The Complete Guide to Debt Recovery pptx

T
RECOVERY
ROGER MASON
B
DEB
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
How to use the legal system to collect debts
quickly and painlessly
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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
DEBT RECOVERY
ROGER MASON
Published by Thorogood
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London EC2A 3DU
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© Roger Mason 2003
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This book relates exclusively to the legal system of England and
Wales. It should not be relied upon if the legal system of Scotland
or any other territory applies.
The author
Roger Mason is a Chartered Certified Accountant and a Chartered Secretary.
He started his career with the Midland Bank and worked for the Ford Motor

Company before holding a senior position in the film and television business.
He was then, for 14 years, Finance Director and Company Secretary of a
leading British greetings card company. He has a great deal of practical
experience, particularly in the legal aspects of credit control and in credit
control generally.
Roger writes for several publications and has twelve books published. These
are on subjects related to credit control, accounting, business, company
law and the duties of company directors and company secretaries. He is
joint editor of the prestigious Financial Factbook which is published by Gee
Publishing Ltd.
Roger presents seminars on the subject on which he writes, including the
very successful Legal Aspects of Credit Control. Details of this and other
seminars can be obtained from UK Training (Worldwide) Ltd, 4/5 The
Mayflower, Liverpool Road, Formby L37 6BU, Tel: 01704 878988.
Preface
A very important campaign is waged every working day in numerous
businesses across England and Wales. It happens as directors, partners,
proprietors, managers, credit controllers and their staff try to collect the
money that is owed to them or their organisations. They almost always succeed
in the end, but all too often the end is much too long coming. The culture
of slow payment continues to be a problem and for some it can be a life or
death problem, at least in the business sense.
These good people sometimes eventually turn to the courts and it is gener-
ally for one of two reasons. Usually it is because the customer just will not
pay, or at least will not pay within an acceptable period. There is no real
dispute though there may sometimes be a bogus one. Everyone knows that
the money is owing and it is necessary to threaten legal action. Sometimes
it is necessary to carry out the threat and it is the part of the credit control
routine that comes after the last letter. More rarely there is a real dispute.
The customer believes that there is a good reason to withhold payment and

the supplier, with greater or lesser confidence, elects to let the courts decide.
I have done all this and, to coin a phrase, I have felt their pain. They have
my best wishes and this book is written with them very much in mind. Of
course customers and defendants have a point of view as well and my book
should be of use to them too. It should also help people who want to use
the courts to recover outstanding loans and for other purposes.
You will probably notice that I have used the word ‘he’ extensively. This
follows the time-honoured, but not always followed, understanding that
‘he’ means ‘he or she’, unless the context indicates otherwise. In fact, in
this book ‘he’ often means ‘he, she or it’. This would be cumbersome and
I hope that all readers understand. No offence is intended.
I have tried to provide a very practical guide that will help in many situa-
tions. I hope that it does and my best wishes to everyone who consults it.
Roger Mason
Contents
Preface iv
ONE The decision to take legal action 1
Introduction 1
Does the customer have the money? 1
Will the customer evade his responsibilities? 2
What are the chances of winning? 3
Are you prepared for the costs? 4
Are you sure what terms govern the contract? 6
Arbitration 7
Negotiation 8
The exercise of retention of title rights 9
Bad debt write off 10
TWO Preliminary planning 11
Introduction 11
The importance of acting decisively 11

The final warning letter 12
What professional help will you employ? 14
Your relationship with your solicitor or credit agent 15
Choice of legal route 16
Claim the maximum possible amount 17
The correct identification of the defendant 17
THREE Interest 19
Introduction 19
Interest permitted by a contract 19
Statutory interest 20
Interest at the statutory rate 23
Interest after judgment 24
FOUR The issue and service of a claim 25
Introduction 25
The issue of a claim 25
Bulk issue of claims 27
Correct designation of the defendant
and also of the claimant 27
A detailed study of the claim form 31
A claim for a dishonoured cheque 35
A specimen claim form 36
Service of the claim 36
FIVE The defendant’s options on receipt of a claim 39
Introduction 39
The documents explained 40
The permitted time for the defendant’s response 41
The defendant’s options 41
SIX After a defence has been entered 46
Introduction 46
Documents received by the claimant 46

An outline explanation of the three tracks 47
The importance of the allocation questionnaire 48
A detailed study of the allocation questionnaire 49
Notification of allocation to a track 52
SEVEN Pre-trial and trial 53
Introduction 53
Summary judgment 54
Part 36 Offers and Payments 55
A case in the small claims track 57
A case in the fast track or multi-track 60
The time taken for a case to come to court 63
An appeal 64
EIGHT Introduction to enforcement 66
Introduction 66
The court order, payment by instalments
and continuing interest 67
An order to obtain information 68
The Register of County Court Judgments 71
Transfer of enforcement to a High Court Sheriff 72
NINE The enforcement measures 75
Introduction 75
High Court Sheriff and county court bailiff 75
Attachment of earnings order 78
Third party debt order 80
Appointment of a receiver 82
Charging order 82
Bankruptcy or winding up 84
TEN Bankruptcy, winding up,
receivership and administration 85
Introduction 85

