My solicitor is trying to duck all responsibility for the negotiations at my FDR in 2007 - at the time I thought he was there to be useful as a go-between between me and the barrister - to interpret proceedings for me and to advise the barrister on what I wanted - given that the barrister had arrived at court too late for the scheduled pre- district judge's appointment conference - and was unintelligible.
If at FDR your barrister is doing the runaround and reporting back and your solicitor's running around with him - is your solicitor jointly responsible for a bad deal?
What are solicitors for at FDR if you also have a barrister ?
I wasn't asked what I wanted at the time- I assumed it was necessary.

maggie wrote:
What are solicitors for at FDR if you also have a barrister ?

I wasn't asked what I wanted at the time- I assumed it was necessary.

What are they there for!? To double your bill of course!!! Seriously though; they're there to back-up the Barrister; (I see this as an admin position; of drawing attention to bits of relevant paperwork, since they actively know the Case)

It becomes about what THEY want! And how THEY want to direct your Case; so THEY win!!!

You and your ex become Pawns in their game.

My ex considered me FAIRLY - until he started working with 'them'. They had their own agenda - telling him "she'll get no change out of us" . So it became a fight, and guess who's getting richer in our fight!?

Them.

maggie,
the way I understand it solicitors can represent you at any stage but they prefer to appoint a barister to do this job and they are the go-between you and the barrister.I do not agree with the norm of the barrister see you about half hour before the hearing and try to study your case but I think this is done to cut down cost.
Just had AR yesterday,which went very well.
I requested to meet the barrister days before the court.
I spent 2 hours with him and the solicitor and we went through everything.I had a lot of input as I am the one who knows more about my case and have my best interest at heart.
We had a lot of work to do as x2b did not give us his bank statements until 2 days before the court case.They were very entertainings!!
I met my barrister 20mins before the due time and compared new findings which we both found very useful.
At the end of the hearing ,which altogether took 4 hrs,at 6pm we were still in court, he took me to a room just not to bump into x2b going out.
We had a little chat and he advised me that now I should consider mediation ,to move forward if x2b requests as it will be cheaper but most people think that barristers want to get as much money as possible from you,he did not come across like that.
I believe that spending a bit extra on legal aid prior to court does pay dividend and should be the norm!!

Thanks marriaa - we need to know what good practice looks like so that people coming on after us know what to look for/demand?
Was yesterday's hearing your Financial Dispute Resolution hearing?

Hi Maggie

Firstly it is rare for a qualified solicitor to attend counsel at FDR - there are few cases that merit it and cases that fall into that category are ones that are complex in terms of facts and/or law or big money cases where usually the assets themselves are fairly complex. The solicitor personally will also attend if the client is deemed to be one that requires a high degree of imput - i.e a difficult client, one that is particularly upset or in some other way needy. Outside of this it is simply far to expensive to justify the costs of a barrister and a qualified solicitor.

Outside of the above, most firms would send a clerk along. The reason counsel is accompanied is to protect him or her from any suggestion of undue pressure; to protect you in terms of making sure you understand what is going on and to generally take the role of hand holder; to assit generally in making sure counsel has everything necessary to proceed properly and to take a good detailed note, especially in cases where a client wants to settle against advice.

It would be very rare for a solicitor to join in negotiations if the FDR is barrister led, as the solicitor would tend to take the second chair as it were, although if of course what they think counsel is aiming at is beyond the realms of the case, or if they think you either are being pressured or dont understand, it is up to them to speak up at that point in time and tell counsel that there is a problem.

Amanda

Hi maggie ,
It was only AR,maintenance pending suite,
I have given some details on AR forum.Will keep wiki update of my case and experience

Thanks Marriaa - fascinating to see someone else's AR progress.
Amanda - hello - I hope you're well.
I'm afraid I couldn't understand my barrister at the FDR - it was all smooth sotto voce and rattled off like a machine gun - I felt as though I was cramping his ­style­.
Signing the Consent Order was a blessed relief. I couldn't wait to get the hell out.
I just hoped nothing had gone too badly wrong but I really hadn't a clue.