Anyone changed Solicitors midway through?

I have just received my 3rd letter of apology from my solicitor for delays in getting paperwork to me. In each case it was 3 weeks, due to ill health, school holidays,etc. Have been charged £200 for phone call I had to make to sort out one lot of delays
At my wits end but cant afford to start the whole process over again.
Good luck whatever you decided.

Bubblegum11 wrote:

What exactly are the issues you have with the solicitor? If they are just minor things maybe you can work through them. If however you don't think you are getting the best advice and representation for your money, then do get some quotes from other solicitors. My file was quite lengthy and consists of complex legal arguments requiring a lot of thought - not your standard run of the mill divorce case. Maybe if your case is not so complex it may not cost so much. There is no harm in making enquiries.

Sorry for such a late response! Basically she doesn't seem to ever be up to speed with my file and goes over things and asks things I've already told her! She never seems to chase if she doesn't hear from my STBX and I'm the one who is left asking her what's up.

I simply don't feel confident in her abilities to wind my case up.

I don't know whether to see about another solicitor within the same firm or to look elsewhere. Timing is of the essence as I'm trying to purchase a house and so I need the divorce wrapped up really quickly!

Let's be quite clear Family Law is a mess and all designed to make solicitors and the system rich, if you use the you have all lost before you begin. I have recently been through a two and a half year battle with my ex and her legal aid lawyers, I have been to court ten times including the high court to deal with them. After I had used solicitors for the children's part I have done everything myself with a Lara legal, the law is the law you don't need moneygrabbi g solictors

Eastlondonboy wrote:

Let's be quite clear Family Law is a mess and all designed to make solicitors and the system rich, if you use the you have all lost before you begin. I have recently been through a two and a half year battle with my ex and her legal aid lawyers, I have been to court ten times including the high court to deal with them. After I had used solicitors for the children's part I have done everything myself with a Lara legal, the law is the law you don't need moneygrabbi g solictors

That is certainly one viewpoint...

I work in the law and I would always recommend that people sort things out amongst themselves.

Those who use solicitors but receive a sub-par service can choose to self-represent.

It is the same with all professions - plumbing? Do it yourself. Electrics? Do it yourself. Fixing a car? You guessed it. Roofing? How hard can it be? Scaffolding? It can't be *that* dangerous.

However, there are those who choose to delegate the work to others and those who are unable to do the work or unwilling to spend time learning a process that they will only use once.

Presumably plumbers, electricians, roofers are all money-grabbing as they charge for services that the customer can do themselves? Or is it different because lawyers charge more? If the latter, it would be worth comparing hourly rates and overheads of a solicitor and a plumber. You would be surprised what the profit margins are.

As for legal aid lawyers - they don't do that to get rich. The legal aid pay rates have consistently been eroded and what was once a reasonably rate e.g. £64.80 per hour + VAT (less the massive overheads of course) has been replaced with lower rates in most instances and fixed rates which provide a lower rate of pay across the board.

I guess it all depends what you term as 'rich' though. If £40k per year is rich a lot of lawyers fit that description but you could get that much working at Jaguar Land Rover but without the set up cost of obtaining a degree and completing the Legal Practice Course.

Charles

I had a similar problem as yourself. My solicitor was great but unfortunately he left the firm 6 months into my divorce. I wasn't very happy with my replacement solicitor as she didn't seem to listen quite as well as my last sol. I explained this to the firm who were happy to pass my case onto another solicitor within the firm at no extra cost.