Law Society of Scotland - The Journal Online

What would you have done differently in order to
protect your position better than Scott appears
to have done?
Risk management issues to be considered:
■ To minimise this sort of risk, it is important
that regular client contact is maintained
throughout. How regular?
■ Importance of diarying files, conducting
regular file reviews
■ Clients should be clearly warned of the
possible consequences of failing to deal with
correspondence.
■ Client should be warned that if they are to
be absent from the country for an extended
period they must let their solicitor know;
wherever possible, a contact name and
number should be provided to enable the
solicitor to obtain urgent instructions.
■ Use of letters of disengagement / nonengagement
■ Were there factors which perhaps ought to
have prompted Scott to anticipate that the
client might be uncontactable for periods of
time and to plan accordingly? The client’s
name, for instance; the nature of his job?
■ Did Zoltan appreciate that his resignation
alone did not release him from his liability to
the bank and landlords?
■ Note – Scott was approached by one of the
other partners when the partnership went
bust. Was Scott also acting for the
partnership/other partners? Could there be
the potential for an allegation of conflict of
interest?
See article ‘When clients ask and expect too
much’ JLSS August 2000
Distribution of clients funds
How do you avoid finding yourself in the following
situations?
■ A solicitor acting in the administration of
an estate sent a cheque to one of the
beneficiaries for £15,100 instead of £11,500.
The mistake was only uncovered when the
final executry account was being prepared
and the final distribution was being made
some months later.
Journal
Risk Management
■ A client instructed his solicitors to invest the
proceeds of a property sale for his four
grandchildren and paid to them, in equal
shares, when they reached the age of 21.
When the eldest grandchild reached age 21,
she contacted the solicitors and asked for
the money. The solicitors closed the
account in which the funds were invested
and issued a cheque for the entire proceeds
to the eldest grandchild. The error only
came to light when the next eldest
grandchild approached the solicitors after
her twenty first birthday.
■ A holiday cottage had been purchased by
a group of four friends to be used on an
informal ‘time share’ basis. There had been
35 April 2003 Volume 48 No 4