Can solicitor change from fixed price fee to charging me per six minute chunks?

[doobyooby]

Hi
I instructed a solicitor on the basis of a fixed price package but terminated instructions due to the fact that it turned out that wasn't in my best interests to pursue the path they had advised me to.
They acknowledged they needed to refund me, not least the pre paid court fees (which they had not applied for so hadn't paid out but I had pre paid them in advance). Now, the solicitor has issued me a credit note on the fixed package in full (ie a full refund on that) and then has instead billed me for all the work done on my case in six minute segments. This new invoice is much more expensive than the previous agreed set fee, so they've decided to use the pre paid court fees to claw back the money , ie, my refund is now not even at the level of what the prepaid court fees were.
There is nothing in their terms of business to say they can do this.
Does anyone know where I stand? Can they change it from fixed fee to charging per six minute segments in the event of termination of instructions? As it stands at the moment, I'm not even getting my court fees back.
Thanks for your help.

How do you expect them to charge you for the work they've done?

What does your written contract with them say? If it says they can do this, they can. If not, they cannot.

A written complaint might be in order, they should have refunded a proportion dependent upon how far the litigation had proceeded. If not resolved to your satisfaction you can either sue on the small claims track or use the legal ombudsman.

I don’t think they can agree a fee, then cancel the contract and bill you in a more expensive manner. Ask a different solicitor?

Is the work part-finished?

The fixed fee will have been for the entirety of the work from start to finish. You terminated that, so they have refunded you that price as the fee is no longer relevant (since it applied to a package of work), and instead they are charging for the work done, presumably at their standard rate.

They can't give you a pro-rata refund as unless they gave you a breakdown for each step, that's probably not how the fee was calculated and therefore they'd be pulling a number out of thing air with no way to correctly justify it.

The 6minute chunks are known as 'units' and are how normal, hourly rate work is charged. They're generally more expensive especially if you aren't on negotiates rates which is why fixed fees are used.

Is there a disclaimer type clause in the engagement letter stating that the fixed fee is only applicable if your instructions don't change and if they do you will be charged at their standard rates?

You should have received their complaints procedure so by all means take it up with them that way and at the very least you should get a clear response.

I don’t think they can agree a fee, then cancel the contract and bill you in a more expensive manner

They didn't cancel the contract. The OP did. The solicitors are therefore unable to collect the full fee as they have not done all the work, but they are charging for the work they have actually done.

Some solicitors are clear in their standard Terms of Business or their engagement letter that cancellation of a fixed fee engagement by the client will lead to them being charged for any work carried out at the solicitor's standard rate.

It is perfectly reasonable for a lawyer to do this - fixed fees are based on a) paying the full fee upfront, b) being certain of the amount of work involved (as far as the lawyer can be) and c) completing all the agreed work for the fee. The fees are cheaper due to the lawyer having certainty that they are going to be paid in full before the work begins and that they know how many hours they have to allocate to the work.

It would be a very foolhardy lawyer who did not include a clause in their client care letter relating to cancellation of instructions and how work undertaken thus far will be re-calculated. Double check that client care letter - it'll be in there somewhere.

As a PP says, they can if it’s in the written contract between you.

You should have a client care letter, terms of business and a damages based agreement/no win no fee agreement.

Usually there is a termination clause in the DBA dealing with this scenario. We would charge in units if a client cancelled the DBA without proper cause.

However, if they didn’t send you a DBA or other appropriate document, they can’t do this.

I generally cap my hourly rates charge at the full fixed fee when this happens, but I don't believe I have to.

Thanks for all your messages about this.

I had to terminate their instructions because it turned out that they had given me fundamentally incorrect information to start with in the initial free session ; had I been given the correct Info at the start they wouldn't have been instructed at all because it now means that their proposed course of action isn't in my best interests. The false info is written in their own client care letter, so can be proven, even though they've now denied all knowledge and are blaming me for not finding out the info for myself as well.

I have found that section 17.5 of the account rules of the SRA state that an agreed fee can't be varied upwards under any circumstances, and isn't dependent on the work being completed. Does this SRA account rule not apply in this case? I would like to quote it and use it if it does, but maybe not as some of you have mentioned this is how you would bill if you agreed fee was cancelled by the client??

I have triple checked the client care letter and the terms of business letter. There is nothing in either that mentions anything such as that they reserve the right to charge in timed units should I cancel the agreed fee work. There is no mention of it at all in any context. Does this mean that they definitely cannot do what they they have done, which is to cancel the agreed fee and bill me more via hourly/unit charging?

17.5 defines what is meant by an "agreed fee" and is about which account such a fee must be paid into. Note that, according to 17.5, an agreed fee is not dependent on the transaction being completed, so, if you had an agreed fee, you would be liable for the full amount even though you have withdrawn your instructions.

Take all the documentation you have to CAB and see what they make of it.

If they gave you incorrect advice then you need to submit a complaint (which is a separate issue but if they were negligent in their advice, you may well get a fee reduction anyway).

Are they a small firm?

@MrsPinkCock yes they are. I have submitted a complaint. They denied everything, even stuff which is evidenced in writing from them. And in response they issued a credit note for the fixed fee and instead issued an invoice with unit charging, which was more expensive.

I do find that very strange

@Aridane so do I

Unfortunately small firms don’t tend to operate as they should in a lot of cases.

If you’ve exhausted their internal complaints procedure then the next step is to contact the legal ombudsman.