(This article was originally published, 1 March 2013, at the Money section of The Times. For the original please press here.)
Photo credit:Image bank/Getty Images (taken from The Times website)
Consumer Affairs:
Many couples going through divorce are getting poor quality legal advice and paying rip-off charges, according to a report by the Legal Ombudsman.
The legal watchdog’s study found that more clients feel let down using divorce-related legal services than any other. It reported that 13 per cent of people were dissatisfied with their lawyer in divorce cases compared to 7 per cent for legal services as a whole.
It warned that clients are being given false estimates about costs, heightening the emotional trauma of breaking up. In one case, a lawyer estimated cost of around £10,000 for a woman’s divorce and the associated work. By the end of the case she was billed for more than double this amount and the firm provided no justification as to why this has occurred. The Ombudsman decided that the firm should cut the final bill by £15,000.
According to the report, 18 per cent of complainants said they did not receive an adequate service. In one case a lawyer posing as a ‘divorce specialist’ was hired even though he did not have enough knowledge of matrimonial law. He used the client’s money to pay a barrister – raising the cost substantially – and lost key documents.
The report follows the announcement of new measures introduced by the Ministry of Justice at the beginning of January, including an extra £10 million of funding, to help divorcing couples avoid court battles.
Greek Voice UK 