There have been times in both my personal and my professional lives that I’ve been unhappy with the performance of a lawyer. I may have been serially unlucky over the years but I always seem to choose the lawyer who thinks they’re doing me a favour, not providing me with a service I want and then charging me a king’s ransom. They treat me like something they’ve just trodden in, make things very complicated and then chase me relentlessly for money.
I once had an arranged meeting with a lawyer who made me walk around his office until I found him. I must have barged into half a dozen meetings before I found the right room. I wasted half an hour of the meeting in my fruitless search, for which he then charged me. Or tried to, at least.
It was like sitting on the seafront on a lovely sunny day, and being shat on by a seagull, which then swooped down and pinched my chips!
Lawyers are not the law. They are supposed to know the law and hence help you in drafting agreements, bringing forward claims on your behalf or in helping you to defend yourself. But they don’t set the law or enforce it. Surprisingly enough, a letter from a solicitor is not a legal document and has no legal standing.
If you’re genuinely not happy with the performance of your lawyer and don’t think their bill reflects the value you received, don’t waste your time arguing with them. Lawyers charge for their time, not the quality of their work, so you won’t get anywhere. Instead explain clearly, in writing, why you’re not happy and ask them to refer you to the partner in their firm who deals with unhappy customers. Use the word ‘unhappy’.
No-one is going to voluntarily give you the name of a colleague who is going to listen to their unhappy customer and then judge their work. Nine times in 10 they’ll back down and either negotiate or drop that part of their bill altogether.
And when you do engage with a lawyer when you have a dispute, insist they formulate a strategy to win the case rather than just spouting the law.