Reporting a solicitor for unprofessional conduct

Hi,
I have been dealing with my wife''s solicitor on my own now for a number of months. He is very difficult to deal with and clearly frustrated that I have been able to go head to head with him and the content of my letters have been excellent through various help and support.
He keeps reminding me in every letter that I should seek legal advice before responding even though he is aware I can no longer afford it. He is now deliberately delaying matters proceeding until my pension scheme providers have responded to him regarding the explanatory guidance on pension sharing upon divorce. I have sent him both PDF versions from the schemes and he has still written to them requesting the same information.
I have today emailed him to ask if he has received a response so we can proceed with a Clean Break draft in readiness to be presented to the judge. Had he not of received a response, I had offered to chase both schemes up.

His response was alarming...

Firstly he told me that he had not received a response and had he been in receipt I would have been advised of next steps. He states it is out of our control and that I must stop sending unnecessary messages to him and to wait until he writes to me.

I am not sure he would communicate to another solicitor in such a way. I have tried to explain to my STBX that she needs to be careful what he is charging her for now as I have already provided him with the information. We get on great now and she has took it onboard and is finally telling him what she wants to happen.

His professional conduct is unacceptable and this is also echoed from other solicitors I have sat with for a free 30 minute appointment.

I am prepared to wait until everything is finalised in terms of the house and pension sharing but I feel quite strongly about making a complaint about how he has handled our divorce. He has bullied my wife into agreeing to things that she didn''t want and because she is somewhat naive with situations like this (as most of us are first time round) he has used this to his own financial gain. The money that she has had to pay (well, her mum) is absolutely shocking.

Any advice?

You cannot raise a valid complaint against your stbx wife''s solicitor. He is her legal adviser, and you have no contractual relationship with him.

If your wife wishes to make a complaint then that is up to her, but you cannot.

Research on the internet suggests that you can make a complaint against someone else''s solicitor if they have behaved inappropriately towards you. There is no compensation if the complaint is valid and acted upon.

You can only complain to the Legal Ombudsman about a solicitor acting for you or the service they have provided, you cannot complain about someone else’s solicitor.

If someone else''s solicitor breaches the Solicitors Regulation Authority''s Principles (eg they haven''t upheld the rule of law and the proper administration of justice, not acted with integrity, not complied with their legal and regulatory obligations) it is misconduct and complaints should be made to the SRA.

Just to add one point... if her Solicitor is a member (or claims to be a member) of Resolution then you most certainly can complain about them to Resolution.

STBX Solicitor sent letters out with the Resolution logo on and the content was abysmal, even sending me a draft letter with mistakes crossed out in pen. On checking, she actually wasn''t a member of Resolution.

I reported it to them, they got in touch with the Solicitor, insisted and succeeded in getting her to join and are now following up on the list of complaints in breach of the Resolution Code of Conduct. They then compel them to attend training or strip the membership and will in future take action on improper or fraudulent use of the logo.

Cheers

Thank you all

Hi,
I have just reviewed the latest letter I received from my STBX''s solicitor.
Their headed paper details they are Accredited by the Law Society which is Conveyancing Quality and also authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

No mention about being a member of Resolution...