Not sure if I can trust my solicitor(!)

UnderpantsGnome

I would appreciate any advice on this situation. I'm not looking for legal advice, I already have a solicitor, I just want some confirmation that this is above board as I have a few suspicions that my solicitor is trying to screw me over.

The case is against a previous employer. All through the case my solicitor was very confident about the outcome but now the solicitor says the company have made an offer to settle and they are really really pushing for me to accept. This is very sudden, as before they were confident I would get a large sum if it went to court. I think it's possible that they've already agreed to settle, which is why they're so adamant that I accept the proposed settlement. They've given me a date which I have to respond by and they've said they would strongly advise me to settle rather than let it go to court.

It doesn't help that I recently recieved a breakdown of their charges and nowhere on the breakdown was there any mention of a €1,000 payment that I made a few months ago.

Does this sound like normal practice for a solicitor? Do they usually urge you to settle?

Quaver

OP, if you have such a big problem with your Solicitor, maybe you should look into going to another one?

In relation to settlements, and this is purely just my own opinion, no matter how strong a case you might have, there is always a chance you might lose if you go into a courtroom, and end up with nothing. Also, as soon as you go to court, costs go up by an awful lot. You have to take all this into account, and decide if it's worth the risk, or will you be happy with the figure you have been offered.

As regards the €1,000 payment, have you said this to your Solicitor? Did you receive a receipt for it when you paid?

UnderpantsGnome

Thanks for the reply Quaver. I don't think it's feasible to get a new solicitor as my current one has already done a lot of work that they would need to be paid for. If I were to go with another solicitor now I would essentially be paying the solicitors fees twice.

If I'm wrong on this please, anybody, feel free to correct me.

I did get a reciept for the €1,000. I haven't said anything to my solicitor yet because I only recieved it a few days ago and am still turning everything over in my head.

I guess the most sensible advice is to settle, a bird in the hand and all that. But another thing that crossed my mind is maybe my solicitor has already settled at one figure and is telling me that they settled for less. The figure they are giving me as a settlement is one that was mentioned very early on and hasn't budged.

I would have thought that they'd prefer me to go to court as it means they will be able to charge me far more in costs, as you said. From the solicitors point of view I would imagine that's what they'd prefer. So that's why I think it's odd that they want so badly for me to settle.

pirelli

UnderpantsGnome wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Quaver. I don't think it's feasible to get a new solicitor as my current one has already done a lot of work that they would need to be paid for. If I were to go with another solicitor now I would essentially be paying the solicitors fees twice.

If I'm wrong on this please, anybody, feel free to correct me.

I did get a receipt for the €1,000. I haven't said anything to my solicitor yet because I only received it a few days ago and am still turning everything over in my head.

I guess the most sensible advice is to settle, a bird in the hand and all that. But another thing that crossed my mind is maybe my solicitor has already settled at one figure and is telling me that they settled for less. The figure they are giving me as a settlement is one that was mentioned very early on and hasn't budged.

I would have thought that they'd prefer me to go to court as it means they will be able to charge me far more in costs, as you said. From the solicitors point of view I would imagine that's what they'd prefer. So that's why I think it's odd that they want so badly for me to settle.

Settlement also guarantees they will paid quickly. They are as nervous as you are going into court. It is not a question of confidence but whether teh whole matter wille be worthwhile after witness costs etc..

In a settlement like the one you are describing they still get paid most of their fee's as you might require to turn up to court on the day. So it saves them time and alot of preparation fro the case. The barrister is the one who loses out but again he might be nervous about the case or i imagine he would get a small fee,and you haven't mentioned him so i assume that he hasn't been involved yet. Ideally your barrister will settle the case for you and save himself alot of time in court which he would spend making money on another case.

Also settlements are always less work for your solicitor and promise a saving taxes for you on your legal costs . I think your being unfair to your solicitor, if you believe there is a case on principle then go to court but be aware that you are depending on witnesses and they are not always going to be there, for what ever reason. If you can prove your case 100% on hard evidence and don't need witnesses then i would write your own settlement, Include facts of your own and make the settlement suit you, not just the company your suing.Take them to court if you have to and they will try settle again.

The only thing you must agree is your solicitors costs up front, and have them included in the settlement, this saves you taxes, do not agree to give him more than you owe him from the settlement and also provide a tax cert. What will happen is they will give you your money in one cheque and the legal fees in another cheque, you will have no control of the legal fee cheque which will be made out to your solicitor. If he wants he could tell you to take a running jump and keep all of the legal fee money. You will be taxed on your award after a certain amount.

If your employer has indirectly or otherwise done something wrong it is always worthwhile for you to prove them wrong as that is what court is for, but again there are risks of witnesses not being there and your legal team not being full abreast of the facts.

Quaver

If you have a receipt for the €1,000 then just bring it to your Solicitors attention that it's not on the Bill and it shouldn't be a problem.

In settlements, the cheque is made payable to the victim directly, and is sent to your Solicitor who in turn passes it on to you. The settlement will also be in writing, usually just in the form of a letter though. Ask your Solicitor for a copy of this.

Also, ask him whether the settlement includes your legal fees, or whether the other side will be covering your costs.

M007

they may wish to settle as they see it as the best way that both you and them get paid within the next couple of weeks/months - if the matter goes to hearing then the whole process can be drawn out for quite some time with a possible appeal also prolonging the whole situation - if it is a case of some breach of legislation then they should be able to estimate a ball park figure of a sum you would get in court and you can weight this up against the offer on the table and the time it would take for a complete resolution if it was to go to hearing and appeal

alot of people sometimes lose confidence in their solicitor when they hear things that they don;t like but the solicitor has to tell you the stone cold truth even if it is harsh

remember at the moment in cases against employers hearings before the EAT and Rights commissioners are going to favour the employer as they don't want to hit the employer in the pocket to hard and maybe casue them to loose staff etc - in the present climate the employer is going to be favour - during the boom the employee was well looked after as there was plenty of money to pay out the compo - this is common sense

UnderpantsGnome

Thanks to everyone for the advice. The reason I was paranoid is because they were all very happy to go to court, even after the other side offered to settle. Then about a week ago they changed tack and urged me to take the cheque.

In any case I have decided to take the settlement. I need the money now after an accidental fire at my flat. I'll need to use some of the money as a deposit on a new place if I'm evicted.