Dispute Solicitor''s Legal Aid bill

I used a solicitor through legal aid until I was able to increase my working hours which meant I was no longer eligible so I dispensed with their services in May 2014. I went on to successfully complete a final hearing in January 2015 on my own with an outcome far exceeding anything the solicitor told me I would get.

I received a large bill in November 14 which I delayed due to the fact that the final hearing had not taken place. In January I reviewed it and raised a number of questions about the charges.
1 - it appeared they had charged me twice for one piece of work
2 - they included court fees that I would not have had to pay as I was on JSA or low income at the time
3 - they billed me for time in court that my solicitor spent most of the time with another client.

They have come back to me again today asking for me to sign a new ADMIN1 form and told me to forward my concerns direct to the Legal Aid agency to deal with. Surely only the solicitors can answer some of these concerns. I do not want to sign anything that contains an amount that I do not agree with.

Also I have been asked to sign to register the monies owed as a charge against my property that I was awarded in the final hearing. It states that all the registered proprietors need to sign, would this include my ex who is currently still named on the deeds and refusing to sign the paperwork to remove his name (I have had to apply to court to get a judge to sign the forms for him).

Many thanks

If you have a complaint you must follow the complaint procedure before anything else.

If you have an issue with the costs that have been charged you should receive a copy of the bill from the solicitor. You can make written representations in relation to this and those will be carried forward to an assessment by the LAA or by the court depending upon the value of the bill.

The ADMIN1 is no good if the property is jointly owned. If the property is to be transferred into your sole name the ADMIN1 could still be used.

As the costs are to be determined I would advise the solicitor that you will deal with the repayment once the costs (and complaint) have been resolved.

Charles