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Solicitors Negligence

Solicitors, negligence, and making a claim

We all hope that we can rely on the solicitor we chose to guide us through legal situations. But what if mistakes are made? When it comes to solicitors, negligence is – thankfully – relatively rare. It’s not impossible though.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

If you think you have suffered losses or damage because of actions your solicitor took (or failed to take), here is everything you need to know to start thinking about making a claim:

Solicitors, Negligence, And Duty Of Care

Solicitors are professionals. Under the law, this word has certain connotations. Chiefly, it means they have what is known as a “duty of care” to deliver their services to a certain standard.

If a solicitor fails to meet those standards (this is sometimes called “breaching their duty of care”) and their client suffers as a result, they may be guilty of what is called “professional negligence”.

This is a specific part of wider negligence law. There are many subsets of this kind of law. Medical negligence, for example.

In order for something your solicitor did or did not do to count as professional negligence, you need to be able to show that:

There was a duty of care – some types of professionals (financial advisors, personal trainers, chartered surveyors, and more) have an established duty of care. Solicitors do, so this is a given.
The duty of care must be breached – you must be able to show how your solicitor’s actions (or their lack of action when action was reasonably required) breached the duty of care you had a right to expect.
The breach caused losses or damage – crucially, you must be able to prove that the breach of duty of care caused you physical damage or (much more likely for solicitors) a financial loss.

Can I Sue My Solicitor For Negligence?

Yes. It is possible to sue solicitors you may have used for professional negligence. This is because solicitors are in one of those professions that is recognised as having a duty of care to its clients.

The deciding factor is whether your particular situation meets the other two criteria on the list above, namely:

Did your solicitor’s actions, advice, or lack of action or advice fall below the standards you might have reasonably expected?
If so, did that “breach” of their duty cause you to suffer losses or damage?

Examples Of Professional Negligence By Solicitors

These are some potential examples of professional negligence by solicitors:

Bad legal advice – if your solicitor advised you to do something (or not to do something) and it caused you a financial loss.
Failure to offer legal advice – a failure to act can be perceived as negligence just as easily as an act. For instance, if a solicitor failed to offer advice when you might have reasonably expected them to, it could be negligence if you suffered a loss as a result.
Not issuing a claim in time – if your solicitor did not issue a claim in time and you missed out on compensation as a result.
Not drafting a will correctly – if your solicitor drafted a will poorly and you missed out on inheritance intended for you as a result.
“Under settling” compensation claims – if your solicitor successfully helped you claim compensation for personal injury but then settled for less than you were due.

This list is by no means complete. If you think your solicitor has acted in a way that has caused you to suffer a loss, why not reach out to Solicitors Near Me to get matched with friendly legal advice for FREE and with no obligation to use a service?

It only takes a moment to complete a Free Online Enquiry for professional negligence?

Yes. A successful professional negligence claim – where you proved that your solicitor breached their duty of care and caused you a loss – can result in them paying you compensation.

The level of compensation you can receive isn’t set. Most likely, you can expect it to be around the amount of damage or losses you suffered as a result of their negligence.

Are There Any Other Options Besides A Professional Negligence Claim?

Your solicitor may also be in breach of contract if there is a written contract between you. This may be something written in the contract or something the law applies to all contracts of that type.

This sort of claim can be in addition to or instead of professional negligence and is often worth exploring with any legal expert you consult.

How Do I Start A Negligence Claim Against My Solicitor?

First things first. You’ll need to get specialist legal advice from a solicitor skilled in negligence law.

Why not let Solicitors Near Me find an expert near you? We do it for FREE and with zero commitment to use them.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Nearest Solicitors To Me

How do you find the nearest solicitors to me? With so many solicitors in England and Wales alone (around 10,500), how do you find the closest and best solicitor near me for your legal needs?

As Solicitors Near Me is all about connecting you with the best solicitors close to you, we thought we should help you to answer this question, so let’s do just that.

Which Type Of Solicitor Are You Looking For?

First, you need to decide which type of solicitor you are looking for?

