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can i have some advice please regarding my solicitors,iv used them from the start and to be honest not been entirely happy with their service but being legal aid kept telling myself beggars cant be choosers.The last time i saw the woman dealing with my case she assured me she had applied for my contact order,this was nearly 3 weeks ago i then got a call earlier tonight from a different one informing me the other no longer works for them and she would be taking my case over,so i asked for an update and was told she had not even applied for my contact order to say im annoyed is an understatement as iv not seen my daughter since march and am now 3 weeks behind due to incompetence.So shall i change solicitors? will this be easy to do or will it waste more time? thanks in advance
I believe that it is possible to change solicitors, though it does take quite a bit of time. I don't have experience of the legal aid system - anyone else able to help on this?
I have just gone through this process for similar reasons. It does seem that some solicitors regard legal aid clients as secondary to their private ones and i would advise you to change now rather than find yourself a year down the line and still unhappy.
It is a case of transferring your funding certificate but you must try to resolve matters with your current solictor before the lSC will permit this to happen so get some e-mails, letters fired off telling them you are unhappy.
You can contact the legal services commision yourself for advice, I found them very helpful. What they asked me to do was to find a new solicitor, supply them with evidence you have tried to resolve matters with your current one and they will make the application for you. I just gave them copies of e-mails I had sent to my solicitor repeatedly sent asking why there seemed to be no progress.
My solicitor was slow in assisting the new solictor with the transfer so I rang the legal ombudsman who fired a letter off to them and things moved quickly after that. The application can actually be processed in a couple of days if there is urgency like an imminent hearing approaching.
I spoke to my local courts family dept and asked them for local family law solicitors, I was aware they could not be seen to recommend any particular ones but a 5 minute conversation about my situation worked wonders and they mentioned one repeatedly so I took this as a prompt to give them a ring.
Hi There,
What I would say is that as soon as the solicitor that had been dealing with your case had left a new one phoned and introduced themselves, This to me would mean that they seem to care a little more than the last one did. I know you have had issues with your last solicitor, but the whole firm may not be the same. I guess there may be other reasons as to why your last solicitor left, But I would wonder if they were asked to if they weren't meeting the grade?
Just my thoughts.
Darren
yes I did think that but they've destroyed the little confidence I had in them and this is just far to important an issue to not have faith in them.
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