Spanish Solicitor's Fees

My solicitor and I signed a contract which stated that his fees would be 5% of any monies which we were awarded from the court.   I was awarded euros 63,000 but it looks like my solicitor is billing me for between euros 10,000 and 12,000!!!!   I've asked him to comment.  Surely this cannot be right. Has anyone else had the same problem?

thanks,

John 

It's usually 5% plus expenses, but that does seem a lot of expense! Ask for a detailed bill

I've asked for a fully detailed invoice and I want it in writing but .......  don't hold your breath!  seems everything is over the phone or brief texts.  where is the transparency?   not happy, at all ! 

This happened to us too.  Initially they took their fees but then took 3-4 months to come up with a supporting invoice which was blatantly wrong.  They still haven't addressed several of the issues and that was 12 months ago.  As for the increase in fees they just said it was because the Bar Association rates had gone up during the time of the case.  Would love to hear if anyone has a solution to this problem.

i'm still waiting for any documents from my solicitor about the court cases.  i've received nothing at all, so i have no idea how much interest i was awarded, nor any idea of the interest rate.  i've not had an invoice.  my fees were paid simply by the solicitor witholding a large sum of money from my recovered funds.  there's been no indicatiion as to how much he's charged me. 

maybe it's time for me to engage the help of a different solicitor to look into this.  it stinks, to be honest.  something underhand has happened, in my opinion.  in fact, i didn't even receive all my deposit.  for some unknown reason the bank were allowed to keep euros 3,000!  my solicitor won all the deposit [euros 63,000] at the first instance hearing but lost that euros 3,000 at the appeal court.  

i think i'll contact Maria for her help and advice.  

John,

at times like this we are really British about things and don't complain much.

the other British trait is that when we do eventually start to get upset, we go all out and go to war with them, it's now time for that my friend,

my way of dealing with things like this is to front them up by turning up on their doorstep with a prepared plan, including am interpreter and get very angry (perhaps more a Yorkshire trait).  

Look at the professional standing your solicitor has, contact them (the bar, the association etc) and make a formal complaint.  Put everything in writing and make clear demands for information in realistic timescales (one month maximum). 

Go for it big time John.  Declare war and don't get involved in larger amounts of court or lawyer fees until you have made your case in the strongest terms. 

Thats my advice anyway, you are being treated like some kind of cash cow and your vulnerability and easy nature is being exploited IMHO.   

Hi Brian,  thanks for the info.  i've  got nothing to lose now.  i'll give him 'til next friday to give me some answers if i haven't heard from him by then i will get another solicitor to query his costs.  his fee, according to our contract, is 5% which would mean his fee is around maybe euros 4 - 5 k.  looks like he's taken euros 12 - 15 but without the details, which i've asked him for a number of times i won't know for sure.  i would suspect a different solicitor would be able to find out.

regards,

John

You're lucky to have got away with just 5% fees John.  To date we've been charged 20% + expenses and they've charged tax twice on all of the expenses!  They just took the 'fees' from our returned money without notifying us in advance and then took 4 months to provide an invoice to back it up.  When we queried why the fees were 3 times the amount we expected they just said it was due to the Bar Association rates being increased over the duration of the case.  Naturally the solicitors failed to notify us of any of that information in the intervening years.  We've put in a formal complaint but we just got a one line response back!

What I can't get my head around is that the solicitors fees are exactly the same amount as the barristers fees; has that happened to anyone else?  Can't wait to see what other completely made up fees they come up with for the SC appeal....

Hi,  still waiting for even a reply from lucas associados.  they confirmed that they owe me some money [they won't divulge the amount].  they seem to have charged a hell of a lot more than i expected.  i've still not had an invoice!

regards and good luck, you will need it.

Can you take advice from an English solicitor and threaten action by letter?    

These people seem like absolute scammers. 

Hi Brian, I still haven't decided what to do about this 'robbery'.  i'm wary of giving any other solicitor more of my money on promises of action only to find i am getting nothing for it!  who can you trust?

regards