“I know my rights” is an oft-used expression when someone is being pushed around, whether that be in a public place, or at home, when a perceived victim is espousing such a view during a television drama. When it comes to rights under the Solicitors Act 1974 (the Act), however, do clients have any idea what rights, if any, they have against the firms of solicitors they instruct when it comes to the hefty fees they are often charged for conducting litigation?
The answer to that is likely to be “only if you tell them”, since the Act is such an arcane and outdated piece of legislation that the man on the Clapham Omnibus (see judgment of Greer LJ in Hall v Brooklands Auto Racing Club) or indeed his opposite gender counterpart and, most likely, any director of the company which retained the firm, will have little or no idea unless they have encountered the Act in a previous incarnation.
