Solicitor falsely accused me of blackmail and identity fraud – what can I do?

[PoisedPearlHelper]

Hi everyone,
I’m feeling extremely distressed and could really use some advice.
A solicitor I approached just to witness a deed poll (literally a 10-minute job) has now written me a formal letter accusing me of identity fraud and blackmail, all because I left a Google review and asked for £150 compensation for the poor service I received.
To be clear:

• I turned up to the appointment on time, waited over an hour past the scheduled slot without apology, and was treated incredibly rudely throughout.
• The “identity fraud” claim appears to be based on my use of a perfectly valid house name (e.g., “The Croft”) in the deed poll, which is how my address appears on HMRC letters and utility bills.
• I corrected a typo on the deed by hand with their permission before it was witnessed.
• I later went to an independent solicitor who confirmed everything was fine and properly re-witnessed the deed poll.

Despite this, I received an aggressive letter warning me I would "hear from enforcement agencies," and treating my Google review + complaint as a criminal blackmail attempt. It’s left me shaken. I’ve now written a response asking them to:

• Retract the accusations
• Destroy my ID documents unless legally required
• Justify their data handling under UK GDPR
• Comply with the law around AML and GDPR disclosures

I’ve said if they don’t comply by 19 August, I’ll report them to the SRA, ICO and Legal Ombudsman. What else can I do to protect myself? Has anyone else experienced this kind of intimidation from a solicitor? Is it worth actually taking this to the police under harassment laws, or am I overreacting? I have a paper trail and am confident I’ve done nothing wrong, but I’m worried this could escalate or damage my name. Any legal or practical advice much appreciated – even just solidarity would help. This has genuinely shaken me. Thanks so much,

You’ve embarrassed yourself with that letter OP. Chat GPT?

The accusatory letter they sent you sounds ridiculous and I can quite believe that there are some shonky high street practitioners out there. But all you had to do was go straight to the SRA with a copy of the letter.

(I’m a solicitor).

Op you’re screwed unless you apologise and withdraw review

What on earth.

So you went to get a deed poll witnessed. The appointment ran late, and there was a typo. You got it witnessed and then left a bad review.

All perfectly fair and to be honest, normal. Things happen, solicitors get bad reviews.

You’ve then asked for £150 compensation (I’m assuming for the fee of the second solicitor who witnessed the deed poll?)

They’ve then accused you of fraud and blackmail?

Something’s been missed out here

But doesn't SRA need evidence i've independently tried resolving it with the law firm first

If you’ve sent that lengthy response to the solicitor, then you’ve taken your next step, you’ve escalated and demanded action from them so I’m not sure what actions you’d want to take before the deadline you’ve stated.

This all seems like an incredible amount of hassle, upset and aggression from a short appointment which was unsatisfactory from your point of view.

It’s one letter, that took 20 minutes to write.
They can go around threatening people whenever they like. They don’t need to have any intention to follow it up.

It’s a long, scary, solicitor’s letter, of course she’s going to be worried about it.
Which is exactly why they wrote it in the first place.

I used to be a law clerk, i know solicitors operate.
BUT! Having said that, I also know how tenacious they can be when they get the bit between their teeth.
Which costs them nothing to pursue, of course.

So, i’d do as they ask, sharpish.

Thanks for the reply – totally fair to ask, and I can see how it sounds unbelievable at first glance. But here’s exactly what happened, with nothing left out:

1. I went to the solicitor’s office just to get a deed poll witnessed.
2. I clearly said in advance that all I needed was a witness signature—not drafting or legal advice.
3. I turned up on time and waited over an hour past the scheduled appointment.
4. No apology. When I expressed frustration, I was told I was “panicking,” which felt dismissive and patronising.
5. There was a minor typo in the deed poll.
6. Their caseworker actually suggested I correct it by hand before witnessing. I did. But after that, they refused to witness it—no clear reason given, just vague insinuations about fraud.
7. So I left and got it properly done at another firm.
8. The second firm reviewed my ID, birth certificate, address docs, and the deed itself. They said there was absolutely nothing wrong, and were happy to redraft and witness it for me.
9. I then left a negative Google review.
10. It wasn’t offensive, defamatory, or naming anyone—just an honest account of the poor service.
11. I emailed the original firm asking for £150 compensation.
12. That’s the cost of the second solicitor and my time wasted. I didn’t say I’d remove the review in exchange. It wasn’t blackmail—it was a service complaint with a figure attached.
13. They replied with a formal letter accusing me of blackmail and identity fraud.
14. I was stunned. They said I was “pretending” to live at my real address (which appears on HMRC and utility bills), accused me of extortion, and threatened to report me to the authorities.

