Transferring Solicitor on legal aid certificate

[Ilovepoppets]

Hi All,
Please can someone advise how hard it is to transfer legal aid if there is a breakdown in communication between Solicitor and Client and a succession of bad advice has been given?
I now find myself needing a specialist domestic abuse solicitor, I have just spoken to a firm who said they can help me with transferring my legal aid.
How would I go about this, would I need the Court's permission? Will I be able to achieve representation with the new firm by January when my next hearing is?
Stressed.

The new firm applies to the LAA to transfer. The old firm hands over the papers when the certificate is transferred.

The Court has no say.

Should be done by Xmas if they crack on.

@MrsBertBibby why am I reading online that you need to seek permission of the Court to transfer legal aid? is this if the current firm oppose?

@MrsBertBibby

The new firm applies to the LAA to transfer. The old firm hands over the papers when the certificate is transferred.

The Court has no say.

Should be done by Xmas if they crack on.

This is correct. MrsBertBibby is a family law solicitor, as am I.

Wherever you have seen it online is wrong. This message board, for instance, has plenty of lay people confidently pronouncing law or procedure and getting it wrong.

Thank you that's good to know.. I will be speaking to a new solicitor on Monday as I've lost complete confidence in my current solicitor, I've been advised really badly..
Can I ask a question, i know that a solicitor cannot withhold information, however there is some information that will potentially put me in a grave situation of unsafety, is my current or new solicitor obliged to disclose this?

That depends entirely on the nature of the information and who you want to withhold it from.

Solicitors can only very rarely disclose information without your consent, by the way. They cannot, however, allow you to mislead the Court. I have had to withdraw from cases before, for this reason, because I could not allow the court to be misled but also could not breach my client's confidentiality.

Its information pertaining to my ex partner that's going to lead to his eventual arrest. There's an investigation underway at the moment. I've lost a lot of faith in my solicitor and our relationship is almost at a communicative breakdown. I need someone more specialised in domestic abuse, I've been recommended a particular. One by women's aid when I spoke with them yesterday all they said they needed to do was transfer the certificate over.