Insulted by my own solicitor!

MelCork

I had a disagreement/discussion on telephone approximately 3 months ago with the solicitor who is handling contracts for a house that I hope to purchase. Being unable to get his attention or answers to my queries to him, I mentioned to his secretary that I felt I was being treated in an offhand manner, and lo and behold he was on the telephone within 10 minutes. By the end of the call he had resolved my concerns and I believed all parties were happy. I was in no way rude towards him during the call, and thanked him for his time at the end.

I visited his office this afternoon to sign the contracts, and while he flicked through the file I spotted a print-out where it would seem he documented the telephone call and described me in a personal and most unflattering manner. He was flicking, and the file was faced towards him, but reading upsidedown text isn't the most difficult thing in the world, and I definitely read correctly. I am needless to say most unhappy about it... I am supposed to be his client, and he has spent his time writing childish insults about me in his files!

I am so disappointed about what I observed, that it has really ruined what should have been a great day!

How should I handle this information if indeed I should do anything with it? He is not aware that I saw this, unless he was so clued in as to interpret the sudden change of temperature in his office...

He's just being cautious in case there is some difficulty between you and you start running off to the Law Society or threatening to sue him. He'll have his record saying you, and not he, was the unreasonable one.

Don't take it too personally, he's just covering his ass. Letting you see itseems pretty stupid though. If you feel strong enough, speak to him about it or even take your file elsewhere. Don't get too consumed by it either way.

is_that_so

House buying can be pretty stressful and sometimes we can get a bit caught up in the whole thing. I am inclined to agree that he just documented it for his own reference.The solicitor I used was fine but I probably wouldn't use him again. Don't take it too personally and just focus on what you're trying to do, pay him his money and bid him adieu.

JeanClaude

Deleted User wrote:

Letting you see it seems pretty stupid though.

Maybe just maybe, he wanted the OP to see it...:D
Just a thought, but maybe he was hoping that the OP would take insult, and also their business elsewhere....again just a thought..;)

tbh

in a couple of weeks you'll have your house and you can forget all about it. There are some fights worth fighting, this wouldn't be one for me.

MelCork

the documenting of the call would seem prudent, and comes as no surprise to me; in my line of work we would follow up all telephone conversations with an email to confirm what was agreed - however, the matter was very trivial, simply requiring a clarification of the workflow involved in a house purchase really, and i thought the description of me was both unnecessary and unprofessional. i wasn't being unreasonable in any way, and i can't imagine how it could ever be acceptable to write what i saw in a formal record... i can't decide whether or not i was intended to see it; i don't think though that he left the page open long enough for it to be deliberate.
i suppose my main concern is that this might sway his attention to detail on the case - he has obviously taken a personal dislike to me.
would it be worth it to let him know that i saw the note and that i expect the rest of his duties to be carried out entirely professionally?

MelCork

00112984 wrote:

Off topic-ish but are the solicitor's initials JB? The reason I ask is that I've had to deal with the most unprofessional solicitor lately and he's really caused a lot of hassle.

no, it's someone else. they are a breed of their own...

Zambia

Do not do anything...

I would ask him at the end of your dealings to ask him to send you a letter confirming the house is ready for re-sale ie the contracts are in order, the location of the deeds or any other vital knowledge simply so you can put it with your records.

Then you can be rest assured if you use another solicitor later.

If he does it, thats another thing.

I have a solicitor in Limerick who I use and she is fantastic. Would not use any other.

scuby

some solicitors are so far up their own h*les it's unbelievable... had one come on the phone to me one day giving out about info he was looking for, that i had already sent him and had copies on file and e-mailed to him while talking to him, he started using his solicitor "thesaraus" and i had done a year of law in college so i took him on and threw a few phrases that i though i would never use again.. and it quitened him....
some of them give others a bad name, but there are a few complete langers out there alright.....

antoinolachtnai

Do try and be charitable. Maybe this guy was having a bad day. Maybe he scribbled down some stupid stuff. You got the job done in the end. Who cares?

If you don't want to engage him again in the future, don't.