Now I’ve sent a detailed response demanding a retraction, explanation of how they’re processing my ID documents, and clarification of their legal basis for retaining any of my data. If they don’t respond appropriately, I’m escalating to the SRA, Legal Ombudsman, and ICO. I know how strange this sounds, but I’ve got the full paper trail to prove it. I didn’t expect a one-off witnessing appointment to turn into this mess.

Nope. They are a regulator not an ombusdsman. And they will tell you what they need or don’t need.

Just go to the SRA. Forget the ICO etc. And no, don’t contact your MP or the King ether.

Why on earth would you ask for £150 compensation? What for?! I'd offer to withdraw the review and call it quits. They're fighting a tiny little match strike with fire but they have the resources to. Do you often get yourself into ridiculous situations by picking a fight with the wrong people?

The fact these are all ChatGPT answers makes me think that there’s more to this story than you’re letting on, to be honest

As someone who works in the law I do think it’s totally fair. If OP has been billed for the time but not received the service, it would be fair to ask for that money back.

Sounds like you said something that set their alarm bells ringing . Perhaps when you corrected that typo … was it a different address to the one you want to use …. which then made them refuse to sign as is their right

Yes. I had a barrister accuse me of blackmail. I didn't ask for money, I just said if we couldn't resolve this ourselves then I'd have to escalate it.

He had a strop, accused me of blackmail (and other offences including breaching GDPR if I shared my evidence with the BSB/Ombudsman!), and then (as he legally has to) promptly gave me the details of how to escalate... Ludicrous.

The only difference is barristers are self employed with no 'boss' so if they have this kind of arrogant personality, they have little oversight and more freedom to go rogue. Bit surprised that a solicitor in a firm (unless they're the boss?) would dare to do this, but I have no doubt that it happens.

But did OP pay the first solicitor? In which case surely it’s a refund not compensation. I didn’t get the impression she had.

And? Post escalation what happened?

Good grief OP, the SRA are not going to care at all that your appointment was a bit late and that the solicitors were not content to witness a deed poll when they had concerns. Demanding money back for your time is utterly insane, and the Chat got is ridiculous and will not give any solicitor the heebies. In fact, it will just annoy them to have to read such nonsense. Likewise the ICO is not going to be involved in a matter where you are continuing to contact the very people you demand remove your details - how will that work? Let alone their obligations to hold retain records for legal purposes.

If you haven't already sent that ChatGPT ramble - don't.

I'm confused as to why you asked for £150 specifically. Was that the price of the service? Why didn't you just ask for a refund?

Payment on account, especially for this type of work, is quite normal - a file would have to be opened, ID given, AML checks done. I’d be surprised if any solicitor was charging less than £150 though, which is a red flag to me.

You wrote a review, you asked for compensation. It doesn’t matter if you did it in sequence or together. Your whole response to this issue is out of proportion so in response the solicitor has gone nuclear but you started it and you insist on stoking it with a person whose professional job is to work in this context and escalate or deescalate depending on what a situation requires.

Totally agree.
You sound like a nightmare client OP.

I can completely believe this. Solicitors are just people like everyone else, and some of them throw their weight around. They don't always act as professionally as they should. Sounds like he's trying to scare you into taking the review down.

I wouldn't necessarily bet on that. There are one or two strange solicitors around. Just have a look at the SRA's accounts of professional conduct investigations.

You’re missing the point. The SRA are absolutely going to care that a solicitor accused a client of fraud and blackmail.

That was kind of my point (that’ll teach me to try and multi-task!) - they can (and will) follow this up at no cost to them so they’re not losing anything here - OP, on the other hand, could find herself in a a lot of trouble.