![]() And if lawyers are fair and reasonable to work with, then we all know who those lawyers are too. Which means if anyone gets a reputation for being overly aggressive, most other lawyers will soon know who they are. I hardly ever needed to though.Īdult social care law is a small world, so us lawyers tend to all know each other in passing. If the social worker was really nervous, we’d agree some kind of signal they could give me if they were floundering and needed me to step in. Often I would agree to attend with them, as a bit of a security blanket, just in case the other solicitor tried any sneaky tricks. And I’d explain to the social worker that it is totally fine to say “I’ll have to find that out” or “that isn’t my decision” if asked a question they don’t know the answer to or can’t answer right now We’d identify the things the solicitor would likely want to know and try to make sure we had that information. Instead, what I would suggest as that we meet beforehand and discuss the case, often with their manager too. The downside, of course, is that if the offending lawyer calls the bluff, there’s a real risk of a substantial costs claim coming the authority’s way!Īnyway, when I worked in house and a social worker would ring me up in a panic, asking how they could stop the solic1itor coming my advice would be “you don’t”. It’s frustrating, but often highly effective. I’ve seen that particular game played more than once. Let’s see who runs out of money and motivation first, ey? Go in too hard and any public authority will most likely pull up the drawbridge and make it impossible to get enough information to establish a clear claim against them, and then just engage in a game of “chicken” with the offending lawyer: try it, I dare ya. They are experts in bureaucracy and misdirection. We can spot a ‘dabbler’ by the tone of their correspondence most of the time.īesides, trying to bully a local authority is a bit like trying to reason with a cat. But more importantly, bullying tactics in this area of law work so rarely that most experienced lawyers won’t agree to take that approach. It’s unlikely that will be an effective strategy though, because most lawyers in the field are legal aid funded, and so their behaviour will be scrutinised and if they are attending meetings without good reason or being overly adversarial, its possible their bill won’t get paid in full. There are rare occasions where a service user or their family might be trying to bring their lawyer as some kind of bullying tactic. Yes, mistrust can go both ways! And if having a lawyer there makes them safer and more likely to be listened to, well what is wrong with that? Sometimes the relationship between professionals and the service user might be strained to the point that they no longer trust the professionals not to take advantage of their lack of understanding of the legal processes involved. This means that the lawyer can’t give very clear advice, so their attendance makes sense. Minutes can be shared, but often by the time these have been typed and approved, the situation will have moved on. They might, for example, have difficulty remembering and relaying the topics of discussion to their lawyer. Well some of us are like that, actually, but most of us aren’t.Īnd there are plenty of perfectly valid reasons why a service user might want their lawyer to attend meetings with them. It is easy to imagine that they are going to cross-examine you, trying to trip you up or get you to agree to something you shouldn’t. Lawyers have a reputation for being somewhat bullish and aggressive. Let me begin by saying that I know that for individual social workers, the idea of going to a meeting with a service user and their solicitor can cause an instant fear reaction. And when I get riled, I write a blog post. Quite why professionals find little, smiley 5’1″ me so scary is not entirely clear (especially as I am fully power-dressed right now in a Lion King hoodie and jeans), but it has riled me up. It has become increasingly apparent to me since I moved out of local authority that my presence is considered somehow intimidating. ![]()
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