Better outcome and value representing myself
A- Outcome:
- My case was a success in Court as I have obtained everything I wanted (which AS said would be unlikely to obtain).
- The total cost (see ‘Follow-up’ section below) using FM was £1,600 for pieces of advice I did not follow and would have damaged my case if I did.
B- Events:
- In July 2023, I contacted Freemans Solicitors ("FM") for a Family matter involving my ex-partner.
- I was put in contact with Andriana S. (“AS”) who gave me a price (£600) to pay as an account to start reviewing documents related to my case.
- Once I had sent the documents over, to Adriana, I was then told that due to the length of one document, the price to pay was now £1,000 (that was a ‘red flag’).
- Following payment of the £1,000 account I met virtually with AS whom I advised on my objectives and on the approach I think would work for me.
- I found (because of some personal comments she made to me) that AS lacked of neutrality/impartiality, to the point that both my [current] partner and I felt/interpreted that AS involved herself on a ‘personal' level - this was uncomfortable.
- AS's oral pieces of advice and comments (such as "your case is very complex" (which I believe was not), it [the approach I suggested] will not work in Court", "you will need on-going representation"... etc.) were ‘red flags’ to me as I thought FM had very experienced professionals - AS seems to just display knowledge of the Law but not use the Law to advocate and make the case based on the facts and its specificities. This, for me, was not the attitude of an ambitious professional working in the best interest of her client and who wants to win (especially considering the strength of my case (considering the outcome)).
- Following this virtual meeting, I received AS's 2,000 words (I think it was) report and chose not to pursue with FM as I believed that the pieces of advice were not in line with my objectives and would have damaged my case - I chose to represent myself in Court and did what I thought was best which was the opposite of what AS had recommended in her report.
C- Follow-up:
- In July 2024 (a year after all this was over), I received a threatening email from Michelle M. / FM’s billing department asking me to pay £599.95 + approx. £50 interest for arrears. I was astounded!
- I challenged and was told I had an unpaid invoice.
- Following my challenge and complaint, I was told that there was an unpaid invoice sent by AS a year ago (which I found in my inbox later), and advised FM that as I did not want to be represented by them a year ago, I never opened any follow-up emails from AS which I thought were just to upsell her services (the email was to upsell her services, but also contained an invoice which I had missed).
- I questioned why I was not chased for payment of this invoice earlier than 1 year after the case to then claim arrears.
- FM waived the arrears but ended up paying £600 (+ 0.05 cents on the £599.95 they charged me when rounding up for the card payment – that I did not even bother challenging).
D- Total Bill:
- £1,600 for pieces of advice I did not follow and would have damaged my case if I did.
E- My view:
1- FM focus too much on creating revenue streams (as sales people) from clients when dealing with them instead of delivering outstanding value (from their core job, being more ambitious legal professionals) to build customer loyalty which would then build revenue streams for the business.
2- Considering the hourly rate of AS (£300 / hour) this would mean I was charged for 5.33 hours of work on my case: seeing the deliverable (advice and report), I believe that I was either overcharged or they are not competent enough justifying they would have spent that much time on my case that I ended up handling successfully myself.
3- If one can represent themselves, going well prepared in Court, FM will bring no value to one’s case.
Hope that helps with your decision.
25. Juli 2024
Bewertung ohne vorherige Einladung