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Withers to pay £100k plus costs over negligent Chelsea garden advice

This case demonstrates the lack of consumer protection for the clients of lawyers. Only those of equal power - i.e. other lawyers or equivalent have the means to challenge lawyers in cases of alleged negligence. I also instructed senior partners in Withers LLP to oversee a property transaction. I also believe that negligence took place. However unlike Jerrey Herrmann I did not have the means to take the case to trial and therefore I am unable to prove or claim that Withers should have accepted responsibility for the alleged negligence. As a non-legally trained individual with no previous experience of litigation matters I had no knowledge of other means to fund a case such as CFAs. The Legal Ombudsman only deals with cases such as poor service and not alleged negligence. This lack of consumer protection is unacceptable in a supposedly democratic society. I am therefore campaigning for reforms in consumer protection for clients of lawyers – any client of a lawyer who believes that a firm they have instructed in a property or business transaction has been negligent should be entitled to a free, independent hearing. This would help to alleviate much of the distress suffered by individuals such as I and other ordinary professionals who find themselves in this position. It would also promote public confidence in the legal profession. This would also be beneficial to any law firm who believes that such a claim for alleged negligence is spurious – it would provide a forum in which the issue could be resolved in the most economical manner.

2-Feb-2013

12:22 pm