Can solicitor be instructed to ignore other party?

Asking his Q on behalf of a friend who is going through a divorce.
His ex has a solicitor, he is self-repping.

His ex told him this morning that she has instructed her solicitor to ignore any correspondence they receive from him. So she will ask her solicitor to write to him about something, but if he writes back to her solicitor with a reply, they are to ignore him. He queried this and she told him to ''take it up with her solicitor''.


1. Can a solicitor ignore all replies they receive in response to a letter they''ve sent on a client''s behalf, even if their client tells them to
2. Can my client contact his ex''s solicitor direct to discuss/resolve this?

Thanks!

What would be the purpose?

If they write to your friend at the expense of his ex but ignore the replies what is the point in his ex paying to have the letter sent in the first place?

Are you sure they are not just trying to minimise costs by only sending letters when required rather than sending an acknowledgement every two minutes?

We''re not really sure.

His ex wife (A) had her solicitor write to him (regarding the arrangements for each of them having guests in the matrimonial home while both are living there. B replied to A''s solicitor, outlining his views.
A then tells B she''s instructed her solicitor to ignore any replies from B. There seems little point paying your solicitor to write a letter if you are then going to ignore any reply.
Now it could be that what she means is that her solicitor has been instructed not to reply (which would be fair enough as a cost-control move).
But as it stands, B is unable to communicate with A at all - she has told him she won''t reply to any email, previously told him only to contact her via her solicitor, and communicating via solicitor now seems to be not an option either.
It seems there''s little that can be done about this, but it looks as though mediation will not progress any further as a result. Very frustrating as she fires out various letters via her solicitor but is not receptive to hearing anything from him.