A solicitor is blackmailing me

[Tanya2011]

I am getting a divorce. My solicitor is blackmailing me. What can I do?

My ex hit me and I have said to my solicitor that I won't hand over our 4 year old for contact without police presence or protection. My solicitor says that he is scared of me and that if I don't agree then ultimately he will get our 4 year old.

Also all this and earlier unrelated problems made me unwell and I am saw a dr and a psychiatrist for a while. Thats done now and I'm going to a depression help group once per week for about six weeks. Thats it and I have told my solicitor. But my solicitor then writes to me and says that I must see a psychiatrist. But I have already followed the medical advice I have received. The solicitor is impossible.

Also for contact, my ex gets our four year old at Christmas every other year until 30th December but when I have him for Christmas its only until the 26th. So at New year, I have him only from 30th whilst my ex has him from 26th December. I tell my solicitor about this and she just writes to me saying that that is what has been ordered and that I cannot agree anything. I said at the time that is was unfair.

Its blackmail. What can I do?

is there a court order saying you have to go for psychiatric interview? If so then you MUST go. they will probably ask for a copy of your doctors notes anyhow as part of the court proceedings.

80k is alot but if you live in the capital and argue alot it can soon run up.

hard to get a real picture on here but if your ex hubby has been having contact in the past and that has all been fine then there is really no reason for that to cease unless he has done something either in front of the DC or to the DC.

i would work with the court and not against. if you are seen to be being awkward it will go against you. if you arent happy handing over your DC then can a friend or a relative do it for you?

if you arent happy with the christmas arrangements then you can ask for a variation of the contact order. i would suggest christmas with one parent then hand over to other for boxing day and then maybe have a couple of days each in between. the one who doesnt have christmas has new year with DC and then it swaps the year after. hope that makes sense.

it is easy to swap solicitors. however, if you have afforded to pay 80k in the past then unless you are on benefits/jobseekers you are unlikely to get legal aid.

Thing is separated parents often make allegations against each other and unless there is evidence from independent professionals such as teachers, social workers or doctors a judge is going to have difficulty choosing between the two versions.

When the court has listened to both sides of a dispute and made an order requiring the child is made available for contact generally it is a good idea to comply. Otherwise you just look unreasonable and that doesn't help the rest of your case.

I agree the solicitor isn't blackmailing, they are advising. A change of residence is one option (there are others) the court has if a parent doesn't comply with court orders.

If you get a psychiatric report which either says that you are well, or are motivated in treatment that would be in your favour.
A Psychiatric report here would be to inform the court about your past history and current state, rather than to make recommendations about your treatment.

There is a court order requiring one further report, I remember that now. I have followed medical advice all along and the psychiatrist says I don't need to go anymore.

Also the psychiatrist told me that he was my treating psychiatrist and he (or any treating psychiatrist) would not be able to be a treating psychiatrist and a reporting psychiatrist at the same time due to patient confidentiality.

So the court order demanding one further report from a treating psychiatrist isn't going to happen.

Also, when I asked another psychiatrist about such a report she said that the court would anyway commission such a report.

So I guess I will need to get a report somehow as its in the court order.

If you don't think its blackmail then fine but I tell my solicitor about everything thats happened and show her all the evidence which she ignores but at the same time she tells me I must do this or that and if not there's trouble for me. I tell you, its blackmail.

Bringinghomethebacon

Under which provision does the solicitor have a duty to continually assess me for legal aid please?

Its not blackmail without coercion,motive,or a secret yielded against you
It is a conflict of opinion

Do you dispute need for psych report?what's your contention?

trouble for you from her? As in SHE will make trouble for you personally

Or trouble for you as in there will be consequences, the court has said this and that or your ex will probably be advised by his lawyer to do such and such etc?

Because if she was blackmailing you, she would be saying things like if you don't get another report, I'm going to go to the judge and say you're not a fit parent and get them to take your child away.

Is that what she is saying?

Or is she saying if you don't cooperate with the rulings the judge will probably order such and such.

There is a HUGE difference between the two.

In common with other lawyers on this thread, this makes no sense to me whatsoever. If you have serious concerns about the quality or impartiality of the advice your solicitor is giving you, you need to follow the firm's complaints procedure and then contact the SRA/legal ombudsman if you are still concerned. Without having gone through the complaints procedure the SRA will not intervene.

It sounds very much to me as if this is a case of you disagreeing with the splicitor's advice and not following the instructions of the court. If your solicitor keeps telling you to get a psych report and it can't be done by your existing psychiatrist, why havent you/your solicitor made arrangements to see someone else? If you persistently refuse to comply with a court order then yes, there could be trouble for you - contempt of court and also a weakening of your position re the child.