The Enterprise Bill 86
Bankruptcy and winding up 87
Order of priority in the distribution of funds 90
Receivership and its consequences 91
Administration and its consequences 94
Wrongful trading 96
ELEVEN Progress of the civil justice reforms 102
Introduction 102
The main civil justice reforms 102
TWELVE Frequently asked questions 107
Questions about the claim form 107
Questions about the issue and service of a claim 108
Questions about interest 110
Questions about what happens after
the service of a claim 111
Questions about enforcement 114
Miscellaneous questions 118
APPENDIX
ONE Court fees 120
The County Court 120
The High Court 123
APPENDIX
TWO Important court forms 125
ONE THE DECISION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
1
ONE
The decision to take legal action
Introduction
This book, from Chapter 2 onwards, explains the various steps that can be
taken in using the courts to recover money that is owing. The first chapter

is different in that it considers some of the issues involved in the decision
to take legal action or not. It is not intended to put you off, but it is only
wise to make a sensible decision and to do so before costs are committed.
The chapter starts by posing five important questions and then moves on
to studying four possible alternatives to legal action.
Does the customer have the money?
Legal action is pointless if the customer does not have the means to pay
the amount of the judgment awarded. In fact it is worse than pointless because
you stand to lose the court fees and possibly other costs too. There is a
time-honoured saying that in matters of the law the only person who can
defeat a very rich person is a very poor person. If the customer does not
have the money, it is unlikely that a rich philanthropist will be found to provide
it and you had better not start legal proceedings.
Despite this you would be wise to be very sceptical when you hear that the
customer just does not have the money. The claim is usually not true and
the means can often be found if the customer’s bluff is called, perhaps with
difficulty, perhaps by favouring one customer over another and perhaps
by paying in instalments. If the business is a company and it is continuing
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
2
to trade, the directors may well be taking on personal liability if the claim
is true. This should be pointed out to the directors, forcibly if necessary.
The legal position may be summarised as:
‘Directors may be personally liable for debts if the company carries on
trading when they know, or ought to know, that there is no reasonable
prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation.’
It may of course be difficult in practice to establish whether the customer
does or does not have the means to pay. Credit reference agencies may be
a source of good information. Another good indicator may be the Register
of County Court Judgments. This is covered in Chapter 8.

Will the customer evade his responsibilities?
Unfortunately there are a few customers who will do everything possible
to ‘play the system’. They will use technicalities to delay the legal process
and, after the defence has failed, to avoid or delay paying up after judgment
has been obtained. This may involve legitimate defensive tactics or it may
entail outright cheating, such as claiming that documents were never served
when that was not the case.
Reforms made in recent years have made it harder to do this and the claimant
is more likely to be able to defeat these tactics. Nevertheless, there is still
some scope for such behaviour. Regrettably it probably will not stop when
judgment is obtained and it might not be easy to enforce the judgment and
obtain actual payment. Advice on this is given in Chapters 8 and 9.
If you are in the right and if you are both patient and determined, you should
succeed in getting judgment in the end, and so long as the customer has
the means to pay, you should get the money in the end. It will just be an
exasperating process. So long as you correctly claim interest as described
in Chapter 3, you should have the consolation of getting that as well.
Of course only a minority of customers would consider using such tactics.
Let us hope that your customer list does not include many (or preferably
any) of them.
ONE THE DECISION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
3
What are the chances of winning?
Statistically you are very likely to win, especially if you define winning as
obtaining judgment. If, more realistically, you define winning as getting
paid, your chances are less, but still quite good. However, statistics can be
very misleading, as was noted by a man with one foot in a bucket of ice
and the other foot in a bucket of boiling water. He had just been told that,
statistically speaking, he should be comfortable.
The great majority of cases are not defended. The defendant either pays,

