Other solicitors

I'm always amused by claims made by other solicitors and concerned when a lot of them don't appear to be quite as honest as they should be.

I regularly hear potential clients give me an account of their escapades that discloses a potential defence or special reason for avoiding a driving disqualification.  I'll give them an honest opinion based on the information they've given me only to be told that another solicitor has told them that he or she can guarantee an acquittal.  It doesn't take a genius to work out that anybody who can guarantee an acquittal is selling snake oil, especially when the claim is made without having seen any evidence whatsoever.

Success rates are another favourite claim of mine - personally I tell anybody who calls that I don't keep a record of success rates because they are rather meaningless.  If I decide to only take cases I'm likely to win then I can engineer a very high success rate.  Alternatively, I might get to my chosen success rate by excluding particular types of case, e.g. where a client doesn't follow my advice or where a defence witness doesn't show up to court.  Things can always go wrong that aren't the solicitors fault so you can quickly exclude pretty much anything you like.

One firm I've come across recently claims "94% Cases defended at court!"  Now, I have no idea what that means.  Does it mean that they show up to 94% of court hearings, i.e. that they don't bother to attend 6% of their client's hearings?  Maybe it means that in 94% of cases they showed up and did their best but in 6% they didn't really try hard.  It could mean that of all the people that have come to them they have taken 94% of those people and their cases to trial.  I have no idea what it means, but big numbers do sound good don't they?

Interestingly, I've come across a specialist motoring law solicitors who only defend drivers accused of crimes.  Their website talks about their great advocacy but none of the staff hold any advocacy accreditations.  More interestingly, out of all the solicitors employed at this criminal motoring law firm only one claims to specialise in criminal law - others appear to be specialists in commercial dispute resolution and commercial litigation.

I'm sure that I will continue to hear more bizarre claims from my fellow solicitors in future.

Comments

  1. The Justice of the Peace15 October 2014 at 13:41

    "I'm sure that I will continue to hear more bizarre claims from my fellow solicitors in future"

    Feel free to drop into my court anytime to hear bizarre claims.

    ReplyDelete

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