Solicitor's Negligence, your thoughts?

Hello,

My partner separated from his wife 10 years ago. They were married in England and lived all of their lives together in England. His wife moved to Scotland approximately 8 years ago.

My partner instructed a solicitor to start divorce proceedings approximately 7 years ago, in England, which she did. However some time later his wife delivered divorce papers using Scottish courts. For some reason the divorce went ahead using Scottish law.

Now up to date. My partner has spent approximately £14K on solicitors fees but they are still not divorced (he is now in debt). The children were over 18 years old and the family home had already been sold before his wife moved to Scotland, proceeds split 50/50. However his wife has a large pension after her high paid job in bank. The value has never been disclosed. His wife is now 56 and can draw the pension.

The issue here is two part. Part one, his solicitor in my mind was going over issues that were not relevant, i.e. how they raised children, issues with each other etc. They only had the pension to divide. This made the whole process more acrimonious and expensive. Why did his solicitor do this, it has been very expensive.

Part two, my partner instructed his solicitor to start the divorce, which she did. However his wife later applied for divorce through Scottish courts and so it it being done under Scottish law. My partner's solicitor kept a Scottish Lawyer consultant while the divorce proceedings were going ahead. As it turns out my partner could be a few hundred thousand pounds out because of pension rules, doing the divorce under Scottish law. He may come out with £30k instead. Difficult to give true figures as his wife has never disclosed the pension value 7 years into the process! Surely it was up to his solicitor to advise him under which law would be more beneficial for him? His solicitor is described as the head partner who can deal with complex cases!

My poor partner feels badly let down and is depressed (long term) with the break up of the family and finding himself in a deep financial mess with nothing to show for it.

Can anyone advise on the way forward, if there is a way forward?

Thank you.