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?
...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.
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.
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 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?
Because the solicitors profession isn't covered by the FOI Act.
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?Since then I have seen many many threads about bad practice from Solicitors.
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).
because solicitors are exempt under the Data Protection Act.
Not according to [broken link removed].
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.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?