Complain about litigation behaviour of the bank's solicitors

[BankFodder]

If you are one of the tens of thousands who are being delayed and obstructed by sham defences which are being conducted by your bank in response to your bank charges claim, then when you have received your money, complain to the Legal Complaints Service. LCS: Legal Complaints Service home

 

This body is meant to be an independent body. Its records are subject the Freedom of Information Act and they have told me on the telephone that they take a serious view of misuse of the court system to frustrate justice and to otherwise intimidate litigants.

 

It is unclear whether the solicitors are advising their clients to litigate in this way or whether they are merely acting on instructions.

 

What is clear is that to conduct litigation where their instructions are routinely to make sure that it doesn't go to court and to settle before it does is an abuse of process, a violation of their professional ethical code and most importantly a breach of their duty to the court - to whom their first duty exists.

 

Certain media reporters are already looking into this matter and asking questions about it from all quarters.

 

If you want to complain about the way that your case has been conducted then you can do so by email to :-

enquiries@legalcomplaints.org.uk

 

You are not limited to complaining about your own solicitor. You can complain about the behaviour of any solicitor.

 

Keep your complaint direct, to the point, moderate and polite.

 

List the claim number, date issued, court of transfer and name of case as well as any other details which you think are relevant.

 

Although a single complaint may not add up to abuse in the eyes of the Legal Complaints Service, a flood of complaints about the same firms or the same individuals certainly will. You can claim about an independent firm or about an in-house solicitor. It doesn't matter. They are all bound by the same rules.

 

Please report back here with feedback of how you got on.

If you find that your complaint has not been taken seriously we know several media people who will be very interested to learn about it.

[pt2537]

Hi BF

 

i have made a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about SC&M today, i will let you know what the outcome of that is when they reply

 

regards

 

paul

[freakyleaky]

BF is there a template letter for all us sucsessful claimants that are no good at writng letters?

Just an idea of the wording of such a letter?

 

reading the home page link above it seems only to talk about complaing about your own solicitor and not the defendant's solicitor.

[granby]

interesting this, it could be vv important IMHO

i think this needs to be pushed

could really cause some problems for them

especially in house solicitors lol

[rbrears]

Thats right Freaky - the wording on the site about complaining about someone else's solicitor is here:

 

Complain about someone else's solicitor: How do I do this?

 

We can't deal with your complaint if it is about the service provided by someone else's solicitor or about the impact on you of the actions of someone else's solicitor – for example, divorce proceedings.

Action can only be taken if the solicitor has broken the rules of professional conduct – which all solicitors must follow. Breaking these rules, is called misconduct.

Some examples of possible misconduct

• the solicitor lies to you or others
  
• the solicitor uses his or her position to gain unfair advantage of you
  
• the solicitor is holding money that belongs to you
  
• the solicitor fails to comply with an undertaking they have given to you or your solicitor
  
• the solicitor discriminates against you on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age

If the solicitor has engaged in misconduct, the Solicitors Regulation Authority can take action in the public interest. But the SRA can't pay you compensation.

[noobrider]

I have had quite a few emails toing and froing with LCS, basically they don't seem that interested unless you can provide written evidence that the judge or the court has criticised the actions of the solicitors involved.

[crazyworld]

Hi, great idea.

 

Hope you don't mind if I suggest something which would relate to this as well, does anyone else think that it would be a good idea to send off some sort of freedom of information request to each bank requesting information on the total number of claims handled, and the percentage of claims settled after the start of court proceedings?

 

What are people's thoughts on this?

[pt2537]

well,

 

heres the reply i received from LCStoday.................

 

 

Dear ************

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

We hope that it will be helpful if we briefly outline the powers of the Law Society. As the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales, we can investigate complaints about solicitors conduct no matter who raises a complaint. The Customer Complaints Service can also consider the service which solicitors provide to their clients if such a complaint is raised by the client in question.

