How can I get rid of my solicitor?

corkpilot

Hi all,

My wife & I bought a house last October. There were some outstanding conditions on the sale of the house in the contract - one was an application for correcting the property boundary and one was an application for rights of way over the lane up to the house (owned by two different neighboring farmers).

Our solicitor told us that these applications could take up to a couple of years to be processed and that if there were any complications with the applications, they would have to do extra work to sort them out.

It has been 7 months now since our solicitor sent our 'final' invoice and I had not heard anything from them except that they had sent an email inquiring about the status of our applications. I immediately sent them an email and asked them not to do anymore work, especially since I can follow up on applications myself. I do not need an 'expert' to inquire about that.

I got another email from my solicitor last week saying that I wasn't able to discharge him unless the bank agrees (as the applications were a condition of the sale). While this may be true, surely this doesn't allow him to send emails whenever he feels like, without any discussion or notification? As far as I know, there haven't been any complications with the applications and it is just a matter of waiting for the relevant bodies to approve them.

I find it quite alarming that that I (apparently) have no say whatever as to what and how much work our solicitor is doing for us. Surely this can't be accurate? I could see if it was complicated work, but it's a simple matter of following the applications up with the respective people.

I would like to know first, if I can discharge my solicitor, and secondly, if I can't, then what rights I have as to what they can and can't do on my behalf. And thirdly, if they are doing work on my behalf, shouldn't they be communicating this with me and not racking up 7 months worth of bills without a single word? I am originally from the USA and really have no idea what my rights are on this matter. I can't believe I'm forced into somebody I don't want.

I will call the bank tomorrow and see if I can get them discharged. If not, perhaps I need to talk with another solicitor.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

NormalBob Ubiquitypants

Easiest way to get rid of a solicitor is to drive hime out to the country, throw a tennis ball out the window and tell him to go sue it. As soon as he goes for the ball speed off. Try and use a location he has never been to before as this will reduce the likelihood of him returning home to you. Do not inform the Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Solicitors as they may get angry.

berrygood

Hey OP,

Most conveyancing solicitors would charge a set fee e.g. €1500 plus/VAT inc. So, even if they are still doing follow up work for you, they won't charge you for that work as it comes under the set fee and is part of the whole transaction.

Are you being billed per hour or was it a set fee? If your only issue is the money, as opposed to the quality of work, I'd simply phone or email the solicitor and ask him/her to clarify the fees.

You should have received a section 68 letter at the start of the process which would have set out the fees and what's covered. Solicitors are required to do this by law.

corkpilot

Thanks for the reply. They gave an initial estimate of 1500 euro but qualified that by saying it depended on the complexity of the purchase. It ended up to be quite a long protracted purchase with problems with planning and the above mentioned pending boundary issues and rights of way over access to the house. So the total expense so far has been much more than 1500 euro but no further details on fees. They are now billing me by the hour but when we closed on the house they never explained fees or how much work they expected to be doing. I never expected them to be doing as much as they have (850 euro bill last week) without any notice to me.

The quality of work is decent but the lack of communication is extremely frustrating and worrying.

The initial letter of fees (I'll have to look again for details) only mentioned an estimate of 1500 plus various outlays (stamp duty, registration fees etc.).

They claim they are bound by an undertaking to the bank that they would follow up on the applications. However, they didn't give this to the bank, it was given by the sellers solicitor. My solicitor is claiming they have an obligation to enforce this.

Bepolite

While legal advice can't be given the following would strike me as common sense in a similar hypothetical situation.

A Bank lends for a mortgage on a property on the basis that B and C conditions are fulfilled. Client D has a solicitor E engaged to deal with the sale and under takes to fulfill B and C. Client D agrees to this by signing all the relevant documents and contracts.

I wouldn't have thought Bank A requires solicitor E ensure conditions B and C are met but would require them to be carried out by a competent legal professional. Even if client D is a fully qualified legal professional with the relevant experience in Irish Land law I would still expect Bank A to look for D to be represented by a solicitor E or otherwise.

In short, I wouldn't expect one to be tied to a particular solicitor but tied to using a solicitor of one choice to complete the agreed contract. That said client D would need to present everything to a qualified legal professional for the final word.

berrygood

corkpilot wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. They gave an initial estimate of 1500 euro but qualified that by saying it depended on the complexity of the purchase. It ended up to be quite a long protracted purchase with problems with planning and the above mentioned pending boundary issues and rights of way over access to the house. So the total expense so far has been much more than 1500 euro but no further details on fees. They are now billing me by the hour but when we closed on the house they never explained fees or how much work they expected to be doing. I never expected them to be doing as much as they have (850 euro bill last week) without any notice to me.

The quality of work is decent but the lack of communication is extremely frustrating and worrying.

The initial letter of fees (I'll have to look again for details) only mentioned an estimate of 1500 plus various outlays (stamp duty, registration fees etc.).

They claim they are bound by an undertaking to the bank that they would follow up on the applications. However, they didn't give this to the bank, it was given by the sellers solicitor. My solicitor is claiming they have an obligation to enforce this.

It would be standard to make that qualification of charging more, as a solicitor will only know if there are any issues with the property upon investigation of title. Sometimes there can be complex issues surrounding a title which will obviously require a heck of a lot more time and, naturally, more fees. However, in most of the firms I've worked in, once the issues were identified we'd amend the quote initially given with the details of the additional work and fees.

Did they break down the €850? As in, was it itemised or just an invoice saying you owe x amount?

You might be feeling concerned over lack of contact, but most firms will only contact when there is an update. It would be a bit pointless to ring you every week to say there have been no changes. Although, a courtesy email every now and then to let you know that they were pushing the matter on would be nice.

One thing to remember about legal transactions is that they can, and frequently do, take time.

You can always change solicitors. You are allowed to do this however, you'll usually have to discharge any fees owing to the firm you were using as they are entitled to hold the file until you do.

I would suggest you speak to your solicitor and tell them that you're anxious about the fees.

Pat Mustard

corkpilot wrote: »

They claim they are bound by an undertaking to the bank that they would follow up on the applications. However, they didn't give this to the bank, it was given by the sellers solicitor. My solicitor is claiming they have an obligation to enforce this.

When a bank gives mortgage, it will not release money without an undertaking as to good marketable title from the borrowers'/purchasers' solicitor, in relation to the property being purchased.

The sellers' solicitor does not give such an undertaking to the purchasers' bank on behalf of purchasers. A solicitor will not give an undertaking lightly, and he or she will not give an undertaking on behalf of another solicitor's client. It couldn't be done without a client's authority, in any case.

Once an undertaking is given, the solicitor must carry out his/her obligations.

I'd suggest that you make an appointment to meet your solicitor to discuss fees.