Can my solicitor do this?

K

kushrova

Registered User
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I'm in the process of buying a house.

I haven't signed contracts yet but am due to next week at some stage.

Because of a bad experience I had a year or two ago where I nearly had to go to court to get out of a property contract (I did in the end) I need my solicitor to make sure that all the t's are crossed on this contract and I'm fully protected etc should anything go wrong.

I was dealing with a solicitor in a firm over the last few months but she left last Friday week. I was under pressure to get things moving forward this week so called the solicitors to speak to the person I was told was now dealing with things. After three days of trying to contact this person (being told he either was not there, was busy or would call me back) I insisted that someone call me back.

I got a call from a girl who didnt seem to know much about my purchase etc. I sent her an email basically to bring her up to speed. I heard nothing back from her but then recieved an email today which said that due to staff changes they cant give me the attention that I request at this time and that a new solicitor is stating on March 1st who can deal with my case at this time. She said that if I need immediate attention she suggests instructing another solicitor and will only charge me a reduced rate for work done up to now.

Im completely disgusted because I'm under pressure to sign next week and cant wait any longer. If I change solicitors now can they actually charge me considering they are telling me that they basically cant fulfill their commitment to me?

Also can anybody suggest a good solicitor in the city centre(dublin) who is good with property contracts?
 
A lot of solicitors let many members of their conveyancing staff go in the past year.

Perhaps you could consider a practice like Lavelle Coleman of 51-52 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2.

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Una O'Connor is an expert in Contract Law if I recall correctly.
 
If you were very happy with the work carried out by your original solicitor, go looking for them....maybe they've gone to another practice?

I had a similar thing happen to me when we built our home, the solicitor that I was working with left - she wasn't able to say where she went but the secretary knew and willingly gave me the info as she could see what little attention I was getting from the replacement.

This original solicitor is still my one of choice 6 years later.
 
The original solicitor was excellent but she left to go back to college teaching. If I go to another solicitor now(which I really have no choice but to do) I dont see why I should pay the last crowd a penny seeing as they have more or less said that they cant do anything more for me right now. And even when this new solicitor starts im sure its going to take him a few weeks to get in to his stride. Thanks for the solicitor rec by the way. Any others just so I have a choice of a few
 

If they are willing to hand files over to a new solicitor of your choice then tell them they will only be able to charge you the difference of what your new solicitor charges you for completing the work and what the first firm quoted you.
 

It has taken months of dealing with your previous solicitor to get to the point where you are due to sign contracts next week? And you feel you shouldn't pay any fee? Hmmm. Sounds wrong to me. Sounds like there were problems, or that you are a client who demands extra time and explanation and either way, that increases time spent on your file, and that in turn means billable hours.

Practically any general practice firm will be able to deal with conveyancing for you but they won't take a file from another firm without that other firm's fee being paid first.
 
Just to clarify I put my deposit down last June on this house. I thought that I would have been well in at this stage but between one thing and another it hasnt happened yet. I have a very good relationship with the developer that I am buying from and he has given me a massive reduction in price on the condition that I sign before the end of next week. No point in anybody saying the usual about the state of the market and developers not being able to demand conditions such as the above etc. I agreed to this and my solicitor was fully aware of this. The girl that I was originally dealing with was nice and helpful but at the end of the day it will probably be another 3 weeks in reality before they can bring me in to sign contracts. The fact that they are waiting on a new solicitor to start is their problem but certainly should not be mine. And for the record Vanilla I would have thought conveyancing contracts were some of the most strauight forward and I certainly did not demand extra time and certainly did not get any. I think at one stage a few months or so went by without any contact from my solicitor. They really did not go anywhere beyond the call of duty.
 
Unfortunately for you they are not required to go beyond the call of duty.

You'll have to pay them for their services to date.

Get control of your purchase back and don't yield to pressure to sign next week if you're not ready.
 

Great customer service there. Basically you have to wait for them to organise themselves.
 
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