Solicitor Query

[CokeTulip]

Say you go to a solicitor to check something out (any solicitor) - to get their advice and they suggest having a chat about it. (approx 30 mins, not charged for and they do this with everyone).

The solicitor listens to you and you leave and decide not to do anything based on what they say - they have put you right off doing anything further (for whatever reason) and your response to this is that you do nothing as they must know what they are on about.

There is no correspondence so no records and prior to this you had no relationship with them and you never see them again.

My questions are

1) can they call you a client ?

2) can you refer to them as my solicitor or should it be a solicitor?

3) suppose in the brief time they spent with you they didn't ask about some aspects and you didn't mention them, they didn't look at any evidence or ask about it and therefore they couldn't have possibly given you what I would call comprehensive advice (IMO) -

Question ....does them "not having full facts" as above invalidate the advice given and render it invalid or would that advice given still be regarded proper valid advice.
(I didn't have the knowledge to realise the significance of a certain crucial fact at the time so it was never discussed and they never asked either so they did not have the full facts but maybe thought they had enough)

4) How important are these initial appointments ?

(I could have gone to many more practices (I didn't) and asked the same questions and the approach/advice may have been very different depending so in effect you would have had a short relationship with a few solicitors so if you still walked away - which one do you say advised you?


Any information appreciated or experiences. Thanks

[andy-hughes]

An initial consultation is just that - a chat to see if you wish to engage the solicitor, and if they wish to take your instructions.

It is standard for a solicitor to write to you and confirm that they are acting on your behalf - this starts the formal relationship.

If you have not engaged the solicitor - your choice - then you are not classed as a client.

You cannot refer to the solicitor as 'your solicitor', but you are free to say you have consulted 'a' solicitor, as long as you do not name them in a legal context - to a court, or another solicitor.

The advice the solicitor gave can only be based on the information you have shared with them - they are not mind readers, so cannot advise you on facts which may be relevant in a court case, but which you have chosen not to share with them.

If you have not gone beyond the initial free consultation, then you cannot claim to have been advised by any of the solicitors you have spoken to on that basis.

Solicitors' initial consultations are free - as a fact-finding exercise to see of they are suitable for you - not all solicitors deal in all aspects of law, and some specialise in certain areas.

A solicitor's advice is not free - so if you engage their services, and they will write to confirm that you have done so, then you are legally bound to pay for their advice and services, but that does make them 'your' solicitor who has advised you.

Hope this helps.

[CokeTulip]

Thanks so much Andy and this is very clear and makes sense. You learn from your mistakes! This bit sums it up and although this was a large practice - the one I saw was a GP! in law and I didn't know at the time that I needed a certain specialist.

"Solicitors' initial consultations are free - as a fact-finding exercise to see of they are suitable for you - not all solicitors deal in all aspects of law, and some specialise in certain areas".