getting files from my solicitor

squeky

hi,

I just wondering under the freedom of information Act, is it possible that i could get a copy of all information about me and my case from my solicitor?

He does sent me copies of doctors reports but thats about it and the folder that he has about my case is very thick!!!

Just curious have i a right to see the file?

thanks very much

JD24

What information about yourself do you not know? What exactly are you looking for from the Solicitor?

Not sure about getting a copy of the file under the Freedom of Information Act with it being legal documentation, etc. although if you did I’d imagine the Solicitor would charge you a fee for the photocopying and a hefty one too.

Do you not trust your Solicitor?

The bulk of the file probably just consists of legal documents / Pleadings and letters between your Solicitor and the Defendant/s Solicitors.

I don’t think you have a right to see the file, your solicitor owns the file and everything to do with it until his fees are paid and when the fees are paid, the file is yours to take if you want it.

squeky

JD24 wrote: »

What information about yourself do you not know? What exactly are you looking for from the Solicitor?

Not sure about getting a copy of the file under the Freedom of Information Act with it being legal documentation, etc. although if you did I’d imagine the Solicitor would charge you a fee for the photocopying and a hefty one too.

Do you not trust your Solicitor?

The bulk of the file probably just consists of legal documents / Pleadings and letters between your Solicitor and the Defendant/s Solicitors.

I don’t think you have a right to see the file, your solicitor owns the file and everything to do with it until his fees are paid and when the fees are paid, the file is yours to take if you want it.

He does send me copies of all my reports from doctors etc, im just curious what else in it concerning me?
Thats fair enough that i can wait til case all over and ask him then to give me my folder as he has been paid. Was just curious thats all if i had a right to ask solicitor for my file be it during the case or after the case is over.
I totally trust my solicitor, he a family friend!!

Hooch

O/P Im not a solicitor but from my understanding, you own the file. However they may not release it until their fees are paid.

nuac

If this is a personal injuries case, the solicitor would have been sending you copies of all relevant reports, counsel's opinions, letters from defendants.

There would be no problem about copies of anything else you want to see from the file. However photocopying is time-consuming and there would have to be charge for that.

squeky

nuac wrote: »

If this is a personal injuries case, the solicitor would have been sending you copies of all relevant reports, counsel's opinions, letters from defendants.

There would be no problem about copies of anything else you want to see from the file. However photocopying is time-consuming and there would have to be charge for that.

nuac, Could you explain what you mean by Counsels opinions, and letters from defendants.. yes i have recived copies of reports and some documentation from defendants stating what they request from me with my permission, is that what you mean by "defendants letters", i would like to bring the file home and have a look at it just curiousity and if i wanted anything photocopied i can do it myself with my own photocopier!

Just curious thats all!!

Thanks!

squeky

nice guy always wrote: »

O/P Im not a solicitor but from my understanding, you own the file. However they may not release it until their fees are paid.

Im sure he wouldnt have a problem giving them to me to have a look at, All i have to do is ask, i just wanted to see had i a right to see them as its about me:) he is a family friend so i just wanted to check it out.

Thanks niceguyalways

JD24

squeky wrote: »

i would like to bring the file home and have a look at it just curiousity and if i wanted anything photocopied i can do it myself with my own photocopier!

No Solicitor would give you an on-going file to bring home.

OP if your solicitor is a family friend, approach him and ask him about the file. As previously mentioned, alot of the paperwork would be letters / Opinion / Papers to Counsel. If liability in your case is not being admitted by the other side then that would lead to a lot more work being done on your file leading to more paperwork (engineer's reports, witness statements, garda reports, etc.).

If he is forwarding you medical reports and relevant letters then chances are that is all you need to see on the file, the rest would be related to the legal procress of getting your case on for Trial, much of which most people would not understand.

dats_right

Wanting to see your file is akin to asking your employer to see all of your PRSI contributions for the past five years! Very boring stuff indeed! The stuff in the file will be mainly very dull and boring correspondence, typically things such as; letters written to you at outset of case including a section 68 letter, section 8 letter to defendant(s) and copy to insurer (if known), letter to Gardai seeking abstract of accident if RTA, letters received from insurers acknowledging letter and stating that liability is being investigated and asking for further details such as your Doctor your PPS no., etc, letter from your solicitor to you telling you this and asking you to furnish these details, letter to your Doctor requesting Medical Reports, letter from your Doctor requesting €X amount to release medical report, your solicitor writing back with cheque and thanking him, insurance company writing asking you to attend Medical Assessment, your solicitor wrtiting to you informing you that insurance company have requested you to attend Medical Assessment, letter to PIAB enclosing application and Medical Report, PIAB letter acknowledging receipt of application, PIAB asking for evidence of out-of pocket expenses, solicitor writing to you to inform you that PIAB require vouching documentation, PIAB letter confirming that Insurance company have/have not consented to an assessment, letter to you telling you this, etc. etc.

eigrod

By the way, the FOI Act only relates to information held by certain public bodies so it is of no use in the case of a private solicitor practice.

squeky

JD24 wrote: »

No Solicitor would give you an on-going file to bring home.

