Solicitors query

[Notsleptin2wholegoddamnyears]

I am currently going through solicitors regarding my ex partners contact to our child, my ex has previously had a solicitor but has now run out of funds to pay so is liaising with my solicitor direct. I knew my ex did not have the funds to facilitate a solicitor long term and I did discuss this with my solicitor who informed me who would have to contact her direct to pursue the case, which he has done. I now can’t stop thinking about this as how is it fair that I am paying my solicitor to act on my behalf but he can continue free of charge? Am I now being charged for his phone calls and emails to her?
I am confused by this and do not feel I should be funding his part of the case, I am not responsible for the situation.

You would be charged for his solicitor's calls and letters to yours in any case.

You are paying for your solicitor's work on your behalf, not on his behalf.

It just doesn’t seem right that he can continue without charge. He has made my life so difficult and has fought me the whole way and been horrendously unreasonable but can now just continue to liaise with my solicitor and I have to foot the bill.

If he was using a solicitor, they would contact yours and your solicitor would charge you for the time they spent talking/reading emails etc.

So this change shouldn’t really increase your costs.

You will now be charged for time spent liaising with him. You would previously have been charged for time spent liaising with his solicitor. It should be about the same, although some litigants in person can be hard work and take more time to deal with.

Eurochick......this is my concern, he is an incredibly difficult person to deal with, hence why I have had to take legal action in the first place. He is an abuser and has harassed me for months, I am concerned he will now bombard my solicitor with communication that I will have to fund. It just doesn’t sit right for me!

It’s a dirty move but I am now tempted to close the case with my solicitor as I know he can’t afford to proceed and he would have to take me to court, which I would welcome as there are safeguarding concerns regarding the child, he is only being offered supervised contact in a contact centre with a view for him to start court proceedings anyway.

If you don't use a solicitor, he will have to deal with you direct though. You'd save on solicitors bills, but it would be more stressful.

I generally don't charge my client for mass letters in, when I have a litigant in person like this to deal with (and I have 2 or 3 absolute horrors to contend with just now) but that's up to the lawyer. Talk to your solicitor about it.

So i really just need to swallow my bitter bill and crack on? I’m not even going to argue that I am incredibly bitter, this man has made my life hell for the last 7 months but all along my only concern has been the welfare of my child....which I need to keep at the forefront of my mind.

I think you should talk to your solicitor about managing the new situation.

Good luck!

It's difficult. If (and we don't know if he is) might be bombarding the solicitor with emails in which case the solicitor sometimes can write to him saying they will limit their reply to X or they will not be responding on 99 of the 100 points or whatever - just making it clear what their limits are on the time they will spend on it. Or you could take it over from the solicitors and then only refer back to them when you have a precise point to deal with.

If he is not likely to go to court but is just threatening it you could certainly call his bluff, get your solicitor to say all communications to be sent to you from now on and see what happens.

The problem is he is not allowed to make contact with me direct due to harassment issues, he has been warned by the police and my solicitor that all communication must be done via solicitors. He continues to contact me direct despite numerous warnings not to and now he is liaising with my solicitor direct, he is a nasty piece of work and it is all about control over me.

But he is self representing. You can also do that if you want. You don’t have to pay for a solicitor if you don’t want one. An I don’t understand why you think you are paying for him-he’s not receiving any legal advice.

This is a man who emotionally abused both me and my child for years, I’m 7 months pregnant with his second child (stupidly accidental) a few weeks after I found out I was pregnant I discovered he had been sleeping with someone else. He has made my life hell throughout the pregnancy, constant harassment, bizarre behaviour, stalking/watching me, horrendous difficulty in facilitating child contact, hence why solicitors became involved (he requested I give him 10k for him to walk away from our son), he has just proposed to my solicitor that he be present at the baby’s birth! And after 7 months of complete disregard for mine or unborn child’s welfare is now requesting updates on the pregnancy.
How the hell im meant to handle a man like him I do not know!