Here is a summary of the most common types of solicitor and what they can help you with:

Moving home? You will need a conveyancing solicitor
Trouble at work? You should go searching for an employment law solicitor
Starting a business? A commercial or business law solicitor.
Divorcing? A family law or divorce solicitor.
Injured in an accident at work or on the road? In this case, you will need a personal injury solicitor.
Suffered at the hands of the NHS? You will need a medical negligence (also known as clinical negligence) solicitor.
Looking to make a Will? Find a wills solicitor near to where you live or work?
Need help with probate? Search for a probate solicitor.
Trying to evict a tenant from your property? You need a landlord and tenant solicitor.
Been caught drink or drug driving? It is a criminal law or motoring lawyers that you need.
Trying to get a visa to work in the UK? It is an immigration law solicitor that you are looking for.
Solicitor let you down? Find a good professional negligence solicitor.

Once You Know Which Solicitor You Need…

As soon as you know the type of solicitor that you are looking for, it is time for step 2 in your search for the nearest solicitor to me.

Type in the name of the type of solicitor followed by your town, village or city name.

For example, if you are moving home and you live in Brighton, you will type in:

“Conveyancing Solicitor Brighton”.

If you are looking for help following being charged with drink driving and you live in Newbury, you will search for:

“Drink driving solicitor Brighton”.

This will present you with a range of solicitors to choose from, but bear in mind that often these solicitors are paying to be at the top of Google, so how can you work out who are the best solicitors for your needs?

You need to do some filtering of your search results.

Let’s look at how you can do this.

Finding The Best Solicitors Near To Me

I have used the search term above “Drink driving solicitor Brighton” to produce these results below.

Nearest Solicitors To Me

You want to scroll past the first few listings until you get to the part where you can see the term “Business”, circled in the image above, and solicitors business names alongside some ratings for their services.

These reviews are left by people who have already used the law firm and given them a review for their service through Google’s review collection system.

What you are looking for is a law firm with at least 10 reviews, to show that they have been providing services for some time already, and with an overall review score above 4 (as each review is scored out of 5).

Obviously, the closer to 5, the better the reviews are which should mean that the service provided is going to be better for you.

However, don’t just stop there, the next part is important too.

Finally Choosing Your Solicitor

You should now shortlist 3 good solicitors from the reviews that you have seen, then click through to their website for the final check.

What you are looking for is the following:

There is more than one page for the service that you are looking for help with. In our example above of Drink Driving Solicitors, you are looking to see more than one page about motoring offences. You should see pages about drink driving, drug driving, totting up offences and speeding. The more pages they have suggests that they specialise in this area of law. If they only have one page, does this really show expertise? You want the best solicitor for your needs, so this is another way of ensuring that you find just that.
Reviews from their clients on the page. Whilst some people will leave reviews on Google, you should also find more reviews from people who have used the services of the law firm that you are looking for. Seeing more reviews will give you more confidence that you have found a specialist solicitor.
Finally, when you are happy with what you have found above, call the law firm. They should answer the phone within 6 rings and be able to connect you with someone to help you straight away, or at least offer you a call back within a short period of time.

As you can see, there is quite a bit of work to do to find a good solicitor near to where you live or work, but there is a shortcut to do this.

Use us! We have already done this filtering for you to find the best solicitors across the UK, so let us connect you with a solicitor now.

Simply call us on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry ».

How To Put Pressure On Solicitors

Having Difficulties With Your Solicitor: How To Put Pressure On Solicitors?

If you are dealing with a legal case, you are likely to want it completed as soon as possible. Sometimes, this means encouraging your legal team to deal with matters proactively. In this article we take a look at how to put pressure on solicitors so that your legal matter can progress as quickly as possible.

At Solicitors Near Me, we connect you with hand-picked solicitors who have expertise in a range of sectors, including conveyancing, property law, family law, business law and probate.

We only work with solicitors we know to have a high level of experience and who offer outstanding services as quickly as possible. This includes working hard to move matters forward, rather than waiting to be chased.

If you need legal help and time is of the essence, we will be happy to find you the right solicitor for your needs.