OP if your solicitor is a family friend, approach him and ask him about the file. As previously mentioned, alot of the paperwork would be letters / Opinion / Papers to Counsel. If liability in your case is not being admitted by the other side then that would lead to a lot more work being done on your file leading to more paperwork (engineer's reports, witness statements, garda reports, etc.).

If he is forwarding you medical reports and relevant letters then chances are that is all you need to see on the file, the rest would be related to the legal procress of getting your case on for Trial, much of which most people would not understand.

jd24,

Liability was admitted from day one so that something i not have to worry about, think i will ask him when its all over just to have a look anyway!, thank you for your advice..

squeky

dats_right wrote: »

Wanting to see your file is akin to asking your employer to see all of your PRSI contributions for the past five years! Very boring stuff indeed! The stuff in the file will be mainly very dull and boring correspondence, typically things such as; letters written to you at outset of case including a section 68 letter, section 8 letter to defendant(s) and copy to insurer (if known), letter to Gardai seeking abstract of accident if RTA, letters received from insurers acknowledging letter and stating that liability is being investigated and asking for further details such as your Doctor your PPS no., etc, letter from your solicitor to you telling you this and asking you to furnish these details, letter to your Doctor requesting Medical Reports, letter from your Doctor requesting €X amount to release medical report, your solicitor writing back with cheque and thanking him, insurance company writing asking you to attend Medical Assessment, your solicitor wrtiting to you informing you that insurance company have requested you to attend Medical Assessment, letter to PIAB enclosing application and Medical Report, PIAB letter acknowledging receipt of application, PIAB asking for evidence of out-of pocket expenses, solicitor writing to you to inform you that PIAB require vouching documentation, PIAB letter confirming that Insurance company have/have not consented to an assessment, letter to you telling you this, etc. etc.

Datsright, Wow thanks for all that now it all seems so boring as i have always received my specialists report and other reports and i trust my solicitor will do his best , i was just being noisy as to why the folder so thick! Thats all it was never about trust issues!

Does there come a time even after the court case that I would see the defendants insurance company doctors reports about me or are they always kept private?, also would the defendants insurance company ever request to see my doctors reports as i wouldnt have problem with that as we could barter!!!

Thanks a million for your advice.

hobochris

eigrod wrote: »

By the way, the FOI Act only relates to information held by certain public bodies so it is of no use in the case of a private solicitor practice.

+1.

Not a solicitor but i believe it is the data protection act you need to look into.i think there is part that allows you to obtain a copy of any information held relating to you.

squeky

thank you hobochris..

JD24

squeky wrote: »

Does there come a time even after the court case that I would see the defendants insurance company doctors reports about me or are they always kept private?, also would the defendants insurance company ever request to see my doctors reports as i wouldnt have problem with that as we could barter!!!

Thanks a million for your advice.

Your medical reports - if you are relying on the medical reports you would be required to share them with the Defendant's Solicitors.

Defendant's medical reports - if they are relying on their medical reports they are required to share them with you.

The process is called Disclosure.

However, if the defendant's decide not to rely on their medical report, you will NEVER get to see the report. Same applies to yourself, if there is a doctor's report that your solicitor does not wish to use, then you dont have to share the report and the doctor will not be called to court to give evidence.

squeky

JD24 wrote: »

Your medical reports - if you are relying on the medical reports you would be required to share them with the Defendant's Solicitors.

Defendant's medical reports - if they are relying on their medical reports they are required to share them with you.

The process is called Disclosure.

However, if the defendant's decide not to rely on their medical report, you will NEVER get to see the report. Same applies to yourself, if there is a doctor's report that your solicitor does not wish to use, then you dont have to share the report and the doctor will not be called to court to give evidence.

However, if the defendant's decide not to rely on their medical report, you will NEVER get to see the report.


JD24
Sorry now if i seem a small bit silly here, but the defendant dosent have any medical reports as he/she not injured at all, so i assume you mean the defendants insurance company medical reports about me! As im the one who went to their doctors!
So all the medical reports for both sides are all about me..

JD24

squeky wrote: »

JD24
Sorry now if i seem a small bit silly here, but the defendant dosent have any medical reports as he/she not injured at all, so i assume you mean the defendants insurance company medical reports about me! As im the one who went to their doctors!
So all the medical reports for both sides are all about me..

Sorry for the confusion, when I refer to the Defendant I am taking about the insurance company. When proceedings are issued the Defendant effectively is the insurance company. It is the defendants (i.e. insurance company) medical reports (about you) that I am talking about.

Say I mentioned, if they decide to use the reports, you will get to see them, but if they decide not to use the reports, you wont and no one can force them (i.e. Judge) to share them. However if they decide not to use them it generally means that their doctor agrees with your doctors and its not good tactics to use a doctor who is going to agree with everything you and your doctors say about your injuries.

