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General Litigation advice pls

Am involved in a bit of an irritating dispute with my landlord and I am (for now) just dealing with myself as it is fairly clear their case is rather weak.

Anyway, got a letter from their conveyancing solicitor on Friday which is very aggressive and over the top.  One thing they have raised is the spectre of suggesting my conduct is unbecoming of a solicitor and I should therefore consider the reputational damage I may suffer if this goes to a hearing. 

This is a disgrace in my view,I am sure it is bluster but I dont want any hassle from SRA over a pretty minor dispute.  

Anyone know how to nip that in the bud?

Threatening you with a regulatory issue if you enforce your legal rights? Wasn't there a recent case where a fairly well know law firm had to sit through a rather uncomfortable discussion in the CofA as to when a law firm's letter might constitute blackmail? 

Is your conduct unbecoming of a solicitor? 
 

assuming not and that you're just defending your interests as you are entitled to, what buzz said. I am a litigator but this isn't really a litigation ishoo, this is your landlords sols are threatening bullies ishoo. 

Small time solicitor in writing ridiculous litigious letter shocker. This is the impression that the general public have of the profession sadly.

Unless you are being accused of dishonesty then I wouldn’t worry and as above I would definitely raise the issue.

I would probably go to the SRA and/or go through the firm’s internal complaints procedure - although probably not if they are some two-Bob outfit.

These people are clowns. 

Its now transpired that the scabby estate agent lied to me (which I suspected when I spoke to him) that he had instructed a specialist law firm (not the one who wrote the hilarious letter) and I would be hearing from them in 48 hours.  No such instructions have ever been given.

This whole thing is ludicrous and I am certain I have flushed them out, I need to just do something to turn the tables to get them to drop it and leave me alone.

Can you counter sue for harrassment/time wasting?  Both the agent and the landlord have clearly lied several times.

Thanks all.

Does your landlord supply properties to the local council or perhaps a university?  If so suggest you’ll report him to the council or uni to have him removed from their approved supplier list.  

No, you can't sue them for timewasting.  People are allowed to bluff and will simply say yes they intended that at the time but decided against it on reflection.  If there is no prejudice to you from what they have done then meh.  May prejudice them in costs though as unreasonable behaviour so keep file notes of everything.

You should, however, note that litigants in person are entitled to costs at £19/hour, so very definitely keep a record of your time, including all the nonsense time and what caused it.  Consider pointing out to them what your costs are to date and that you will be claiming them going forward.

As for the SRA, it depend entirely on what you have done, but generally it has to be bad.  Note that as a sol you can't claim you are entitled to something you know you are not, so be careful of that (and be careful to note it is the other side do it).  Obviously be polite at all times, but apart from that fighting your corner is entirely fine.  Tell them to report you to whoever they like

 

Write back saying that you are "surprised" and "disappointed" by their letter but that you, in turn, shall be reporting them to the partner in charge of the case, the senior partner of the firm, the SRA, the Bar Council, the Law Society, the Court, the Judge, the Police, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the ICO, the FCA, the RSPCA, the newspapers and Points of View with Ann Robinson.  That'll soon settle things down.

Always join the pope and the queen into the litigation. My mate as a trainee was sued by a green pen nutter who added in the Queen and the Pope.  Shows class.

I was once sent "Pride and Prejudice" by a litigant in person because, seemingly, I was prejudiced against him for being black.  He also called me a w**ker outside court and I thought he was going to swing for me at one point, but thankfully he simmered down.

I once had a litigant who threatened to report me and my client to a great list of people, amongst them “The Prime Minister Mrs Theresa May”.

That one made me chuckle more than the rest, probably because i couldn’t understand why he thought it necessary to include both her name and job title. Obviously thought I wouldn’t know who he meant if he just said “Theresa May” or “the Prime Minister”. 

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