Diligent readers of the blog will remember
me commenting on Padden v. Bevan Ashford Solicitors. You can quickly refresh
your memory on the case revolving around the free half hour here:
You’ll never guess what’s back in the
courts –
That is correct, the re-trial of Padden v
Bevan Ashford has taken place, and back to the Court of Appeal again!
My gripe with the first Court of Appeal
decision was that I considered that it just didn’t have regard to the realities
of giving a half hour free advice. The course the Appeal Court said should have
been followed just doesn’t reflect the realities of day to day life in the High
Street. Reading between the lines of the
HHJ Vosper’s decision, which was under appeal, I have a feeling he had at least
some sympathy with that view. He
couldn’t go behind the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal, that the newly
qualified solicitor (now known to be a Ms. Shinner) had been deficient in her
first meeting with Mrs. Padden, but at paragraph 16 we get a different flavour
of that first meeting.
The
judge notes that the claimant was “evidently distressed and in a rush to be
back home as soon as possible”. So quite how much attention Mrs. Padden was giving
to what Ms. Shinner had to tell her is doubtful. Despite this, Ms Shinner took pity and
decided to help. A human lawyer! One who
wanted to help a person in distress – not quite conforming to popular
stereotype, one might say, but more common than is generally realised.
“Ms
Shinner advised the claimant that she was
not doing the right thing, and advised her not to sign any documents. Ms Shinner must have based that advice
on her appreciation that paying off Mrs Partridge might not stop a criminal
prosecution.” So the judge, upon looking with care at what happened at that
first meeting realises that Ms. Shinner’s advice was focussed more closely on
the key issue than perhaps the Court of Appeal first time round had realised. If only Mrs. Padden had chosen to follow that advice! Both she and her solicitors would have been so much better off.
The judge
also said, “I find that Ms Shinner told the claimant that she was taking a huge or a big risk, and the risk to which Ms
Shinner was referring was the risk that Mr Padden would face criminal charges
despite the claimant's giving away her interest in the assets.” I guess this is
as close to saying that she wasn’t so very negligent as a judge could
reasonably get, given the earlier decision, and I commend this analysis.
Blog Disclaimer: Nothing in www.austinkempfamilylaw.blogspot.com blog should be construed as legal advice. If you require legal advice upon any family law related matter then you should instruct a solicitor. Any links to other blogs or web sites are provided for convenience only and Austin Kemp Solicitors cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of such linked blogs/sites.
Whilst I have every sympathy with the solicitor concerned, one question keeps presenting itself in my mind: Why did she take it on?
ReplyDeleteIn order to to a job properly, time must be allocated and a client who cannot wait should be turned away.
If I went to a restaurant and ordered fresh pork or chicken and demanded that it must be served to me in 5 minutes lest I miss my train home - the chef would refuse to fulfill the order on the grounds that s/he could not do the job properly and would probably poison me into the bargain.
The same principle applies when a client disinstructs their solicitor the day/week before a trial starts. Woe betide the solicitor who agrees to take this on without having a good look at the file first (and vetting the potential client to ensure that they are not mad and have paid their previous solicitor's bills).
Ms Shinner may well have been benevolent but for heaven's sake, don't work to the timescale set by the client unless the job can be done in that time and, getting back to the conclusion of the post, especially if you are doing it for free!
Thanks for the Information you shared and This case should be consider as a lesson.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Andrew Felix
http://www.LawFirmsMarketing.com
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