Left to Die » The Law Society
I felt as if I was just back to square one except it was worse, I felt guilty and ashamed that I had let myself be robbed of so much money, I could have treated my children and grandchildren or even given it to charity.
I felt very low and degraded and I just felt as if I could not trust anyone.
I contacted the Law society for advice and was informed that I would have to put my complaint in writing to the solicitor in question and if that did not bring any satisfaction I had to write to a senior partner in the practice.
As I expected I did not get any satisfaction from the solicitor, so I ended up doing something stupid again, instead of contacting one of the two solicitors who gave the practice it's name I used the one the solicitor put on his letter I had to complain to, He was obviously as corrupt as himself and I did not realise until later that he was well down the line in the practice.
Of course my reply from him was very similar, so I contacted the law society again, who advised me that the first step was to write all the details of my complaint.
I was now in possession of all my medical records again which I had requested along with all the other papers, so I sent a few items along with my letter.
I received a letter from their office in Leamington Spa giving me details of what would happen next and was told that my papers would be sent to the London office and I would be allocated a case worker who would then deal with my case until the conclusion.
Several weeks later I got a letter from the case worker asking for more information and any evidence I could produce, so I sent them lots of evidence from my medical records as well as letters from the solicitor including the one that stated the fee bringing me up to “no win - no fee”.
The caseworker contacted me by phone several weeks later and asked me if I would be willing to have my case looked at by a panel to decide whether I qualified to see a solicitor at the expense of the law society as they thought with all my medical evidence I had a good case but the law society were not allowed to use medical evidence only matters of law which sounds daft to me although they had read them and could certainly understand how I felt.
I agreed with the request and about a month later the manager of the caseworkers rang me to say the request had been accepted and the panel thought I had a good case but it could only be dealt with by a solicitor.
He told me that as well as claiming my fee back it was very likely that I would also be entitled to compensation, but I said I would be more than happy just to get some money back.
The manager told me he would contact me when he had got a solicitor in the Manchester area that would take the case on.
It was quite a while before he had any success, I had rang the office as I thought they had forgotten but he said he was having problems getting a solicitor willing to take on the nature of work against another solicitor.
I expect it is more likely that they cover up for each other.
Eventually I got a phone call to say the only one he was able to locate was in Huddersfield; there were none in the Manchester area willing to take on this kind of work.
He told me over the phone what would happen. He would send the solicitors all my papers to read and then the solicitor would send me an appointment to see him.
He would then advise me if he would take the case on and the case would be transferred to the solicitor, I would have no further dealings with the law society. This became a big worry to me as I was now familiar with the law society and felt I could trust them, I was not looking forward to getting involved with another solicitor, and did feel like cancelling it but knew it would seem bad as the law society were doing their best for me.
I finally got an appointment in November 2003 at 12.30 and I felt very apprehensive when it got close to the date.
When the day came I woke up feeling dreadful my breathing was bad and I had a sore throat , I was dreading going but I did and when I met the solicitor I did feel more at ease as he seemed kind, but I kept reminding myself that the corrupt one I was complaining about seemed just as kind.
He had read everything he had been sent and seemed to think I had a good case but would need more medical records and the IR report, and then he said he would very likely take the case on and should be able to get me compensation.
It seemed to me like going back to square one back into the hands of a solicitor I hardly knew and to make matters worse a lot further from home.
He assured me I would not have to pay any fee at all, but I felt sick with worry thinking it was possible he could act on my behalf and then give me a big bill.
Also I did not feel I could cope again sorting everything out to send and all the aggro of it so I told him I was sorry but I just felt unable to cope with it all.
He did understand but he said there was no chance I would get compensation from the law society which I knew anyway, but he did think they would be able to get some if not all my money back and I said that would suit me.
He told me he would sort it with the law society, I have no idea what he told them , I was so relieved to get out and go home.
I phoned the manager at the law society, who was surprised I had not gone along with the solicitors advise but told me my caseworker would contact me but warned me of the difficulties they faced as they were unable to use medical records, he did think they would be able to get some of my money back though.
It went on quite a while and time was flying by.
I kept writing letters and phoning and although the caseworker was doing his best the solicitor was proving to be difficult.
The caseworker had not the experience of dealing with someone so arrogant and corrupt, and the solicitor was not responding with the caseworkers’ requests for paperwork he required.
When I had been with the law society for two years I decided I was going to cancel and try to get some money back through the small claims court.