Can My Solictor Do This?

[Mum-2-One]

We got a solictor a year back because we had nearly 10k of assets taken by so called friends. The police were useless at the time, they said that the theft was not a criminal matter.

We rented our friends garage, we have known them for years and have done it before. We were moving house and were about to stay in rented accommodation until our house was ready. We were giving them £40 per week to keep the goods at their garage, we had a key for it.

When we moved we went to retrieve our goods to find that the items were gone! We went to the police who looked into it (apparently). Well after months they said their was no criminal laws that had been broken. They said that my friends did admit to selling the goods just a few days before we collected the goods.

They were seen at an auction house with our goods and I told the police this, however they didnt look into that. The auction was just a few days after we stored the goods at their place! After talking to the auctioneer at the auction house, he confirmed that the goods did go earlier than they claimed but couldnt say what was sold.

The police said it was a civil matter and we were to go to a solictor, which we did do. Today we get a letter saying that they can no longer represent us as they have defended one of our friends before! Why did this take a year for them to say to us??

My friend was living with her boyfriend, she claimed that it was her boyfriend who made the deal with us (was both and is her house!). We feel the reason for this is that he is on jobseekers and therefore we cant sue him!

Now im worried that this solictor is going to end up representing them, surely he cant? He knows every detail of our case and therefore it would be comprimised?

[ummmm]

When I went to my solicitors the first thing she done was to search to see if they had ever represented the other party.

[Mum-2-One]

We got a letter today saying that they appear to have represented the defendant in a seperate and unrelated matter and would be inappropriate for them to continue to act on our behalf against his own client!

Im fuming, the law in this country is a joke. It seems since the start that this matter has been a joke, the police didnt care and now the solictor.

We couldnt claim on our insurance because the items werent on our property!

[ummmm]

I'd put a complaint in against the solicitors. I presume you have letters proving they were acting for you?

[tonyav]

I would get in touch with the law ombudsman if i were you.

[ummmm]

That's the word I couldn't remember Tony...lol

[jno]

your (ex-)solicitor is doing the right thing; you need to find another one. Beats me why the police couldn't see a criminal case, though. Didn't you have any evidence at all that the goods belonged to you?

[tonyav]

I know how you feel ummmm, I need to take two parecetomol and have a lie down now, gawd that hurt me brain. lol

[Mum-2-One]

Yes I have kept all letters from him. Im losing heart in this, we worked hard to get our items and they could just go and do this to us! One item was a brand new cot for our son!

I guess I should be 110% honest, my 'friend' is actually my cousin. However I dont see her as that anymore! Infact I dont see her as a friend. Most of the family arent speaking to us now as we got the law involved but she would hardly speak to us about it, we were giving her a chance to pay us back! Then she started stalking us and tried to run us off the road, when I was out walking she drove towards me (I was out with our son in the pram!!!), she went and told my friends a bunch of lies etc.

Ive known her my whole life and I thought if you cant trust family, who can you trust!!

[tonyav]

perhaps the citizens advice could maybe help you out.

[Mum-2-One]

JNO, yes we have receipts of things and things were security marked. They admitted to selling the goods without permission, they even said the auction that the goods went to. However after contacting the auction place, they confirmed that there was no auction on the date they said and the last one was just a few days after we placed the goods with them!

When I told the police that they said they would look into it, I gave them the phone number to the place but they didnt do a thing about it. I even showed them where they signed for receiving payment for storing the items, that was dismissed too.

At one stage in talking with the officer I said that the thing that annoyed me was that the cot had gone, he then more or less called me a liar. Saying I didnt tell him that a cot went missing, I cracked and said I did and he was silent for a while. Then goes "Oh see it wrote here" - no apology or nothing!

[jno]

stalking and running people off the road are also criminal offences. I think you should go back to the police, even though they've let you down once, incomprehensibly. The fact that she's a cousin makes no difference at all.

[ummmm]

Yes jno but the solicitor was dealing with it for a year before they realised they had represented the other party.

A whole year....that's pretty bad practise.

[Mum-2-One]

JNO I did!! They went and talked to her and she denied it. The police said they could do nothing about it unless she actually inflicts an injury.

[Mum-2-One]

ummmm it would be slightly over a year (september last year), but not splitting hairs.

Can he go now and represent the other side? Thats what is mainly playing in my mind!

[chelle7272]

God what a nightmare for you!
As has been advised I would complain about the service by the solicitor, and I would complain about the police response. It seems clear you had evidence enough of the original theft, never mind the harrassment afterward!

[ummmm]

I wouldn't think he would be able to at this point as he technically represented you for a year. Not in this case anyway. But I'm not sure. If barmaid comes on I'll point her to this question as she's a barrister.

[jno]

Yes, that is bad practice, ummmm. Good solicitors NOT to have, in fact. But yes, if they were already representing the other side when Mum first went to them then they did the right thing by not taking Mum as a client. If however the cousin became a client after Mum hired them, that sounds like malpractice.

If these other incidents are taking place without any witnesses, I guess there's nothing much the police can do. But I still think the original theft is a criminal offence. Try the CAB, as someone suggested, they may be able to suggest possible remedies.

[ummmm]

Get another solicitor and they will tell you where you stand with the other one.

Do you get legal aid?

[Mum-2-One]

We complained about the police to the police ombudsman, weve never had to make a police statement before and when the officer was writing the statement he kept saying 'Oh thats not important, we will just leave that out'. His statement was only a page and a bit long.

The ombudsman asked us to write our own statement which was 5 pages long! We had a written statement from the auction house. They came out and seen us and the man said we hadnt been served properly by the police but it was his boss that made the final decision. His decision was that we had! He sent us the report after he interviewed the police officer, who said that we are adding bits that we never told him (liar!!), that we cant accept the police can do nothing, and denied that I gave him information from the auction house!

Ive no respect anymore for the police or the law, my father in law is a police officer with a different branch and is so shocked with how this is being handled.

[Mum-2-One]

JNO the letter says they represented her boyfriend in a seperate and unrelated matter.

I had talked to the CAB who suggested the police ombudsman.