Anyone any experience of dealing with SRA and reporting a solicitors behaviour ?

[peridito]

I'm beginning to wonder if they are even bothering to read the content of the emails I send in reply to their requests .

They never respond to any of my queries ( eg why can't document X be considered when the submitting solicitor has confirmed in email that this was the doc sent to court ? ) and their latest reply is almost entirely devoted to querying an accusation ( that we have not received payment ) which we not only have never made but in all our communications with them have clearly explained that we have received .

They seem to be keen to completely ignore why we are contacting them - to draw their attention to the actions of a solicitor .

They dismiss the incorrectly completed ( by which I mean ticking a box to indicate that something doesn't exist ,when we have shown that it does ) forms submitted to UK gov depts because they "don't show intent " . Even though we have shown that this wasn't a one off error and given other examples of the same error/action .

Are they normally like this ? I feel I am just banging my head against a brick wall .

Could our case have been assigned to a very inexperienced person ? Is there any way we could ask for someone else to look at it ?

I am really worried that they will soon just dismiss the whole thing because they feel they've spent enough time on it .

I guess there are solicitors on here who could be in a position to comment but may think I'm out to get one of theirs out of spite or a missplaced sense of entitelment .

I'm really not .

Any thoughts from anyone ?

@mumblechum1 if you're still around ,you know the details of what happened ( couple of years ago ,deathbed will etc ) ,tho you won't recognise my current username .

The SRA are completely useless at investigating complaints - and I've seen that work against solicitors too. If there's any inherent bias it's against those that they regulate.

I sympathise entirely with your frustration. Is there any way in which you can pursue your claim against the solicitors through the court by way of a claim for compensation? The SRA tends to investigate matters of professional conduct rather than negligent handling of a file. How long ago did you make your complaint?

Thanks for replying Collaborate .

It is a question of conduct in a solicitors personal life as a sole executor .
We made the complaint 3 months ago .

I was just shocked by the latest response the body of which concentrated on trying to refute a supposed claim of not receiving money when we had said 3 times that we had .

What has their personal life got to do with their professional life? I don't get the connection. Are you complaining of an act of dishonesty?

Yes ,dishonesty in a fiduciary role .

I think some actions in personal life do have implications for a solicitors professional life
www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/handbookprinciples/content.page item 5

Or have I missunderstood ? Quite possible

That would count. But what is the dishonesty you're alleging?

Collaborate I have PM'd you .

I have reported to SRA before. Took months and in one case over a year for a resolution. Understaffed.

Thank you giveortake ,that's helpful .

I can work with a long time scale and can understand lack of staff .

It was the fixation with refuting a claim we hadn't made and lack of acknowledgement of ones we had ,that worried me .

I suppose if you're inundated and trying to get through stuff errors/missunderstandings arise . Perhaps the staff are also unpaid interns ...

I reported a solicitor to the firm as similar reasons total incompetence and unprofessional. It really makes my blood boil, the firm just covered her back. They all cover for each other because it is not regulated properly. They can get away with pretty much anything as it stands. It is wrong but sometimes for your own sake you have to pick your battles. :(

kattyscatty your situation sounds a little different from mine as the solicitor in question had acted incorrectly in private life ,not in a client/solicitor role .

As it happens responses from the SRA have suddenly changed in their tone - advising of time scales ,offering explanations of procedures and next steps .Which is v welcome and much appreciated .

Very good. Good luck with it hope it is a good outcome. :)

They don't quite get away with anything. They get jailed, fined and all sorts actually fairly regularly and struck off and banned from practice.

Suppose it's just my experience I guess...like anything some good ones, some bad eggs.

@Kattyscatty & @Giveortakeafew was yours a divorce case at all - I am making a complaint against my legal representation and know of a couple of others who have been appalled by legal representation but got nowhere with SRA. We feel that women are being taken advantage of when vulnerable by legals focusing on £££ rather than clients best interests and want to take this somewhere - looking for others that have had bad experience

@greenberet no it was CAO. were you/they getting any Legal aid ? I didn't know whether my poor treatment from them had something to do with that or whether they are like that with paying clients too. I had been thinking about complaning to the SRA about my case as when I complained to the firm all I got was the partner covering solicitors back even though I had email evidence of their dishonesty. But can't believe the bad things I have heard about SRA too. It's upsetting. Had you made a complaint to the firm before SRA?

