solicitors files - right to view own file?

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LB25

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My mother took a case for personal injury against a public body and is very unhappy with the solicitor representing her. The case was taken over ten years ago and shortly afterwards she was told by the solicitor that the body in question had accepted liability. Since then she has had virtually no correspondance from him and he routinely ignores her calls and letters. I have phoned on her behalf several times and have been told that the case is at "correspondance stage". I asked if she could call in to the office and view the file and was told that "there is no file", upon which I enquired as to where this "correspondance" is kept if there is no file and this question was dodged blatently. He said she cannot see her file.
Do clients have a right to see their own files?
Also, if my mother changes solicitors is the current solicitor obliged to forward the file?
Its been so long now with no word she is upset and frustrated.
 
If she is not happy with the existing solicitor and cannot get reasonable answers to her questions/complaints then she might consider complaining to the Law Society?
 
ClubMan said:
If she is not happy with the existing solicitor and cannot get reasonable answers to her questions/complaints then she might consider complaining to the Law Society?
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...I suggested this but she feels bad about doing it. He was a friend of her mother and it's a one-man firm. I think this is partly the reason it has been allowed to go on for so long.
 
LB25 said:
...I suggested this but she feels bad about doing it. He was a friend of her mother and it's a one-man firm. I think this is partly the reason it has been allowed to go on for so long.
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Its real simple. If she does not want to make this man feel bad she simply buries her head in the sand and lets this ludicrous situation continue. She should get a new solicitor immediately and that solicitor can take over the file. From the sound of it, nothing has happened - it is even horribly possible that your mothers case is statute barred. If that is the case and the current solicitor is also burying his head.............She must make an effort to get the file from the current solicitor - get a recommendation from someone for someone recently used. They will wrestle the file away and will find out what the problem is. She does not have to have any contact with the current one. The new solicitor will deal with it.


mf
 
Not only is she entitled to view her file, she is entitled to take it away with her, provided the costs of her present solicitor are met first. The costs will be a difficult one as the case has been going on for ten years they are likely to be substantial. Some solicitors would pass on a file on an undertaking from the new solicitor to pay the costs out of a settlement or award but they are not obliged to do this. Ten years is a worrying amount of time, also the notion that after ten years there is no file is ludicrous so your mother really should do something. In the first instance could you and your mother make an appointment to see the solicitor where you could play bad cop and ask the present status of the file- have proceedings issued, what stage are they at, is a settlement envisaged, if not, a court date. If after this you are still worried, then perhaps it is time to move solicitors.
 
Vanilla said:
Not only is she entitled to view her file, she is entitled to take it away with her, provided the costs of her present solicitor are met first. The costs will be a difficult one as the case has been going on for ten years they are likely to be substantial. Some solicitors would pass on a file on an undertaking from the new solicitor to pay the costs out of a settlement or award but they are not obliged to do this. Ten years is a worrying amount of time, also the notion that after ten years there is no file is ludicrous so your mother really should do something. In the first instance could you and your mother make an appointment to see the solicitor where you could play bad cop and ask the present status of the file- have proceedings issued, what stage are they at, is a settlement envisaged, if not, a court date. If after this you are still worried, then perhaps it is time to move solicitors.
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If the solicitor himself says that the case is at correspondence stage it appears that he probably missed the statute and i would imagine that he is hoping that she just forgets about it. I doubt the costs will be substantial, no-one does a lot of work and then just ignores phone calls, exactly the opposite in most cases!

i would think that only a tiny percentage of claims take 10 years so there si definitely a problem here. She should get a new solicitor and get cracking on it.
 
Stifster said:
If the solicitor himself says that the case is at correspondence stage it appears that he probably missed the statute and i would imagine that he is hoping that she just forgets about it.
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That's exactly what I thought.

Either that or he's pocketed the settlement !
 
the old solicitor will probably look for a settlement for "work done" before he releases the file .. i know from personal experience
 
I wonder if the standard Data Protection Act rules which allow you to get a copy of any information relating to yourself for a nominal cost apply to solicitors files?
 
Stifster said:
Because the solicitors profession isn't covered by the FOI Act.
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I wasn't referring to the FOI Act, which refers only to public bodies. I was referring to the Data Protection Acts, which apply to ALL bodies, public & private (unless solicitors have some special exemption).
 
TEN Years and nothing. If the original issues a large Bill, tell him you want a detailed Bill. Then go to one of the big Law firms and deal with the case and the old solicitor. If he is meant to be a friend of your mother tell her she doesn't need enemies. This was a simple case -- the defending part admitted liability.

When I started on AAM, some posters ridiculed me for cherry picking the legal profession for wrong doing. Since then I have seen many many threads about bad practice from Solicitors. So I will continue apportioning blame to the legal profession and for those who don't like it - tough. This is a Public Forum and read the content. A self governing profession that can't or won't. Brilliant. Albeit tere are some members of the legal profession on AAM who appear to be honest and frank. Maybe you should advertise their services on this site
 
mercman said:
Since then I have seen many many threads about bad practice from Solicitors.
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I would imagine that somebody who has a complaint about how their solicitor dealt with them is more likely to post here than somebody who received good service and has no complaints?
 
RainyDay said:
I wasn't referring to the FOI Act, which refers only to public bodies. I was referring to the Data Protection Acts, which apply to ALL bodies, public & private (unless solicitors have some special exemption).
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because solicitors are exempt under the Data Protection Act.
 
RainyDay said:
Not according to [broken link removed].
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Finally, it is perhaps worth emphasising that registration with the Data Protection Commissioner in no way impinges upon client confidentiality or legal professional privilege, nor does registration confer upon individuals any additional or special right of access to your files.
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Ok mine was a bit of a sweeping comment but the bottom line is that the person won't get their file under that Act.
 
Forget the Data Protection Act. That's only going to lead to more frustration. Get a good, out of town solicitor and instruct him or her to obtain the file. If the holder of the file proposes to levy unreasonable fees, refer the matter to the Law Society.
 
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