If a finding of professional misconduct is made, we can consider applying disciplinary sanctions against the solicitor in question, and in the most serious cases can refer the matter to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. A finding of professional misconduct does not in itself give rise to an award of compensation.

Whilst we can consider complaints about the overall service provided, we are not able to consider complaints about the advice given by a solicitor. Nor are we able to question the way that a solicitor chose to represent a client, or whether a certain course of action was in the clients best interests. Offering an opinion on such matters would in effect amount to legal advice as to how the case should have been conducted, which is not our function.

I understand that the firm acts for another party in this matter. I can confirm that solicitors are obliged to act in the best interests of their own clients and to follow their instructions. If the firm does not do so, it is open to the client to complain. A solicitor is entitled to rely on the instructions that they are given by their client and, as long as they do not know that they are false or untrue, they have no obligation to apply a pre-trial screen to establish the truthfulness of any instructions.

It therefore follows that we are unable to consider the way in which the firm chooses to represent their client. If the matter does go to Court and the Court makes any criticisms of the solicitors conduct in conducting the matter before it, please contact this office again and the matter can be reconsidered in the light of any criticism that has been made.

 

If you have any further queries, you may wish to contact the Legal Complaints Helpline on 0845 6086565 and speak with one of our helpline agents. Our lines are open between 8 am and 6 pm Monday to Friday. Please note calls may be monitored/recorded for training purposes

[noobrider]

looks like a template reply...see my thread and subsequent emails http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/abbey-bank/97725-complain-about-litigation-behaviour.html

[noobrider]

sorry bt I have seen another template reply ...looks lile this form of complaint is going no where another organisation that like to protect its members rather than take action against them and only pay lip service to the consumer...sound familiar?

[manicblonde]

I have already complained to the SRA, got told that D & G had done nothing wrong and they were acting on their clients instructions!!

 

then wrote to HSBC telling them that they were abusing the court process and instructing their solicitors to be obstructive! I am now about to send all the info to the financial ombudsman to see if they are going to do anything as no response received from HSBC or D & G!!

[welshcakes]

Regards the LSC response letter in post #8, okay so if they are saying it's not the solicitor's fault because they are litigating exactly to the word of their client (ie the bank), then would not this LSC letter be a powerful inclusion in a Wasted Costs application.

 

The judge can hardly turn around and then argue that the buck stops anywhere but with the Defendant.

[Douglas52]

Here is a link for Scottish complaints- It seems you can complain about Scottish solicitors when you are not the client http://www.lawscot.org.uk/uploads/Admin/Leaflets/nonclientcomplaint.pdf

[Douglas52]

and try this one out- for advocates- 11.Speculative actions

General Rules: The Law Society of Scotland

 

This seems to suggest they shouldn't go to court when there is little prospec of success.

[rory32]

And just in case you don't want to scroll down to the bottom of Douglas's link:

 

11.Speculative actions

 

In speculative actions, a solicitor advocate has a particular responsibility to the court both with regard to his own assessment of the merits of the case and with regard to the advice which he gives. The nature of the responsibility undertaken by counsel and solicitor was stated thus by Lord President Normand (X Insurance Co v A & B 1936 SC 225, 239):

 

‘‘It has long been recognised by the Courts that this is a perfectly legitimate basis on which to carry on litigation and a reasonable indulgence to people who while they are not quailed for admission to [Legal Aid] are nevertheless unable to finance a costly litigation.

 

But it is equally recognised that there is involved in such business a grave risk of abuse unless it is carried out with strict regard to honour by all who are professionally concerned in it. Before acting in business of this kind it is the imperative duty of the solicitor and of the counsel to consider whether the party for whom they are to act has a reasonable prospect of success.

