Dispute Resolution Solicitors in London

I instructed a solicitor to pursue a personal injury claim but feel that they settled the claim for less than it was worth. Can I pursue a claim against the solicitor?

When you instruct a solicitor to pursue a claim for damages, you rely on the solicitor to advise you on what losses you can claim and what these are worth. If a solicitor has failed to include certain losses within your claim, or incorrectly valued your claim, causing you loss, then you may be able to pursue a claim for professional negligence

In order to pursue such a claim, we consider the solicitor’s file relating to the personal injury claim. We would need to assess what information and evidence they had available and whether the advice and valuation the solicitor gave you was within a range of what a reasonably competent solicitor would advise. If it wasn’t, then you may have grounds to pursue a claim.

The leaseholder has breached the terms of their lease. As the landlord what can I do?

As the lease is a contractual agreement it would be possible for you to take legal action against the leaseholder in the county court. The potential options would be to seek an injunction, order for specific performance and/or damages. The ultimate sanction could be to seek forfeiture of the lease.

Can you help me with a small claim?

A small claim is one which is valued up to £10,000 and would be dealt under the County Court Small Claims track if the claim is defended. Regardless of whether the claimant or defendant is successful at the final hearing, the court will rarely order the losing party to pay the winning party’s solicitors’ costs apart from court fees. Therefore, we don’t usually act for clients in small claims because we appreciate that the legal costs can become too much when weighed up against the likely benefit, including the amount of compensation a winning party can get back from the losing party.

Can you provide simple initial advice?

We fully appreciate that the court system can be daunting and intimidating for ordinary members of the public. Added to that, the court’s procedures and terminology can cause more confusion. For that reason, we are more than happy to provide simple initial advice in the early stages of the claim, which can be limited to helping you draft a claim form or a defence depending on whether you are claimant or defendant. We can also provide general advice regarding court procedures including what preparation you need to do for the final hearing.

How can I pay for my case?

We will always explore all possible ways of funding your case.

We check with clients whether they have the benefit of legal expenses insurance (also known as before-the-event insurance). This type of insurance is normally found on household or motor insurance policies, but we would always advise you to check all your insurance policies. Some premium bank accounts and credit cards can also provide it too. If you do have such cover then you should notify the insurance provider straight away.
We also carry out some legally aided litigation work subject to you passing all eligibility criteria set out by the Legal Aid Agency, but legal aid is very limited for dispute resolution cases. 

I can't afford to progress my case, is there anything you can do?

If you can’t afford to progress your case, we might be able to act on a conditional fee agreement basis, sometimes known as a “no win, no fee” agreement. This would normally involve a percentage deduction from any compensation you receive. We may also be able to broker after-the-event insurance to provide cover against liability for the costs of the opposing party if your case is unsuccessful.

There are some types of cases that we handle, which you may be able to progress through a third-party funding arrangement. This type of arrangement is usually between a specialist funding company and, more typically, the claimant in a case. The third-party funder agrees to pay some, or all, of your legal fees in exchange for a proportion of the damages that you recover from your opponent.

I'm a privately paying client

For privately paying clients we charge for work based on time spent on a case. At the outset of a case, you will be provided with details of the relevant lawyers’ charging rates as well as being provided with estimates of time and costs throughout the duration of your case for each specific stage of work.

My next door neighbour has erected a structure which is partly located on his land and partly on my driveway even though he has no right of way to access my land. What do I do?

You may need to apply to the Court for an injunction and to issue proceedings on the basis that your neighbour is trespassing and committing a nuisance on your land. You should seek legal advice if you are in any doubt.

An elderly relative asked me to move in with them to help look after them. I was promised a share in their property & I looked after them for 4 years. However when they died I was not included in their will. How can I get my share of the property?

Ideally any such arrangements should be registered on the property’s title entries held by HM Land Registry at the time they are made, though often this isn’t done.

For your claim to be successful you’ll have to prove that the promise was made to you and that you reasonably relied on that promise, to your detriment.

How can I prove that I relied on my elderly relatives promise?

This will often involve talking to other members of the family and people that were close to the deceased about what they may have said about their property and you caring for them. If it can be established that a promise was made then consideration will have to be given to whether it was reasonable to rely on the promise, as well as to your employment prospects (i.e. what opportunities you may have turned down or missed as a result of relying on the promise that you would receive a share of the property).

These situations are rarely clear cut and often involve a long history of complex facts. If you’re in this situation, it’s a good idea to seek legal advice.

When should I get advice from a dispute resolution lawyer?

If you’re involved in any kind of legal dispute, we would always recommend that you get advice as soon as possible rather than let the dispute escalate or remain unresolved.

Once we’ve had an opportunity to meet with you to find out all the relevant facts about your case, as well as consider all the key documents and correspondence, we’ll be able to assess whether you have a strong case or not.

If you have a case with good prospects of success we will help you advance your claim as economically as possible. But there are times when our advice may be that your case is not strong and we will endeavour to resolve the dispute as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Ultimately, we will try our best to achieve the optimum result for you given all the circumstances of your case and keep in mind ways of trying to settle the case so that legal costs are kept down and remain in proportion to the amount/issue in dispute.

With the broad depth of knowledge in our experienced Dispute Resolution team, you can be assured that your case will be allocated to the lawyer best suited to your case, who will help you throughout.