Green, very interested in your statement. Just starting this route now, Happy to share thoughts by pm.,

@Kattyscatty - what is CAO? i have made complaint to firm - it was answered by them but i'd already decided i was taking it further and just had to go through process. i wrote to SRA & LO at same time - SRA told me to progress through LO first and get back to them if no joy - im currently with LO - my complaint was not really about my bill but solicitors claiming they have already deducted £000s and LO saying i should accept it - in looking at my account item by item I have been charged for same work twice - and so im also now claiming my account is dishonest and have documentary proof - Katty i have documentary emails of everything else i am complaining about - solicitors have caused me huge financial loss not to mention sale of family home - my x extremely manipulative and i got abused by solicitors too -

@Collaborate - your post is not good to read - i have lost faith in legal system and you are saying only way to put this right is to continue through courts - i believe i have a very strong case and my long standing mental health issues were used against me by solicitors - court has been extremely traumatic - do you know of anyone that has succeeded or is this just taking more money off us with false hopes?

@greenlanes - yes pm me

The powers the SRA have to order compensation are very narrow. If it’s compensation you’re after the LO has wider powers, but it’s with the courts that you’ll find you’ll achieve the best compensation (if you’re entitled to it).
The courts are there to adjudicate on disputes - civil and criminal. It’s what they’re there for.

just one of my issues - my solicitor told my barrister whilst at court that i was highly suspicious - i believe barrister took this on board and it influenced her advise to me - also i have read somewhere else on here re statements not being presented to other party until last minute and this is almost accepted as "the norm" - again i had this happen to me at hearing brought by my ex husband to force sale of family home - i got his statement at court - my solicitor persuaded me to attend alone - said i would do better - i was an emotional wreck - couldnt speak never mind present a good argument against all the lies in X's statement - his barrister with supposed "experience in MH" pummelled me to useless - judge said i was full of vitriol as per that famous case - lost home in 20 minutes - i have been thinking about getting court transcript but is there any point - a barrister i employed for the very last part of my final hearing told me i had an unfair hearing - judge refused to allow appeal - i was too distressed to even consider this at the time and the thought of more ££££ down the drain repulsed me - now though I am beyond doubt that i have been completely taken advantage of on all sides - how do i rectify this and more to the point stop endless further "clients" being ripped off - my solicitors even have a complaint by someone else recorded against them for exactly same thing on here -www.reviewsolicitors.co.uk/oxfordshire/wallingford/hedges-law-limited-16-market-place

seems to count for nothing!

Just finished reading the weekly solicitor magazine and in that as every week of the year there are this week six solicitors disciplines. One lady was ordered to be struck off the rolll i.e. lost her whole career - she did not tell her client to take independent legal advice before the client left money to the solicitor in her will and various things related to that; and 5 men - one suspended as he had been charged with assault - looks like he hit his mother; pme struck off for claiming money from legal aid wrongly; another struck off as he did not pay his money money due to the client; another struck off for supplying a witness statement he knew in part to be untrue and the last one £500,000 fine - they seem to have been conned into an investment scam using their client bank account or something. I just wanted it to be clear that there are measures taken every week (that is against solicitors, if someone is not a solicitor but just is legal consultant that will not be the case so always check for the use of hte word solicitor and if they are Law Society website as a solicitor).

@Collaborate - i thought that was what the courts were there for too - but my experience has left me totally without faith - how can a barrister be used in a case where they are from the judges old chambers - i remember laughing at one point and saying is this rehearsed when barrister questioning x on company for Judges benefit in her understanding -this was a complete instinctive reaction from me as mostly i was too out of it to say anything -ive now learnt this is against conduct - barrister also used in "an ideal world" i would have ££££ in settlement - then tried to get me to accept something as fact which in my view was in "an ideal world" - complete bollocks and the barrister knew he'd caught himself out - except how do i prove this without transcripts - i know someone spent £1000s and still got nowhere - why cant court be uploaded like all other "open and honest" discussions - because maybe they know their proceedings are anything but honest and open and the cost of having to request transcripts puts most people off pursuing - @babybarrister - can you help?

@Xenia - who are you and what is your expertise? i have seen you pop up here frequently

I could say the same back to greenberet - who are you and what is your expertise. I suspect instead most people want to stay anonymous on here.