Solicitor offering a bribe not to register a complaint with LSRA

supermans ghost

Has anyone had experience of this.
In dispute with a solicitor over their legal fees for extracting probate and disbursement of estate of a relative.
The solicitor has offered a discount off their fee (even with the discount, the final bill is still not anywhere near what we feel would be a reasonable fee for the work performed), however they have made it conditional that we would not then proceed with a complaint about the overcharging to the legal services regulatory authority.
On principle, I feel we should pay the full bill and make a formal complaint.

Samuel T. Cogley

One man's bribe is another man's negotiation.

beachhead

On a money in d pocket basis you want to accept the firm's offer.

hullaballoo

It's a fairly niche question of contract law whether you can be bound to abandon a well-grounded complaint in the event of agreeing to pay a reduced amount for costs.

The question becomes whether you could pay the "discounted" fees and then proceed with a complaint to the LRSA in any event.

Then the next question is whether it is possible to maintain a complaint in relation to overcharging if the amount is reduced and that's obviously a case-by-case decision etc.

Lenar3556

supermans ghost wrote: »

Has anyone had experience of this.
In dispute with a solicitor over their legal fees for extracting probate and disbursement of estate of a relative.
The solicitor has offered a discount off their fee (even with the discount, the final bill is still not anywhere near what we feel would be a reasonable fee for the work performed), however they have made it conditional that we would not then proceed with a complaint about the overcharging to the legal services regulatory authority.
On principle, I feel we should pay the full bill and make a formal complaint.

Out of interest, what kind of money is he looking for?
How many properties involved?

supermans ghost

Lenar3556 wrote: »

Out of interest, what kind of money is he looking for?
How many properties involved?

Gross estate value approx €296k, 1 house, with land & some cash, looking for €9k, offering to knock €1500 off to bring it down to €7.5k. Besides the fees they looking to charge, it has Taken them 4 years to get this through probate. There was an issue which through no fault of the solicitor held it up for 9 months of that time, but still over 3 years. If this had been with a more efficient Solicitors office, the house and land could have been sold before the onset of the pandemic, and we could Potentially have realised a decent Price for both. So in effective we have issues with their fees and the time it took them to extract probate.

tax_tutor1

Are you the executor and was there a valid will?
Was a written estimate of fees provided in advance of the probate to the executor?
Does the €7.5k include VAT?
Did the issue that delayed the Grant relate to property title? Another Grant to be taken out?
Were any CAT returns required for the Estate and if so is the cost of same included in the fees quoted?
Once you set out the above easier to assess the proposed fees.

Pinoy adventure

Report report report.
They should not be allowed too over charge people.

keepalive213

Report.
I completed a successful personal application for probate a few years ago despite advice on these forums.
An estate approx 2/3 value of OP.
Solicitors looking near 3k
I did it for around 600 if memory serves me.
Avoid solicitors as much as possible is my legal advice.

Lenar3556

supermans ghost wrote: »

Gross estate value approx €296k, 1 house, with land & some cash, looking for €9k, offering to knock €1500 off to bring it down to €7.5k. Besides the fees they looking to charge, it has Taken them 4 years to get this through probate. There was an issue which through no fault of the solicitor held it up for 9 months of that time, but still over 3 years. If this had been with a more efficient Solicitors office, the house and land could have been sold before the onset of the pandemic, and we could Potentially have realised a decent Price for both. So in effective we have issues with their fees and the time it took them to extract probate.

So maybe a few complications there. €7.5k might not be too bad (is that incl. VAT?)
I’d pay it and move on. You are unlikely to get satisfaction the other route.

AndrewJRenko

tax_tutor1 wrote: »

Are you the executor and was there a valid will?
Was a written estimate of fees provided in advance of the probate to the executor?
Does the €7.5k include VAT?
Did the issue that delayed the Grant relate to property title? Another Grant to be taken out?
Were any CAT returns required for the Estate and if so is the cost of same included in the fees quoted?
Once you set out the above easier to assess the proposed fees.

Key question is bolded above.