Sunday 16 December 2012

Introduction

I have created this blog because I feel I have been treated very badly by a London firm of solicitors called Thomas Eggar LLP, and having got nowhere with a direct complaint to them seek the action of their governing body, The Solicitors Regulation Authority, to see whether this firm's standards met those required by the legal profession.

Thomas Eggar LLP pursued me for a debt of an amount well into six figures for over two years, hounding me with claims and eventually issuing a bankruptcy petition against me even though the debt was substantially disputed. I spent most of those two years believing that I would lose my home and dreading every knock at the door. However, although I was just a litigant in person and Thomas Eggar are a substantial city law firm, I defeated their petition in The High Court with all of my arguments against the petition being upheld. Since then, I have been able to establish that the debt claimed was almost certainly false and that communications from Thomas Eggar during the proceedings indicate that they did or should have known that there were no lawful grounds to claim any debt from me.

Thomas Eggar have declined to investigate my complaint or to respond in detail to it, relying simply on the defense that they were doing what their client told them to do and so deny any wrong doing. However, there are a number of "guiding principals" that solicitors must adhere to, and claiming a debt in the manner it was claimed and while there seem to be no lawful grounds upon which to claim a debt could breach many of them. A solicitor's duty of care not to take advantage of an unrepresented party outranks their duty to act in the best interests of their client. I have therefore complained to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about the conduct of Thomas Eggar LLP.

The problem is that The Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA") have a very questionable record of upholding complaints against solicitors made by members of the public. In fact in 2009, 90% of complaints were not upheld and only 2% of complaints were passed to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, according to a freedom of information act request.

The SRA's states:

       Our purpose is to protect the public
  • by ensuring that solicitors meet high standards, and
  • by acting when risks are identified.


However, the figures released under the freedom of information act could indicate that with so few complaints being upheld, that the public are not enjoying the protection that they should.

I have therefore chosen to publish my complaint against Thomas Eggar LLP, their responses and those of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA is a public body that claims to protect the public. I believe that it is reasonable and appropriate for the public it serves to have open and transparent access to my complaint, so that the SRA's response and resolutions can be judged by those it claims to protect.

It is my true hope that the eventual result will be a case study that shows the general public can have trust in the SRA.



Next:
SRA Past Performance Data



5 comments:

  1. I am campaigning for reforms in consumer protection law for the clients of law firms.
    The present situation is totally unacceptable. The Legal Ombudsnman will only investigate issues of poor service and not alleged negligence. The blogger has accurately set out the situation regarding the SRA. Please see the link below or type Increase Lawyer Accountability and Protection for Clients of Lawyers Petition into your browser

    http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/increase-lawyer-accountability-and-consumer-protection.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is an on going problem.

    Over 300 people were dealt directly with by a solicitor and the SRA find no answer so far to the most basic of complaints. There is only one answer!

    After some complaint, I found out that the SRA investigated and reviewed an allegation / complaint never made. They now refuse to consider any complaint.

    Its a boys club union , that takes fees from solicitors, so why would they want to kick som out. It is shocking!

    Even MP's laugh at its purpose.

    The quest for justice goes on........

    ReplyDelete
  3. The SRA are a farcical organisation. I was charged with harassment (and found guilty) for a website about the wrongdoing of a solicitor. I went to the Legal Ombudsman (as advised), they couldn't help because I had not instructed the solicitor in question. I thought it was pointless going to the SRA as he made a great deal out of saying that he sat on the Family Law Panel. I went to the SDT and despite sending them a bundle of documents running to 125 pages - they rejected it because it was not submitted with Form 1, which is basically just a form with your name and address and the defendants name and address. They also stated they were unsure what I was complaining about. Hmmmm - anyone reading it finds that pretty hard to believe. See for yourself here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8tFcrjNaPgcZTM2cjd2WkVINGM/preview?pli=1

    Just to test the SRA, I just made a complaint to them about certain practices to do with his business that he is doing. I got back the following (I am guessing) pretty standard reply. https://www.dropbox.com/s/99j9xq01u4w6g7y/SRA%20Reply%20regarding%20Adrian%20Bressington%20and%20AB%20Family%20Law.pdf

    If this letter is supposed to give members of the public making complaints confidence in the system, then I think they have failed catastrophically. Couple that with the great set of figures that you have researched above and it paints a pretty sorry picture.

    The thing is at my trial, the prosecution and the judge, both said that I should use the 'proper' complaints procedure and go to the Law Society, which just shows that even the legal system don't know how the complaints process works.They then mentioned the SRA...............

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  5. A solicitor's duty of care not to take advantage of an unrepresented party outranks their duty to act in the best interests of their client. I have therefore complained to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about the conduct of Thomas Eggar LLP. Legal adviser in london
    The problem is that The Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA") have a very questionable record of upholding complaints against solicitors made by members of the public.

    ReplyDelete