Memorandum submitted by Mr Alan Horsell
I understand that you are in support of the
National Audit Office Report that, to summarise, the legal profession
do not make sufficient use of low cost mediation services in some
of the many divorce cases that come before them. Whilst I agree
with this, may I bring to your attention also the effects of poor
quality legal representation that divorce contestants can do little
about. The present redress for people of low income and ability
is sufficiently difficult and ineffective to prevent them ever
contemplating a complaint.
I have an employee who several years ago gained
an agreement through the courts giving him a percentage of his
property once his children came of age. This is a perfectly normal
situation that has gone sour due to the original court not qualifying
when the property value should be dated. The result is that a
man of no particular wealth now has to go back and fight for the
value to be set at today's date, against his ex-wife's solicitor
claiming a value at the original date of the agreement some years
ago. All this achieves is more money in the lawyers pockets after
they did a poor job in the first place. I see no redress for situations
like this.
I hope you have the opportunity to present this
opinion to those interested.
8 March 2007
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