Client receives £23k refund from former solicitors

We are pleased to say that, after a year long dispute, we have this week been able to send a payment of £23,000 to our client representing the amount by which he had been overcharged by his former solicitors, along with an element of compensation for damages and distress.

The client ran a successful family business which had become involved in litigation. The solicitors failed to provide an initial costs estimate, gave generally poor service, acted negligently and charged the client for all work done to put right the effects of their own negligence.

Although he had expressed concerns about the costs, he had acted quite properly - raising money to pay the solicitors bills as and when they were raised, even though that caused severe financial pressure on the business, and acute personal stress. By the time the case reached us the solicitors had billed £83,000, of which the client had already paid £70,000. 

Rather than paying the outstanding £13,000, which has now been written off, the client has a cheque for £23,000 and at least some measure of comfort that the stress that his solicitors quite needlessly put him through has been acknowledged. There is no deduction in respect of our fees, all of which are met by the solicitors.

What is particularly pleasing about the outcome is that, at the outset, the solicitors expressed a quite trenchant view that they had done nothing wrong, and that in any event there was only limited entitlement to assessment because they had delivered what they believed (wrongly) to be interim statute bills.

there was always the air of calm, confident,clear explanations from you about everything you did and have done for us. I can certainly say you played a very big part in de-stressing me on many, many occasions!!

Mr.N. (client)