How to make a professional negligence claim against a firm of solicitors

[Jewellery10]

Does anyone have any advice as to how to go about making a professional negligence claim against a firm of solicitors?

The solicitors appear to have distributed the assets of a late person's estate contrary to the instructions given in the will.

A formal complaint has been raised by an excluded beneficiary to the solicitors about the matter, but they will not respond to any requests for information, or accept the complaint.

The solicitors just keep telling the beneficiary to seek independent legal advice.

What if the beneficiary cannot afford to seek independent advice, knowing that solicitors charge £200-£300 +VAT hourly rate, and does not have any legal cover insurance?

What steps can the beneficiary take as a private individual?

Any guidance appreciated.

If they are not the client they cannot use the solicitor’s internal complaints process. Presumably they have already written to the partners. Have they seen the will? The Law Society might be worth contacting for advice.

As @LIZS said - they cannot raise an internal complaint as they are not the client. My local solicitors offer an initial free first consultation on this area of law - I suggest the beneficiary sees if he can find a practice offering the same in their area: https://www.dwharris.co.uk/site/services/dispute-resolution/professional-negligence-solicitors/ The Law Society has a finder search function on their website: https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk

I’d contact the Legal Ombudsman, they gave me excellent advice on how to proceed

You need a contentious probate solicitor. You may get the first hour consultation free to see if it's worth pursing, as a PP has said.

Is it just your opinion that the estate was distributed incorrectly? Do you happen to have the wording of the relevant gift in the Will to hand? A bit of background would be useful. Firms receive an awful lot of complaints about Wills by people who felt they should be beneficiaries but aren't. Professional negligence may of course be a factor.

The legal ombudsman, they were brilliant with me when my law firm left me high and stranded at the divorce court and then asked me for another £7K for doing nothing. One letter was all it took.