facts. Whether or not it does depends on those facts. We cannot comment without knowing the details of your respective financial positions.
Did you have a barrister at fh?

Hadenoughnow

What happens if you refuse to pay a solicitor? You get sued of course, and costs awarded against you for the privilege.

When there is a complaint you pay the bill and write to the person in the legal firm designated to deal with complaints. If the matter can''t be resolved you then take it up with the legal ombudsman in the appropriate timescale.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I did have a barrister at the Final Hearing (wish I hadn''t bothered).

The issue I have Fiona is that I cannot afford to pay the solicitor and hope to get it back.... my solicitor knew from the beginning that I had no money and seemed happy to accept final payment from my small share of the house equity when it was sold: thanks to the judge''s ruling the FMH will not be sold though....

I just feel their should be some accountability for solicitors: I wasn''t expecting ''no win, no fee'' but I have spent over £6000 so far and got absolutely nowhere.....

An update: just had a bill of £4500 through the post with a very short covering letter asking for payment by return in relation to services provided to CONCLUDE my case.

Well as mentioned above my situation is far from ''concluded''! My stbx has already breached a number of the points of the order and I need to get back to court asap but I believe my solicitor is not doing anything for me now until I have paid him in full but he already knew that I would not have any more money for him until the FMH was sold, a situation he told me would be part of the Order (it wasn''t).

I''m in a terrible catch 22 situation!

It''s your Absolute right to fire your lawyer at any time for any reason. Give it serious consideration if you''re convinced the lawyer is doing a bad job or if your relationship with the lawyer has become intolerable.But i think you cannot simply refuse to pay him.

Thanks bella

2 weeks after my last post on this thread and 6 weeks after my Final Hearing I am still in the dark as to what my solicitor is doing: I have asked him for a detailed breakdown of his bill but still no advice or feedback from him on my situation...

Feel totally let down by the legal system tbh and really wish I had self repped from day one...

Just wish there was a level of transparent accountability, not just for the solicitor but also the judge at my FH...