To connect to an expert local lawyer, please call us on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Otherwise, read on to discover how to put pressure on your current solicitors (and just remember we are here the next time that you need a solicitor)….

Asking Your Solicitor To Speed Up The Process

The first step is to have an honest conversation with your solicitor and find out exactly what the hold up is. Make sure they fully explain the process to you and that you understand why your legal matter is going more slowly than you would like.

Legal matters can be complicated at times, with many different parties involved and paperwork needed from different sources. It may well not be the fault of your solicitor, but they should make sure they keep you updated so that you know what is happening and why there is a delay.

They should also keep the pressure on other parties as far as possible to ensure that everyone is working hard to move matters along.

We take a look at conveyancing and family law, two areas where clients are always keen to finalise issues, and examine what might be causing a delay and what can be done about it.

Delays In Conveyancing Transactions

If you are buying a property, your solicitor will need to carry out extensive due diligence work to check that the legal title is sound and that there have not been any breaches of the restrictive covenants contained in the title deeds.

They will need to carry out searches and if the results reveal anything of concern, they may need to make further enquiries and ask questions of the seller’s solicitor. They will also need to have copies of planning consents and building regulations approvals for any work that has been carried out to the property.

Delays can occur when local authorities or other search agencies have a backlog and are not able to supply results promptly. It may also be the case that your seller’s solicitor is slow to respond to requests for information.

If you are in a chain, you will not be able to exchange contracts until everyone in the chain is ready. If anyone is experiencing a delay, for example, they have not received a mortgage offer or an issue has been revealed in their survey, then the whole chain will have to wait until they are ready.

Both your solicitor and the estate agent can keep the pressure on your buyer’s solicitor. Your solicitor will also be able to chase search results, although these are generally dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis.

You can help avoid delays by instructing a solicitor early on and providing the information they need promptly. This could include identity documentation, money on account of searches and initial forms.

By instructing an experienced conveyancing solicitor, you stand the best possible chance of completing without delay. If a legal issue arises, they will have the understanding to deal with it. The chances are they will have come across a similar problem before and they will have the expertise and legal know-how to resolve it promptly and effectively.

You are also advised to choose a solicitor with a good reputation for client service. They are likely to stay in close contact with you and keep you updated as to progress. They will also make sure they are available to speak to you to discuss any concerns and answer your questions.

Delays In Family Law Proceedings

If you are going through a divorce, you will need to finalise financial issues as well as put new arrangements for your children in place, if you have any.

The financial process can be lengthy. You will need to start by making a full disclosure of all of your assets together with evidence in support. Your solicitor will then enter into negotiations on your behalf with your spouse’s solicitor to try and reach an agreement.

If you are not able to do this, then you will usually be referred to mediation. A mediator will explain the services they offer to you both and you will be able to decide whether you wish to try this route to attempt to reach a settlement.

You will generally go through a similar process in respect of arrangements for your children. If an agreement cannot be reached, then you may be considering going to court.

Extensive backlogs in family courts mean that cases are taking around a year on average to reach a final hearing.

The best way to avoid this is to try to resolve matters without recourse to the courts. There are several methods of alternative dispute resolution which can be both quicker and more cost-effective.

Collaborative law is a round-table discussion between you, your solicitor, your spouse and their solicitor with the aim of reaching a negotiated settlement. It can be a much faster way to finalise matters, often taking around three to four months rather than a year. You can also schedule the hearings for times to suit you and you do not run the risk of it being called off at the last moment, which can happen with court.

Arbitration is similar to court but paid for privately. A senior family lawyer will hear your case and make a binding decision. Again, you can decide when you want to have a hearing.

Mediation is another effective way of dealing with matters. You will be helped to consider all of the options open to you and to work with your spouse to try and find an agreeable solution. The outcome will be one that is acceptable to you both, rather than an outcome imposed on you whether you like it or not, as is the case with court. It can also help you work with your spouse and prevent your relationship from degenerating further, which is particularly advantageous if you have children.

