What can I do about this?

Just found out yet again that my solicitor is not responding voice mails from important witnesses, this time social services, at the last court hearing she hadn''t sent an important letter from my sons doctor through to the barrister.
She didn''t turn up for the appointments just before the court hearing which meant I had to scan and send important evidence from sons school, barrister said when they sent it on it couldn''t be read!
We are now most likely on our way to the court of protection as my sons abusive father is winning all before him, our evidence is not being heard.
We are receiving legal aid, there are no other firms who provide this locally or even just outside of locally, what can I do?
There must be some way to show we have been pretty much sold down the rivere. At the first hearing the Judge did order the clerk write to legal aid instructing them not to pay for the paper work on that hearing as it was a complete mess, so there is evidence already of the standard I''m complaining about.

I just found them on legal Ombudsman list, they have had 8 decisions against them this year, that would be 1 per month then! This is high compared to others on the list, some of them have higher but mostly they are very large firms, this is a very small family business.

Hi suppose you could call the SRA for advice, I don''t really see a way forward, it''s legal aid, for a small practice to have multiple complaints speaks for itself, were any upheld?.

Yes, all so far with a couple pending. Who are the SRA?

Solicitors regulatory association, I don''t know what they can do but it maybe worth asking them anyway.

I may be a little sceptical of organisations such as the SRA due to the way they are funded and regulated, but they are worth a go!
If you have no faith in your Solicitors there is no point continuing with them, if you are not happy I would suggest that take the case to another Solicitor as soon as you can.
If you decide to move your case make sure you get all your case notes from your current Solicitor so the new one has all the facts and history at his disposable.

organisations such as the SRA due to the way they are funded and regulated

I would rather engage the services of a person who is subject to disciplinary procedure from a mandatory body rather than risk instructing a person who is answerable to nobody.

There are hundreds of other professions a person could choose if they want to do a poor job and charge their customers for the privilege.

Why would a potential scoundrel go to university, pay for professional qualifications and continue to do so (through CPD - Compulsory Professional Development), pay massive professional indemnity insurance premiums, undergo financial and procedural audits at the beck and call of the SRA, jump through hoops when the law changes or when the government brings in onerous legislation such as the Anti Bribery Act, Anti Money Laundering Act etc. (risk up to 14 years in prison if you are duped into money-laundering which is easy to do) etc.

The Law Society is there to support solicitors and the SRA is there to discipline solicitors (and those working in solicitors'' offices) and to look into serious breaches of professional obligations. The Legal Ombudsman exists to look into service issues and reduce bills and/or reward compensation if necessary.

If a solicitor does not do their job they are accountable to several bodies and none of these are going to ''cover up'' poor/unethical/negligent service.

Charles