Hello, I am new here, I hope you are all well!
I am currently working with a solictor for access arrangements for my daughter and I have an online hearing at the start of December.
I have never had experience with solicitors before and so I am not use to communicating with them.
My solictor is always very busy which I assume is normal for a solictor so I try to contact only when absolutely nescessary.
I do not receive a reply to emails without many follow up emails.
I do not receive return calls or replies to messages I leave.
I have taken advice from CAB who said I should try to continue to work with the solicitor because the hearing date is so close.
So far though I can not get a confirmation of my solicitors availability for my hearing.
This all makes me very anxious.
I am interested to hear from any one who has experience with solicitors more than I and can maybe give me any guidance?
Thanks in advance and all the best to you all.
I used a solicitor early on and then decided not to as they are too expensive and I do not feel they have your best interests at heart. Anytime you call or email them, this costs them time and they can drag their feet in replying to you. Obviously, they will be busy, but it is difficult when you don't know what is going on and need answers.
When I was dealing with them, I was speaking with someone in the office on and off, when I got to court a solicitor turned up who I have never met before or even spoken to. She had not read up on anything at all and was asking me questions that I had answered before. She had no idea about the background of the case, what I was looking for, nothing.
Are you having any contact with your child/children right now?
If she doesn't reply to your emails or phone calls you should get rid of her immediately. Family cases need a human approach as the suffering is immense. If she cannot see that she shouldn't be working in family cases. I would recommend you get a solicitor that is a member of Resolution ( https://resolution.org.uk/about-us/). From their website:
"Resolution was founded in 1982 by a group of family lawyers who believed that a non-confrontational approach to family law issues would produce better outcomes for separating families and their children."
I used a solicitor firm member of Resolution (meaning not interested solely in taking as much money of you but to actually solve the problem :)). I used a service some solicitors provided called unbundled. It basically means you can contact them for advice and guidance but they don't represent you in court (you are self litigant). You can ask them as much or as little as you want. The solicitor was brilliant. She reviewed my statements, told me what to do, etc. She always replied in time and made time to talk to me even when she was going on holiday. She always told me when she couldn't be available for some reason. After a few hearings as a self litigant, I think I know enough so I haven't contacted her again. I will try to get a barrister for the final hearing though but that is many months in the future 🙁
One thing you need to bear in mind is that if a solicitor takes every call as it comes in, they are not going to be able to concentrate properly on the task in hand, and each call will also cost a unit of time. I was having the same issue with my solicitor with a house purchase recently, and this solicitor is a personal friend of mine. Generally, they will work in chunks of time on a single case, and return calls etc related to that case at that time, this is both efficient for them and cost effective for you, but I do understand how frustrating it can be. To you, obviously, your case is the most important case that your solicitor has, but every one of his/her clients thinks the same thing. The question is really, is the work being done to a satisfactory standard, and if so, then that is really what you are after.
Thank you all for your replies and helpful information. I have taken your advices and I allowed my solicitor time to get back to me and having a better understanding of how they worked certainly helped. Having discussed with soclitor following preparation of my proposal and position statement we have decided its best if I represent myself. Thanks again for your time.