Fat cat lawyers ?

[Osem]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/7729956.stm

I wonder when HMG will get tough on excessive legal fees. Oh that's right Parliament's full of lawyers isn't it.....

Almost 17 million in 2006 just how much money do these people need? as Jean Valijean might have said" you will be first up against the wall come the revolution"

I have never known a situation where the involvment of a lawyer didn't make it worse. Most of them are parasites promoting misery and unhappiness to make cash.

At the risk of getting jumped on I am related to a retired solicitor whom has never been 'rich' and was never a fat cat..Mainly because he was a little independent business operating in Brixton..

I don't think the thread is aimed at the old small local type solicitors Maggy more at the new type of any case for no reason other then money type which seems to be the majority of them these days. Damn i missed the oppurtunity to jump on a mod .

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

At the risk of getting jumped on I am related to a retired solicitor whom has never been 'rich' and was never a fat cat..Mainly because he was a little independent business operating in Brixton..

To be fair, this thread is dedicated to the fat cat minority not the decent hardworking variety (who almost certainly make up the vast majority) whose hard work and diligence has put right many wrongs and whose considerable efforts I have first hand experience of.

Originally Posted by Osem

To be fair, this thread is dedicated to the fat cat minority not the decent hardworking variety (who almost certainly make up the vast majority) whose hard work and diligence has put right many wrongs and whose considerable efforts I have first hand experience of.

To be honest I was protesting at the generalisation in post #3.

[Osem]

That's OK then

Thats why i used the word most Maggy i know there are some decent ones but i was also referring to QC's not solicitors and most of them are what i said from the many i have met.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Osem

To be fair, this thread is dedicated to the fat cat minority not the decent hardworking variety (who almost certainly make up the vast majority) whose hard work and diligence has put right many wrongs and whose considerable efforts I have first hand experience of.

But the Legal Aid Fund goes to all of those lawyers. Hardworking and supposedly fat cat. You also need to remember that while the brief might be charging that rate he is charging it to cover office costs, administrative support costs etc.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

But the Legal Aid Fund goes to all of those lawyers. Hardworking and supposedly fat cat. You also need to remember that while the brief might be charging that rate he is charging it to cover office costs, administrative support costs etc.

Hmmm..... I think you might be being a tad generous to some to our less honest legal folk... I think what's being alleged is that they earned the big bucks by taking a fat slice of the compensation recovered.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Osem

Hmmm..... I think you might be being a tad generous to some to our less honest legal folk... I think what's being alleged is that they earned the big bucks by taking a fat slice of the compensation recovered.

Hmmm, was the 2500 settlement after or before fees? 2500 is less than 10 hours of mlearnedgentlemens billable so a contingency may / may not be in the best interests of the client. Though these days may be more the case of filing the correct paperwork.
Thats the problem with contingency fees, they can result in a big payout to the lawyer, but if there is a loss the lawyer is eating the time for 0 fee income.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Hmmm, was the 2500 settlement after or before fees? 2500 is less than 10 hours of mlearnedgentlemens billable so a contingency may / may not be in the best interests of the client. Though these days may be more the case of filing the correct paperwork.
Thats the problem with contingency fees, they can result in a big payout to the lawyer, but if there is a loss the lawyer is eating the time for 0 fee income.

That may be the nub of it - was there any realistic chance of any of these claims failing? If not then a slice of the payout agreed might be considered unfair.

Just found this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/7735996.stm

[Osem]

Well they've been struck off !

and according to this:

"The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s (SDT - a division of the High Court) Annual Report to April 2007 reveals that only 67 Solicitors were struck off the Solicitors Roll when up to 17,000 Solicitors were reported to the Law Society year on year. Are 16,900+ complainants completely wrong or is this a really poor return?"

that's not exactly a common occurrence...

Originally Posted by Osem

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/7729956.stm

I wonder when HMG will get tough on excessive legal fees. Oh that's right Parliament's full of lawyers isn't it.....

What John Mann the MP who took the firm to court didn't mention was, the amount of money paid out by Berresfords in taking British Coal to court fighting for the money the miners got for instance, it was Berresfords who started the deafness claims with British Coal, it was Berresfords who started the Vibration white finger claim against the Coal Board, it was Berresfords who started the chest claims against the Coal Board. If Berresfords hadn't started these claims in the first place the miners mentioned wouldn't have got ANY compensation. Berresords forked out money when all the other Solicitors walked away because they thought it was a non starter.

Berresfords acted for my late father with his claim for his chest illness, my father got one of the highest payouts in Nottighamshire which was in the £100,000+ area all he had to pay Berresfords was £275, for this £275 they took the calim to court, they acted on behalf of you when it came to you getting a fair claim, they even paid for you to have a private medical, they made sure the claim ran smoothly.

So Basically if it wasn't for Berresfords taking a risk with the Vibration white finger, deafness, and chest claims the miners woudn't have got any money from British Coal, they forked out money when all the other firms ran away.

John Mann is a very bitter man indeed.