As for the fees, that sounds high, but it also sounds as if your solicitor has had to do a lot of work.

You need to change solicitors. Although it may well be that she is just telling you you must comply with the court order, you clearly feel that she did not do her best for you and if that's the case, then your working relationship is over because trust between you has broken down. You don't need the additional stress of fighting your solicitor.

I would make an appointment to see someone else, someone maybe who has been recommended to you and have them have a quick look at the areas where you feel there has been injustice and your chances of a variation.

I get the feeling that she is fed up with your case or even bored by it. It does happen, solicitors are only human, I worked for a large firm for many years and my boss did get hacked off and avoided phone calls etc. Bad behaviour to the paying client yes, but it does happen.

Do beware of any solicitor who says they will "fight" for you and particularly anyone who rubbishes other solicitors. They are generally all bluster and no action when it comes down to it; I know, I fell victim to this myself as when you set out it seems reassuring. It is not good in the long term as this stance makes compromise even more difficult.

You do need to prepare yourself for similar advice, but perhaps delivered to you in a more palatable way.

SierraMadre

I have not refused to comply with any court order so please don't write that.

And I have complained through the firm's complaint procedure but there was no reply. I have complained several times. And I have already complianed to the Family Law Association but their reply was they can't look at a complaint until the case is over! So nothing.

It may seem simple to you to change solicitor. It is not. There is almost no information about solicitors. No assessments, reviews, guidance or ratings. All the webpages look ok. The Law Society will only give out names and numbers, but no help as to which solicitor is appropriate. And legal aid solicitors are now often not taking on new cases or there's a waiting list of months.

So its not as simple as you make it out to be.

If a solicitor is knowingly racking up debts from a client she/he should reasonably know is vulnerable to manipulation (which the psych reports would certainly suggest) then the solicitor is acting improperly and funds can be recovered in such cases - if advice conflicts and the solicitor is not putting a brake on unreasonable actions (such as using the solicitor in a counselling role) or instruction then they are behaving improperly. The SRA will intervene if the firm is using the complaints procedure as a smokescreen.

Sadly, the cases where the costs are racked up to very high levels in family cases are down to the attitude of the parties, not the solicitors.

I've had many cases over the years where the client is on the phone several times a day for ages at a time repeating what they've already said and which I understand, because they just need to keep getting it off their chest.

If it isn't something which requires specific legal advice (and it usually isn't, it's usually a rant about how horrible the other party is), I have been known to tell them that they're wasting my time and therefore their money and they should go out for a drink with a friend and tell them, because at £200 an hour, it would save them an awful lot of money to do that!

Family solicitors generally don't actually want to hear the minutiae of every argument they've had for the last 10 years, they just want to get the important facts and run the case in an effective and cost efficient way for the client.

Mumblechum1

Yes there have been double explanations which expalins some of the cost.

However, if you explain something to the solicitor you expect them to understand and act on it. However this solicitor then writes to me telling me things differently than I have told her, and quite often telling me things that I never told her at all! Sometimes the solicitor denies ever providing the advice, if at a later date, I have additional information backing up what I told her. Then she charges for everything!

Hello bringinghomethebacon

In this instance, the solicitor advised me to give her all my money on the basis that it was the best way forward for the divorce disclosures.

That was June 2011.

She advised me to give her all my money. And she had all the details in my disclosures.

Think the psychiatric assessment may be in order afterall

Please don't think that solicitors don't act in improper, illegal and irrational ways just because it sounds ridiculous - many do as the SRA can testify - all the things mentioned here - transferring money to hide from court, overcharging, denying advice, losing documents, errors of fact in assessments etc etc occur.

PLease OP realise that you have been trying to change at least one or two situations by continuing to bash away at them, when you need to think clearly about what you are trying to achieve and whether these situations achieve it. Giving all your money to a solicitor you clearly don't trust is not going to solve the background situation.

If the solicitor's firm has not responded to a complaint made through their own complaints procedure, I would report this to the Legal Ombudsman. You can discuss your complaint with them and they can help you decide whether to take it forward or not.

Tanya this sounds like a complete nightmare for you, and is no doubt causing you extra stress on top of the divorce and any mental health problems you are already dealing with.
Can I suggest getting some independent advocacy to support you? Have a look at the Mind website, there may also be other groups offering advocacy. Although you are not asking for advocacy directly about your mental health, I would imagine that the advocate would be able to help based on the impact this is all having on your recovery.

It may be that you are so entrenched in this situation that you are no longer seeing things clearly- not a criticism but just a reflection on my own situation once when, looking back, I found it hard to stay rational.
Good luck.