In most financial and children’s arrangements proceedings, you are required to at least consider mediation before you ask the court to intervene.

Contact Local Solicitors

Our expert local lawyers work promptly and proactively to avoid delays wherever possible.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

How Much Do Solicitors Earn In The UK?

How much do solicitors earn in the UK?

Becoming a solicitor can be a rewarding and interesting profession. There is a wide variety of different specialisms to go into, meaning you can choose something that appeals to your tastes.

But How Much Do Solicitors Earn In The UK?

Because, while a rewarding and stimulating career is very beneficial, it’s good to know that you’ll be able to do more than simply keep a roof over your head.

However, the cost of qualifying as a solicitor can be high and it can take longer than other career paths.

Let’s take a deeper look into how much lawyers make:

What Is The Difference Between A Lawyer And A Solicitor?

The terms “lawyer” and “solicitor” are often used interchangeably. It’s easy to see why.

Technically speaking, a “lawyer” is any person licensed to give legal advice to another person or organisation. Generally, a “solicitor” does the same thing, so people don’t specify the difference.

However, other types of legal professionals – for, example, barristers – could also potentially be referred to as “lawyers”. The fact that specialists like this have extensive additional qualifications normally means they want to differentiate themselves though.

What Does A Solicitor Do?

A solicitor’s main job is to draft legal documents. Their day-to-day work might involve researching cases or relevant legislation, drafting a contract (this could be anything from a business-to-business agreement to a utility bill), or representing parties at a tribunal or in court.

There are two broad areas of work that a solicitor might engage with:

Contentious legal work – representing someone or an organisation in court or at a tribunal to resolve some kind of dispute.
Non-contentious legal work – helping individuals or organisations with all kinds of legal affairs and protections. You might help draw up a will for a person or a supply contract for a business, for instance.

How Much Do Lawyers Make?

Like those in most professions, lawyers in general – and solicitors in particular – make different amounts of money depending on where they work in the UK. Their salary will also vary according to their specialist area of law and who they work for. As a solicitor, you might work for:

A law firm
An organisation’s internal legal department
The government or a related institution

You can imagine a spectrum between a trainee solicitor at a law firm outside of London (who might make £23 000 per year though possibly significantly more) to a trainee working at one of the biggest London law firms (who might earn twice that, perhaps £50 000).

Post-qualification though, your salary as a solicitor will start to grow. Even newly-qualified lawyers might expect to earn around £27 000 to £60 000 per year outside of London and as much as £100 000 per year for a major London firm.

The downside of the big London law firms though (the Big Five are often described as the “Magic Circle”) is the expectation that you will work incredibly hard for worryingly long hours. Hence, the massive salaries.

Yet these aren’t the highest wage brackets a solicitor can expect to graduate into. As you gain experience in your specialism after qualification, your salary will likely start to climb again.

The average salary for a solicitor in the UK is a little over £44 000 per year, with experienced lawyers at certain firms being able to make anywhere from £62 000 to £100 000 per year and, in some places, more.

How Much Does A Lawyer Make An Hour?

If we take that £44 000 average as our guide, we can estimate an hourly rate of around £22-23 per hour.

Of course, this will vary depending on the part of the country you work in, the size of your firm, and the number of hours you are expected to work to earn that pay.

How To Become A Solicitor

How much do lawyers make an hour? It can sound like a lot, but every solicitor has put in a great deal of hard work and study to get themselves to any position they might be in:

Roughly six years of full-time study
Longer if you switch to law as a graduate in another field via the GDL program (Graduate Diploma in Law)
Study for the SQE1 (Solicitors Qualifying Exam) qualification testing legal knowledge, research, and writing
SQE2 testing practical oral and written legal skills
QWE (Qualifying Work Experience) in a relevant role for two years

So, while solicitors in the UK can make large amounts of money, it does take a lot of time and effort to qualify as one. Yet it is worth bearing in mind the other benefits of a career in law.

They’re well worth looking into if you have any kind of interest in this interesting and lucrative field.

Want To Learn More About Becoming A Solicitor?

