Solicitor's obligations to client?

I

ivorystraws

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Hi,

Just wondering whether once a solicitor has been appointed to deal with a case by a client, are they obliged to do anything i.e. is not too uncommon that once a solicitor is appointed to deal with a case, that the solicitor never contacts the client, never provides an update or brief's the client until the offending party is ready to provide a settlement?
Is there an outline of what should ensue once a solicitor is appointed to deal with a case online somewhere or should the client continue to contact the solicitor to obtain updates on the progress of a typical case?
 
It might not be best practice but it can often happen that once a case is taken on a solicitor doesnt contact a client until and unless they need further information or a development occurs that requires direction from the client. I suppose like anything else unless it is made clear at the outset that the client requires regular feed back- even if that involves telling the client that nothing has happened or that it is still ongoing- then the solicitor may simply omit to do so. These types of actions can see long pauses where little or nothing seems to be happening- it is the nature of the beast. However as long as the file is being kept up to date, and time limits are being strictly kept to, then there is no necessity for the client to worry. If you are unhappy that you are not being kept up to date then you should contact your solicitor and simply tell them that you would appreciate being kept up to date with a regular update from them. If they don't co-operate and don't give a reason why, then review your decision to hire them.
 
Thanks Vanilla, that makes sense. If the decsion to hire them was reviewed and the client wanted to engage another solicitor's services, is it easy to transfer over to another solicitor?
 
If the solicitor is being reasonable, then to switch to another solicitor you simply give the new solicitor an authority- they send the authority to the old solicitor and ask for the file. The old solicitor can either accept an undertaking from the new solicitor to be paid out of the award or settlement on completion or may insist on being paid their fees to date ( and are entitled to do so) before releasing the file.

If the solicitor is unreasonable ( as can happen), they can only delay the file being taken over as a worst case scenario, because if there is an unreasonable delay and you as client complain to the Law Society, they will insist on the file being handed over within a reasonable length of time. In fact there is a High Court application which your new solicitor can take for the hand over of the file in any case.
 
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