If they do agree to share the reports, you will see them before you go before a Judge and likewise they will see your reports before the case goes before a Judge.

squeky

Im curious as to how long does it take to take a file from an old solicitor, to a new solicitor, leters from the new solicior has been sent to my old solicitor and its near 9 weeks ago now and still new solicitor hasnt received the file, new solicitor has rang old solicitor lots times and each time he is out of the office!!, a development happened and im not happy with old solicitor no more and i do not want him representing me and i do not want to approch old solicter myself asking to hand over my file and im very upset over ordeal.. Case a couple years going on now..

I chatted about this before but it was for me to see the file personally before anything had happened.

What can happen now or do i just have to wait it out?

thank you for any replies

squeky

Im curious as to how long does it take to take a file from an old solicitor, to a new solicitor, leters from the new solicior has been sent to my old solicitor and its near 9 weeks ago now and still new solicitor hasnt received the file, new solicitor has rang old solicitor lots times and each time he is out of the office!!, a development happened and im not happy with old solicitor no more and i do not want him representing me and i do not want to approch old solicter myself asking to hand over my file and im very upset over ordeal.. Case a couple years going on now..

I chatted about this before but it was for me to see the file personally before anything had happened.

What can happen now or do i just have to wait it out?

thank you for any replies

PCPhoto

maybe you need to talk with new solicitor ...and ensure he/she is asking for the files....or get them to contact the law society on your behalf expaining the situation.

squeky

new soliciotr has rang old solicitor lots of times and sent lots of letters to old solicitor and still nothing..

What would be the next legal step to take to get my file!

McCrack

Is there monies owing to old solicitor for works done to date?

Has new solicitor served a Notice of Change of Solcitor on old solicitor?

Two obvious ones I can think of without seeing the file.

JD24

It could take weeks or months...

The Solicitor probably wont hand over the file until he has been paid or some agreement on his fees has been reached with the new Solicitor. What generally happens is the two Solicitors (the old one and the new one) will come to some agreement about the costs e.g. 50/50. This can get messy though as the old Solicitor could be of the view that he has carried out most of the work and could be looking for a proposed spilt of 80/20 and the new Solicitor may not agree to this or similarly the new solicitor could be looking for a spilt more in his favour.

Much would depend on what stage your case is at. If it is effectively ready to go before a Judge then your old Solicitor has carried out most of the work.

Speak to your new Solicitor about how he intends approaching this.

JD24

It could take weeks or months...

The Solicitor probably wont hand over the file until he has been paid or some agreement on his fees has been reached with the new Solicitor. What generally happens is the two Solicitors (the old one and the new one) will come to some agreement about the costs e.g. 50/50. This can get messy though as the old Solicitor could be of the view that he has carried out most of the work and could be looking for a proposed spilt of 80/20 and the new Solicitor may not agree to this or similarly the new solicitor could be looking for a spilt more in his favour.

Much would depend on what stage your case is at. If it is effectively ready to go before a Judge then your old Solicitor has carried out most of the work.

Speak to your new Solicitor about how he intends approaching this.

squeky

JD24 wrote: »

It could take weeks or months...

The Solicitor probably wont hand over the file until he has been paid or some agreement on his fees has been reached with the new Solicitor. What generally happens is the two Solicitors (the old one and the new one) will come to some agreement about the costs e.g. 50/50. This can get messy though as the old Solicitor could be of the view that he has carried out most of the work and could be looking for a proposed spilt of 80/20 and the new Solicitor may not agree to this or similarly the new solicitor could be looking for a spilt more in his favour.

Much would depend on what stage your case is at. If it is effectively ready to go before a Judge then your old Solicitor has carried out most of the work.

Speak to your new Solicitor about how he intends approaching this.

Yes the old solicitor has done the bulk of the work alright, "but the new solicior wrote letters to old solicitor saying that im not in financial position to pay his outlays or fees which have occured to date, and could we give you an unqualified undetaking in respect thereto. And also quoted that old solicitor bill of costs be taxed in default of agreement if at the end of the day we cannot agree them".

Do you mean in the split of 80/20 that is paid out of the insurance company when soliciotor claims for costs?

So while all this bartering about money goes on between them then im left waiting?

squeky

McCrack wrote: »

Is there monies owing to old solicitor for works done to date?

Has new solicitor served a Notice of Change of Solcitor on old solicitor?

Two obvious ones I can think of without seeing the file.

Yes there monies owed but im not in financial position to pay them yet..

Yes new solicitor has served notice of change..

Tom Young

Warning:

1. Sqeaky No need to start multiple threads to discuss the same topic. They are now merged; and

2. JD24 and Speaky No legal advice, period.

I am not liking the way the advices is appearing in the above thread/s. Breach Charter and face consequences.

Thanks,

Tom

squeky

tom,

Sorry i had typed into old page by accident and posted it, but what i wanted do was start a new thread. but i got all confused:(

Sorry again