Give clients what they've paid for


Mr J and his brother asked solicitors to deal with the sale of their late father's house. At the time, no probate or letters of administration had been granted but the solicitors agreed to accept instructions and proposed a fee of £400. They subsequently wrote to Mr J confirming that sum as 'estimated' thereby creating some doubt as to the amount. In the same letter, the solicitors referred to the property as being leasehold but in fact it was freehold. It was at that point that Mr J lost confidence in the solicitors' ability, and decided to terminate the retainer and take the matter elsewhere.


He asked the solicitor to return the deeds and was told that he could not have them unless he paid a fee of £50 plus VAT together with a Land Registry disbursement for office copies. Mr J pointed out that in his view it was 'premature' to obtain Land Registry office copies or to prepare the draft contract that the solicitors said they had done. At that point Mr J's brother paid the outstanding costs and the deeds were handed over.


However, the solicitors did not hand over a draft contract that had been prepared. The clients complained that they should not have taken any action before a grant and that in any event, they failed to release all the documents to Mr J, notwithstanding costs had been paid. It seems that in addition the solicitors did not consider the issue to be a complaint at all, and therefore failed to operate any form of practice rule 15 procedure.


It was not clear why, when handing over the deeds to the property, the solicitors retained the contract. It was illogical for them to do so and it caused additional and unnecessary unhappiness to Mr J and his brother. The charge that was made included a charge for preparing documents and having paid for them, Mr J and his brother were entitled to them.


In the correspondence from Mr J and his brother, initially referred to the solicitors' local law society, the solicitors indicated that they had no intention of corresponding further with their former clients.


Among the various directions that were made in this case, the adjudicator expressed concern that the solicitors had held on to a document for which the former clients had paid and to which they were entitled. It was quite clear that the solicitors had reduced the value of their service to an extent where no costs were justified. In addition to a compensatory direction, the adjudicator directed the solicitors to refund the costs paid by Mr J's brother.


Solicitors should be sure that any documentation prepared in connection with a proposed retainer is handed to the client if requested and costs have been paid or the matter is otherwise resolved.



Every case before the adjudication panel is decided on its individual facts. This case study is for illustration only and should not be treated as a precedent Lawyerline



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