 

The reasons for this are obvious, and need no discussion. If a solicitor, when asked to conduct the case on a speculative footing, is, after consideration, unable to advise that there is a reasonable prospect of success, he should refuse to conduct the case. But, if he has reasonable doubts about the prospects of success, he is justified in consulting counsel. If counsel advises that the action may properly be raised, the solicitor is entitled to follow his advice, and in the future conduct of the action he is bound to act in accordance with counsel’s instructions. If he does this after having fairly disclosed to counsel all the information at his disposal, he will not be exposed to a charge of professional misconduct. In order that the prospects of success may be fairly estimated by the solicitor and by counsel in their turn, it is in most cases, where questions of fact are involved, a necessary precaution that fair and honest precognitions of the chief witnesses who will be relied on should be taken at the outset.’’ (See also the opinion of Lord Fleming at 250–251.) Solicitors: Practice Rules and Guidelines F 356

[bladeofgrass]

Just wondering if anyone out there knows what i can do? I just won a case against a bank and the bank have sent me a consent order saying that I have agreed not to discuss this matter with other parties or pursue further claims against them. This was not agreed at the hearing at all in fact the judge just said my claim against them had been successfull. Where do I stand as I wont cash the cheque from them incase it infringes my rights.

[rory32]

They can't enforce any gagging clause or enforce any clause that prevents you from taking future action against future charges. This would be condidered as an infringement of your rights and a judge would laugh it out of court if the bank brought it up in any future action you brought against them. Just score it out of the consent form and cash the cheque.

[bladeofgrass]

thank you Rory32. I really appreciate that and will now enjoy my xmas on the bank. thanks.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

This raises the question of how can the banks lie to their (ex)customers and get away with it. Are there any laws covering this kind of thing?

 

An example of blatant lies is when credit card companies claim that the current suspension of claims against bank account charges apply to credit cards which they do not. Quite a few people have mentioned that they receive letters telling them that they cannot claim credit card charges due to the suspension which is clearly a lie.

[jody123]

Does this mean that I can complain about solicitors acting for a bank for their claim of an alleged mortgage shortfall debt....

filed claim without following preaction protocols by not supplying documentary evidence of the claim, and failed CPR rules by not attaching an supporting documentary evidence to the Claim itself....

 

would it be worth waiting until after the court case to complain - don't particularly want to harrass them into "terrier" mentality....

 

Any views welcome..

 

Jody

[Caracall999]

I have appealed against a banks decision to hide behind the OFT ruling (they stayed the case) as I pointed out to Court that the respondents solicitor sent a letter dated 8th August stating that their client `was minded to settle`. I appealed on ground that settlement talks had commenced and that this letter was an undetaking to settle. The court in question has now listed a 15 minute hearing in response to my appeal but they did not divulge any further information. I cannot find the guidance / agreement in respect of the OFT decision towards end of last yer. I have foiund out that hardship cases should be exempt. IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF WHICH WOULD HELP ME OR ANYONE ELSE YOU COULD FORWARD MY QUERY TO THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED - AM DUE IN COURT NEXT WEEK!!!.

 

Thank you - Parick Best

 

P.S. Best e mail to respond to me would be (edit)

[JOSH_IOU]

You have to complain to the solicitor's first

 

The law society can only regulate the poor service you are getting.

So you must prove this is happening.

[logicus.tracticus]

Just marking as have a case, where the firm of solicitor that was supposed to be advising me about a benefits claim and possession order, brought my flat from me the week before it was due to be repossessed...woolich who were the mortgage holders took over five years to bring the case to finish, using two different firms of solicitors, as after the first hearing they did not turn up so the case was stayed they then restarted it with a different firm, they were criticized by the ombudsman (woolwich) whom I had already complained to about payments made by them to the freeholder despite knowing I was in dispute, and mot informing me beforehand.

[pompeyfaith]

I have just sent a complaint to Optima Legal over the handling of there claim against me and to the hardwicke building about a barrister on there books who told a complete pack of lies.

 

Regards

 

PF

[philosophicus]

I'd agree with your bit about ombudsman even after they found the bank (woolwich/Barclays) guilty they ignored the ruling then had the afrontary to say they had not been aware of it