Ripped off by solicitor???????

[caron1968]

Last year I was involved in a road rage incident. I was assaulted and guilty party was convicted of the offence. I, according to the CPS not the police, was charged with a section 5 offence because of my defensive behaviour.
I employed a solicitor who advised me by phone to ask for an adjournment and get the prosecution papers which I duly did. I took the papers to the solicitor who in 15 minutes gave me advice, I duly instructed him to represent me at the next court appearance.
I arrived at court and sat in the waiting room for one and a half hours waiting to see my solicitor who I was informed was one of the other solicitors from the practice. Eventually the solicitor for the prosecution came out and told me that after a phone call and some emails all charges were to be dropped.

Obviously I was very relieved but AIBU in thinking that paying £600 was a bit steep?

I have never received any written confirmation from the solicitors and never got an itemised bill.

I feel as though I was right royally ripped off.

• goes to check if practicing certificate is real or printed off dodgy website.

Quick question, do you have legal coverage with your home insurance? I know we have some kind of legal coverage, not sure if it would apply for your situation or not. Could be worth checking!

Er yes, there is a limit, but £600 for wrapping up a mags court case is nowhere near that limit.

Solicitors who charge an hourly rate set that out in advance. If you don't like that rate then go elsewhere. Once the rate is set, the end bill is a simple calculation of how long the work takes.

There is a limit to how much that hourly rate can realistically be, but the final bill has no point beyond which it is "no longer commensurate" with the solicitor's skills as how long a case takes doesn't necessarily depend on the those skills. The bill might no longer be commensurate with the end result, but that is a judgement call for you to make based upon how much you want that result.

You should also bear in mind that the vast majority of criminal practices are a million miles removed from the "fat cat" stereotype as most of their work is legal aid. I am a partner in a small firm and a high court advocate and have lectured in a particular area, so fairly highly qualified. The vast majority of my daily work brings in an hourly rate for my firm which is considerably lower than the minimum wage. It is highly likely that my firm will have to give up criminal work and focus on our smaller civil department in the near future as we are struggling to pay our rent and salaries on the ridiculously low legal aid rates. The legal aid board also "forget" to make monthly payments every now and again which means we have no cash flow and have to grovel to our bank manager.

So premiership footballers? [hollow laugh]

Oh and if it makes you feel better, OP, my friend was charged the best part of two grand for a low level motoring offence and still finished up with a huge fine and a lengthy ban.

We would have charged about £400 so clearly shopping around is sensible. You don't necessarily get better service for more money when it comes to criminal law - you might be better off with the little, tatty office above the pound shop than the shiny high-street frontage, simply because the people who are willing to keep on at the coal face in the low-income firm are the ones who have a genuine love for their work and are likely to be in court day in, day out, keeping their skills up to date and active.

The average rate paid on legal aid is less than a plumber is paid. Even less as they have moved to fixed payments regardless of time worked. Oh and a plumber would round up to the nearest hour. A solicitor would round up to the nearest 6 minutes.

Out of the £40 quid an hour the solicitor has to pay for rent, rates, heat, professional indemnity insurance (really really expensive nowadays) Employers liability insurance, all IT costs, secretarial costs etc etc etc. They need to pay registration fees and pay for their annual CPD upkeep. So for jobs like yours OP it would be a) research, b) getting access to prosecution material c) draft a skeleton argument d) initial pre-trial discussion with CPS. £600 quid - i think you did very well indeed. Pay them, thank them for achieving the result you required and move on.

Or of course you could refuse to pay - get taken to court by a law firm experienced in going to court, subsequently lose the case, have a court order put against you and kiss goodbye to any firm in your town ever representing you again oh and your credit rating.

As for commensurate with their skill - what value do you put on it? I mean its only a criminal record, it only a suspended sentence, it might only be a community order, it might only be a big red mark on a CRB. I mean, £600 - oooh the cheek. Your liberty is worth much less isnt it??

The OP would have had a Client Care Letter right at the start of the matter, setting out fees etc, which she'd have had to sign and return before work started. I did ask her what fee estimate that gave, but she didn't answer.

Sadly, I've had more than one client who have happily signed the letter, had the result they wanted, in the time I estimated at the fee I estimated, and they still complain. Getting more common, sadly.

Were you not given a Terms of Business Letter which would have estimated a fee or given an hourly rate. (speaking from Scots law perspective) Ask for a breakdown of the fee but even if you think it is unreasonable you may well have no choice but to pay it. If you don't they will sue you and you will end up paying their fee plus expenses of the court case :(

Kungfu and voice of no reason ar so right. I luffs them. I work myself into the ground for sod all. Because I love what I do and believe in it. Hate private clients. Demanding, never say thank you. Ugh.

If the case was withdrawn which it sounds like it was then your solicitor should have asked for a Defence Costs Order from Central Funds - basic practice to cover their costs. You shouldn't have to pay them. Depending on when case was concluded they could still do it.

HTH

Dexter - the OP won't have been charged any court costs as not convicted.