Solicitor holding cheque

Friend was successful in High Court case back in May.

Culpable party is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, but in the meantime there was a payout ordered by High Court.

In getting the payout, solicitor had friend sign an undertaking that in the event of appeal being successful, he would reimburse defendant.

Solicitor received cheque in July and lodged it to client account.

Solicitor will NOT release money to my friend until he pays his own solicitors costs, which are in excess of the amount paid out by the court.

Can solicitor hold him to ransom like this? He has received no money and even worse, has given an undertaking to reimburse, when solicitor is holding the funds.

Solicitor will NOT release money to my friend until he pays his own solicitors costs,

Click to expand...

Am I missing something here? Your friend owes his solicitor for his costs so far. Why does your friend not pay his solicitor?

If I owe someone €10,000 and they owe me €8,000, I pay them €2,000. I don't demand the €8,000 first.

But, as I say, maybe I am missing something?

I'm surprised the solicitor went to the High Court for him without asking for some money up front.

We got badly burnt last year by someone we acted for - we'll be asking payment up front from now on, at least per diem.

Either way, the solicitor is entitled to be paid thus far, the fiction that professionals should wait until a case is decided is a definite non-runner in my books - cases can go on for years.

ONQ.

in the event of the appeal NOT being successful, then solicitor will recover from Defendant. That is the High Court order thus far and I understand that if Supreme Court does not overturn the High Court order.

The amount paid out is a fraction of what is owed this far on costs. I understand that in teh event of friend losing case, that is of High Court order is overturned, then he is not only liable for own costs, but could face having to pay Defendant costs as well.

That however is not the issue. The issue is can solicitor hold the cheque in client account and not pay out?

I don't know - it depends on what arrangement your "friend" entered into and what the protocol for such accounts are.

Perhaps an experienced solicitor will chime in at this point.

ONQ.

Hi Ravima

Is the main issue not that the client owes the solicitor money and he should pay that money? It's really that simple.


In practice what sometimes happens is that when people lose their case, they start blaming the solicitor and refuse to pay. The solicitor is absolutely right to seek payment now.

Brendan

If the High Court ordered the payout than I imagine your friend is due the money. The solicitor's costs are a different issue and not linked to the payout. The solicitor is worried he won't be paid, rightly so, but I don't think he can hold onto the payment in lieu of his fees unless his client agrees.

Was it a "no foal no fee" situation?

My understanding of it is once the solicitor raises his invoice he is entitled to set it off against the client account. Your "friend" sounds very dodgy.

Thank you for your replies.

Kate: Why does friend (not 'friend') sound 'very dodgy?

SlurrySlump: It was not a no foal no fee.

Bronte: There is absolutely no risk that solicitor will be left unpaid in the event of the appeal succeeding. I think that you have also hit the nail on the head. There are two distinct issues here. The interim payout and the costs. I also think that the solicitor has no lien on the payout cheque to offset against costs.

Brendan: I don't think that client owes solicitor any money, until final decision is made in Supreme Court. If the appeal is unsuccessful, then Defendant must pay (and will pay). If the appeal is successful, then Court may order that both pay own costs and if that is the case, the costs will be paid by friend. If it was a question ow owing €2K on a payout of €10K, then it would be easy enough to bear, but we are talking of a payout of €25K and costs in excess of €70K!

Onq: There was no arrangement and even worse, there was no indication of what costs were likely to be. This lack of Section whatever letter detailing costs is not being raised and will not be raised by my friend. In any event it not a prohibition on a bill being raised. Solicitor did not seek money up front as there is no difficulty with funds and if payment is finally ordered by Court, fees will be paid.

Finally , I'm no wiser now than I was when I first began.

if the solicitor has allowed for this situation in the formal agreement with the client then he can hold onto the money. If they have simply just said that its "no win, no fee, we'll pay everything and get paid at the end (whenever that might be)" then they are foolish but can't hold onto the money IMO.

you can't hold onto client money without the client's consent - that's it in a nutshell. if we as a profession facilitate the bringing of claims where people couldn't bring them otherwise by "no win no fee" arrangements (and we do), we should make sure that doesn't leave us exposed in these circumstances.

i'd imagine the huge issue here is outlay, witness expenses etc., rather than the solicitors fee as such.

Anyway, it's the client's money, unless they have agreed as to how it's to be disbursed.