Solicitor Bill

[Sparkle1965]

Hi wondered if anyone could give me a little advice please, pretty yucky situation but was trying to sell my flat, the process went on for over 7 months when it was quite a straight forward sale.
my solicitor kept coming up with extremely bizarre demands and requests from the buyer which was bizarre.
It became overwhelming so had to withdraw.
4 months later I receive a bill for £1.5k for their work.
I totally understand I will have to pay but the bill seems excessive.
I politely asked to have a breakdown of the bill and was sent a very generic response.
i said that it hasn’t alleviated my concerns and politely asked for the companies complaints procedure no angst or anger just a polite email.
I have subsequently received an email from the senior partner very late Thursday evening and it is horrendous and insulting and filled with her assumptions about me!
I have never met this lady and politely replied I have not yet filed a complaint, the barrage seems bizarre and I had to double check it wasn’t a scam email initially.
Are they allowed to do this and I’ve been so worried about it every since and feel frightened to complain now and just want to just pay and put my concerns aside.
Just a bit of advice please would be so much appreciated.
many thanks

@Sparkle1965 the response from the senior partner is not acceptable.

WRT the £1,500, sadly your buyer has driven up the cost. They usually bill in 6 minute blocks and charge VAT. A solicitor charging an hourly rate of £350 + VAT = £420 an hour.

£1,500 is about 3.5 hours work; does that seem reasonable based on the time taken to read your buyers requests, communicate with you and then respond in writing back to your buyer?

The reality is no one works for free and legal costs mount up very quickly. Unless you have real doubts the costs are fair, I would pay.

The senior partners response was unacceptable. I see no reason why a letter to the senior partner saying just that would not be unreasonable.

£1,500 is about 3.5 hours work; does that seem reasonable based on the time taken to read your buyers requests, communicate with you and then respond in writing back to your buyer?

seems quite reasonable to me

Thank you for the replies - I think it was just the fact of being polite and asking for a breakdown of costs and to be met with such a barrage.
I totally accept their work but I had around 3 emails in the months and was constantly ignored so I think possibly why I was baffled at the cost!
Thankyou for taking the time to reply appreciate it.

@Sparkle1965 I completely understand why you were baffled by the hostile response. I think this is a separate issue to your enquiry about costs.

Explaining the breakdown of costs and providing details of the complaints procedure are both perfectly reasonable things to ask.

I suspect they may get a lot of people questioning fees and instead of following good practice to sleep on an email written in frustration they sent it.

What concerns did you have about the bill? 1.5k for most of the conveyancing process sounds completely fair. Asking their complaints process after such a simple interaction probably came across really badly.

You should have had a written costs estimate in advance of you giving them instructions to act, and I’m pretty sure they can’t pursue you for their costs if this wasn’t done. If at any time during the transaction they thought that their costs would exceed their estimate, they should have let you know, in writing.
They should also have informed you of what would happen in the event that the matter did not proceed.
However, your comments about their requests for information being bizarre seem to suggest that communication between you was not good. If the buyer raised questions, they would need to pass these on to you, so if the questions were bizarre, that’s maybe down to the buyers solicitors, and not your solicitor.
It’s not Ok for them to harass or insult you when chasing their costs, and I wonder if their costs are in fact legitimate, as they seem like they are not compliant with professional requirements, if this bill is such a shock to you.
Did they give you costs estimate at the outset?

Thanks again for your advice, they are absolutely spot on with views. I know I have come across as though I just slammed in a complaint but I didn’t I just asked for a breakdown that was all and got a reply saying “perusing documents”and if I’m not happy they have a complaints procedure so when I asked I got told off by the senior partner! I think just a bad experience and perhaps note to self is not to challenge a solicitor bill!! onwards and upwards but thanks again taking time to reply

But it seems as though you think 1.5k isn’t a fair price, but if 7 months of conveyancing has occurred I’m not really sure how you can take that stance. Surely they will have carried out almost the full workload involved in the house sale?

DelphiniumBlue you have hit the nail on the head! The bizarre requests were so outlandish I did try and challenge but was blanked so that’s why it’s seems such a lot of money for basically 3 emails! (Although yes lengthy email like lists with the buyers demands) so maybe took time to write them? Who knows but just a yucky experience.

IAAL - I bill in 6 min increments (peers often bill in 15 mins blocks!) and for every block of time I record. I have to write a narrative of what I did. Sometimes it’s “email to X about Y” but there should always be a description.

Thankyou Sophiewoo I totally get what you mean and I really appreciate your advice, that’s the thing I was stunned after 7 months so hence my bewilderment at the bill, I would happily pay for something I can understand but I just don’t, but I think it’s a rubbish situation and just pay to stop the anxiety and use another company next time just an unfortunate experience which I can see now.

You are so correct! it’s exactly what I thought but was doubting myself ! I’ve been so polite all the way (probably a bit naive as well!) Thanks again

OP - ask for a breakdown of time spent, and in particular ask for a copy of their time recording data. As posted above, they should have a computerised time recording system under which every scrap of work was recorded.

They won’t have answered 3 emails though, I’m not sure why you repeat this.
They will have sorted your documents to set up the account, reviewed your TA6 and TA10 forms, reviewed and responded to the buyers initial searches and enquiries, and then responded to the ongoing enquiries of which it sounds like there were loads. Your seller is the one who drafts the contract for the sale.
If the buyer was coming up with bizarre requests i’m not sure why you’re blaming your solicitor?

Conveyancing isn’t normally billed in increments, it’s fixed fee so no time recording system is used. You should have been sent details of their fees at the outset. Anything that needs to be added (rare in a sale apart from payments to third parties) should have been notified to you at the time.
The solicitor should have recorded everything they did on their file, so it’s then a case of judging how much work was done from the initial quote.

Sorry your buyer was the one raising the questions I mean.

Again thanks Sophie - all good and much needed advice - I’ve have taken the advice and some brilliant people have given me some really helpful info.
so sorry Sophie if I have offended you by repeating myself - was only looking for advice as yes I know I have already said!
all a bit new to me hence asking for advice!
hope that’s ok Sophiewoo.

What was the original quote you were given for conveyancing?

In future get a quotation from them for a fixed price. In the event it is more complex they should tell you in advance and review their fees.

It’s all ok - no worries