Gran Hermano

Wait until all your transactions are completed and then ask for a copy
of all notes/correspondence they have on you under the Data Protection
Act. Depending on whether he has the cojones to include what you spotted
on your file I'd seriously consider contacting the Law Society with a complaint.

You could always set up a website like ratemysolicitor.com, oh wait someone
tried that and the old-boys club quickly reacted to the threat of free speech
and feedback from their clients! Worst case scenario for less than 10 euro you
can have him indulge in a couple of hours of admin - which at the hourly rate
they charge will ensure you get value for money

Tails142

Not sure what he said; but I always value other peoples opinions of myself.

Maybe take what he wrote on board; or else grow some skin, who cares what he thinks.

As to whether you should continue business with him, obviously not in the future. However, if changing solictor to conitnue your current business will result in you being further out of pocket just stick with him till you've got it taken care of then part ways.

If it still bothers you after the jobs done, write a note to him letting him know what you think of his service

faceman

Gran Hermano wrote:

Wait until all your transactions are completed and then ask for a copy
of all notes/correspondence they have on you under the Data Protection
Act. Depending on whether he has the cojones to include what you spotted
on your file I'd seriously consider contacting the Law Society with a complaint.

Im sure the solicitor would remove the offending notes before sending the file. A complaint to the law society would be taken seriously regardless.

MelCork

antoinolachtnai wrote:

Do try and be charitable. Maybe this guy was having a bad day. Maybe he scribbled down some stupid stuff. You got the job done in the end. Who cares?

If you don't want to engage him again in the future, don't.

charitable? to a solicitor? don't make me laugh!
point being that the job isn't finished and done yet - siging contracts is far from the end of the purchase process. i wouldn't touch his practice with a barge pole in future.

Gran Hermano wrote:

Wait until all your transactions are completed and then ask for a copy
of all notes/correspondence they have on you under the Data Protection
Act. Depending on whether he has the cojones to include what you spotted
on your file I'd seriously consider contacting the Law Society with a complaint.

You could always set up a website like ratemysolicitor.com, oh wait someone
tried that and the old-boys club quickly reacted to the threat of free speech
and feedback from their clients! Worst case scenario for less than 10 euro you
can have him indulge in a couple of hours of admin - which at the hourly rate
they charge will ensure you get value for money.

To be honest, I'm not that bothered at this stage by what I saw, I know myself well enough to know that it's not true in any case. That website is still actually active - you just have to know where to look for it.

Tails142 wrote:

Not sure what he said; but I always value other peoples opinions of myself.

Maybe take what he wrote on board; or else grow some skin, who cares what he thinks.

As to whether you should continue business with him, obviously not in the future. However, if changing solictor to conitnue your current business will result in you being further out of pocket just stick with him till you've got it taken care of then part ways.

If it still bothers you after the jobs done, write a note to him letting him know what you think of his service

Valuing other people's opinions doesn't mean they are correct opinions. I think he will have a different one following the meeting anyway. I don't care what he (or anyone else) thinks of me - but to write it down on a formal record is something different entirely. I would have taken my business elsewhere immediately following our original disagreement other than I would have had to pay him regardless. I would not give him that satisfaction.

The latest correspondence from him is that along with balance of purchase price 7 days before sale closes, he wants to be paid in full. Is that normal practice? It hasn't been in any other dealings I've had with solicitors - you pay when job is done. I'm considering paying 50% when he wants and the other 50% on receipt of letter confirming that the job is complete per Zambia's message below.

I'm so sorry I chose this guy...

SimpleSam06

MelCork wrote:

That website is still actually active - you just have to know where to look for it.

Yup, here it is. Mods feel free to delete if you're worried about some sort of violation... They are pulling some weird shenanigans with the domain name however, its hard to link to.

Gran Hermano

Gran Hermano wrote:

You could always set up a website like ratemysolicitor.com, oh wait someone
tried that and the old-boys club quickly reacted to the threat of free speech
and feedback from their clients!

You mean the site where a Solicitor can seek to destroy a rival's reputation or some nutter can wage some war while hiding behind a handle? There is no ban on free speech, but there is on defamation when the defamer refuses to be identified and cannot be traced.

As for 'old boy's club', who would you have had decide the issue if not the High Court?