How Long Should A Negligence Claim Against A Solicitor Take

M

MBay

Guest
My previous firm of solicitors was negligent (they admitted as such) in handling a commercial lease renewal several years ago. The effect of this was to leave me with a lease for a higher rent than I would have expected to pay and be bound in for a longer term. Despite being told by the head of the firm that they would ensure I was not "out of pocket", they did nothing to address the situation. I had no option but to employ another firm to pursue a case of negligence against the first firm.
My concern is that this is dragging on. It has taken nearly three years before they have even obtained a surveyors report to determine what the rent should have been. I keep being told "things will now proceed quite quickly. The last time they told me they would expect settlement by this August. Yet now I am told they have only just received the surveyor's report when they were appointing the surveyor in April. Even the solicitor handling the case was changed after 8 months as the first partner had "increased pressure from other cases when another partner retired". I feel I am being given the run around by the new firm so what do I do?
 
Hi MBay,
I think you should write to your current solicitors, ask for a review meeting and ask that they walk you through the timeline to date for the case and the future timeline. Follow up with a phone call and look for this meeting to happen within one week. Nothing will light a fire under them faster than the prospect of sitting across from you and explaining exactly what has been done. If they are working for you that will be clear at the meeting. Equally if they are dragging their feet (and it certainly sounds like it) then this will also be clear.

Kate.
 
Thank you Kate10.

If I am unhappy following the meeting and decide I need to sack them ... where is the best place to find a RELIABLE solicitor to get the job done?
 
law in Ireland moves slowly and indeed very slowly. Many people get upset when their case, which is very clearcut is stuck in the system. very few cases are clearcut. If there was a liability, the most economic way to conclude is to settle, not drag on.

There could be perfectly good reasons why the case has dragged on, not least the delays in the courts lists. A case set down today in High Court will take 2/3 years to come to trial. It can take several years in complex cases to get as far as being set down.

Why did the first firm not sort you out when they first promised?

As suggested arrange a meeting to discuss progress. Find out how far case has progressed and how close it is to a trial. Ask if other side are interested in settling at this stage and perhaps ask for settlement negotiations to be set up.

as for finding a 'reliable' solicitor. The vast majority are decent reliable folk. Some might be overworked, but there are not many bad eggs out there. You might find that your current firm is a good as you will get.

At the end of the day, it is not necessarily the solicitor, but the barrister, senior counsel and other experts get you home in how they present the case
 
This is in England not Ireland, sorry is this supposed to be an Irish site?

There maybe good reasons for the case dragging on but shouldn't the client be kept informed of those reasons? They cannot blame the courts, they haven't even got that far! My concern is that I asked for a timescale on this the year before last when little seemed to be happening and was told it should be settled by Christmas (09). Then earlier this year on asking again I was told it would be completed by August. Yet they still have progressed very little. To my mind either:-

1) Their timescales were unrealistic and inaccurate... in which case they are incompetent.
2) They were realistic and accurate but they have failed to keep to them ... in which case they are incompetent.

"Why did the first firm not sort you out when they first promised? " You tell me. On asking the head of the firm what he proposed, his initial response was "Oh I didn't expect to hear from you" ... Humility was not the word that sprang to my mind.

As a professional in a different field entirely, I can only say that if I acted in the way the solicitors in these firms have, I would lose all my clients within a month and likely face disciplinary proceedings from my professional body. If these solicitors are as good as you get then the legal profession must be in a very sorry state indeed.

If any of these solicitors feels they are overworked, I invite them to spend just one day in my shoes.
 
Look, I am a solicitor and I have to admit that our profession get things wrong sometimes. We get a lot of bad press and lot of it is rubbish, but some of it is justified.

From my experience in the past as an associate in a large firm, I can tell you that sometimes clients get messed around by the best of firms. If you work for a large firm you will be under enormous pressure to bill big hours, so will have far too many clients to keep happy. As a result some do not get good service. Even an excellent solicitor can give shoddy service. In my opinion the structure of solicitors' practices is all wrong. Essentially there are a few equity partners at the top of the tree who make all the money. Then there are the junior and senior associates, and the non-equity partners who have to deliver five times their salaries in fees in order to meet their targets so that the equity partners can bring home six to seven figure salaries. Inevitably the client loses out. This system does not put the client first. The associate or non-equity partner chooses a limited number of clients who get a rolls royce service. Everyone else gets attention when the solicitor can squeeze it into their day.

So essentially you need to find a good solicitor and get yourself on their rolls royce list. Mbay there's only one way to find a good solicitor - ask around. Talk to people you trust. Get a couple of recommendations. Meet the solicitors. Choose someone you can develop a good working relationship with. Choose someone who will value the work that you give them. Talk to the solicitor you choose about your and their expectations in terms of communication. Then accept that a good relationship with your solicitor is a two way street - if you are asked to provide information, provide it. When telling your story don't lie, exaggerate or leave things out. Agree fees up front and pay your bills in good time. Listen to the advice that you are given. Be prepared to accept that things may be more complicated than you would like, or that there may be no good solution to your problem.

I'm sorry that you've had such a poor experience so far. The easy thing to do would be to recommend that you leave your current solicitor. In reality that could just make things that much harder for you (hassle of moving file, new solicitor to become familiar with it etc). Perhaps the solicitor is a good one but for some reason not delivering for you. If that is the case the best thing to do would be to get to the bottom of the problem quickly, resolve it and move foreward. Full and frank discussion with current solicitor needed!
 
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