Check out the full range of articles on Solicitors Near Me to find out more about a career in law.

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To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

How To Notify DVLA of Car Sale

How To Tell The DVLA You Sold Your Car If you are hoping to find out how to notify DVLA of care sale, then you are in the right place. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) administers the records of all the drivers and vehicles in the UK. They need to know who owns which vehicle. This makes knowing how to tell the DVLA you’ve sold your car very important. In this article we see how to notify the DVLA you sold your car.

Because if you don’t notify the DVLA of a sale, you might be in trouble if the next owner ends up doing anything outside of the law. Because as far as the DVLA is concerned, it’s still your name on the record.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here’s everything you need to know about telling the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about a car you’ve sold:

What If I Don’t Notify The DVLA I’ve Sold My Car?

It’s worth reinforcing how much of a bad idea not telling the DVLA that you have sold your car is. If you let the DVLA go on thinking that you own the car, you leave yourself open to being charged for all kinds of things the person who now owns the car might do. This might include:

Speeding fines
Parking tickets
Road tax lack of payment penalties

Of course, you can always get in touch with the DVLA after you receive a fine or notification like this. But there is normally a deadline for the payment of the fine and a turnaround time for the DVLA to sort it out.

How To Notify The DVLA You’ve Sold Your Car

To notify the DLVA of the sale of your care, there are a few options that are available to you:

1) Online

This is the fastest and easiest way to notify the DVLA that you have sold your car.

Simply use the online notification service and fill out all of the details:

Inform the DVLA who you sold your car to – this is normally a “motor trader” or a private individual. There are clear entry options in the online system.
Enter the buyer information– this will include their name and postcode, so make sure you know this.
Enter V5C details – and the car’s registration number into the system. If you’re not sure where to find either of these, you’ll receive suggestions.
Hand over or destroy the V5C – the DVLA system will tell you to hand over the vehicle registration documents (if you’re selling to a trader) or just the “new keeper supplement” (if you’re selling to a private individual). If you’re just the new keeper section, you’re usually told to destroy the rest of the book.
Wait for any road tax refund – that should be all you need to do to notify the DVLA of a sold car. Then it’s just a case of waiting for the cheque if you’ve ended up overpaying your road tax. The timeframe for this is a maximum of six weeks.

2) By post

Some people prefer to notify the DVLA of a transfer of ownership by post. It’s certainly possible to do this, but doing everything online is much quicker and simpler.

If you do want to go down this route, locate the relevant section in your V5C vehicle registration documents – “Selling or transferring your vehicle to a motor trader, insurer or dismantler” – and fill it in.

You then remove this section from the book and post it to:

DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BA

What is the V5C vehicle registration document?

The V5C is the official designation of the vehicle registration document, sometimes called the “logbook”. This should have come with your vehicle when you purchased it. It is the document the DVLA uses to track vehicles in the UK and who owns them.

You can buy or sell a vehicle without a V5C. However, it’s rare to find someone who will buy a vehicle without seeing the logbook first. If it’s you that’s considering buying a vehicle without seeing the registration document, it’s probably worth thinking twice!

If you have sold a car without its registration documents though, you can still notify the DVLA of the sale. All you need to do is send them a few details:

The car’s registration number
Its make and model
The date you sold the vehicle
The name and address of the buyer
The name and address of you, the seller

You’ve Sold A Car, Notified The DVLA – Now What?

Congratulations! Another job done, you can check notify DVLA of sale off your to do list and not worry about it.

However, do be sure that you clear up any other subscriptions or payments you’re making on your vehicle.

This might mean checking that you’re not still paying your car insurance, for any vehicle trackers, and that your road tax repayment (if you’re due one) is in the post. After that and telling the DVLA you’ve sold your car, you’re ready to move on.

Need Help Finding A Solicitor For Something Related To Vehicle Ownership?

Let us help. Solicitors Near Me will connect you to a friendly and approachable legal expert with just the right specialist knowledge.

Get in touch today to talk through your specific situation with one of our helpful team.

Find A Specialist Solicitor Near You

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.