admits the debt and asks for time to pay, or does nothing at all. All three
possibilities mean that the claimant can get either payment or judgment
by default. In most cases there is no real dispute and the only problem is
that the customer will not pay in a reasonable timescale, unless he is forced
to do so. In such cases there should be few doubts about issuing a claim.
Much more thought is necessary if you face the prospect of a real dispute
and a seriously defended claim. This is a different matter. Both sides will
start to incur costs and it could get expensive. There will probably be a
commitment of time as well. Just possibly, a counterclaim maybe issued.
This makes you a defendant too and closes off your option of abandoning
the claim and walking away.
None of this is intended to deter you from pursuing your claim and seeking
redress. If you think that you are in the right, this is usually the best thing
to do. Nevertheless, if a seriously defended case is in prospect, such a course
should not be commenced lightly. It would certainly pay to have a cool,
dispassionate look at the case and perhaps seek another opinion, possibly
from a solicitor.
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
4
Are you prepared for the costs?
Prospective claimants are often nervous of the costs that they will incur
and of their prospects of recovering them from the defendant. They are
right to consider them, especially if the case is complicated with an uncer-
tain outcome or if the defendant is likely to try and evade payment after
judgment has been awarded. Costs can be put into three categories as follows:
1 Court fees
The main court fees are listed in Appendix 1. This is correct at the time
of publication but it might be wise to check that changes have not since
been made.
A court fee is payable when a claim is issued and it will be on a sliding

scale according to the size of the claim. If a defence is entered and if
the claim is for an amount greater than £1,000, the claimant must pay
a fee to file the allocation questionnaire. There are other court fees, in
particular in the area of enforcement of judgment.
Court fees must be paid in advance and the required action will not
happen if this is not done. All court fees may be added to the claim and
are recoverable from the defendant if the case is won or undefended.
All properly claimed court fees for enforcement are recoverable from
the defendant.
Payment of the court fees is enforceable in exactly the same way as the
original debt. However, you must succeed in obtaining payment from
the defendant. If you cannot do this, the court fees must ultimately be
written off as irrecoverable.
ONE THE DECISION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
5
2 Solicitor’s costs
These may be added to the claim if, and only if, it is prepared by a
solicitor. So long as the claim is undefended or successful, they are
recoverable from the defendant. Solicitor’s costs may also be claimed
in respect of certain other forms that may be necessary. As with court
fees you must succeed in getting them from the defendant, and if this
cannot be achieved, they are irrecoverable.
Solicitor’s costs are added to the claim according to a scale. The amount
added to the claim may well not be the same as the amount actually
charged by the solicitor.
3 Legal and other costs
If the case is not defended, you will be responsible for your own legal
and other costs. These may be small or, if you have not employed a
solicitor or other specialist, they may be non-existent.
The starting presumption in a defended case is that the loser will pay

the winner’s costs. However, the judge has discretion and may take into
account the behaviour of the parties. He may not award costs or only
award a reduced amount. If the claim is for less than £5,000 and is decided
in the small claims track, legal costs will not be awarded but reason-
able out of pocket expenses may be awarded.
A further factor is that costs awarded will be according to an approved
scale, and may well be less than what has actually been paid. It is an
extremely rough guide but you may perhaps get two thirds of the amount
actually spent. Wide variations will be encountered and if you employ
very expensive legal practitioners, the amount recovered will probably
be less than two thirds of the sum spent. A final point is that you must
succeed in getting the defendant to pay the amount awarded, and the
usual enforcement remedies are available to you for this purpose. If
you do not succeed, the costs awarded will be irrecoverable.
All this is best illustrated with an example. Let us suppose that both you
and the defendant spend £3,000, and let us further suppose that full costs
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
6
are awarded and that the two thirds rule of thumb is a good guide for both
parties. If you win you will recover £2,000 of the £3,000 spent and will be
£1,000 out of pocket. If you lose, you must pay £2,000 to the defendant and
pay all your own £3,000 costs, so you will be £5,000 out of pocket.
Before leaving the subject you may be relieved to know that many solici-
tors are willing to provide their services on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. This is
explained further in Chapter 2.
Are you sure what terms govern the contract?
Sellers (and buyers too) often get it wrong and misunderstand the legal
position. This does matter. Sellers frequently think that because they have
printed their conditions of sale on invoices and statements their terms will
govern the contract. It is certainly a good idea to print seller’s terms on

invoices and statements, but by itself this is not enough. What matters is
what is agreed at the time that the contract is made. Invoices and state-
ments are issued after this has happened.
A contract is made when an offer is unconditionally accepted. This does
not have to be in writing, though it makes it clear for all concerned if it is.
To be absolutely sure the buyer should have signed to accept your condi-
tions of sale, either for just one order or in a general document covering
all future business. It is not uncommon to be presented with ‘buyer’s terms
and conditions’ and if you sign them you will be bound by the buyer’s terms.
If neither side signs or agrees the other side’s terms, it is probably the case
that the last assertion of terms will prevail. It can all get very childish but
it is the law.
There is no law that gives an automatic period of credit of 30 days or any
other such period. The period of credit will be what is stipulated by the
contract or agreement. It frequently happens that there are no terms because
neither side has produced them. If this is the case, there probably is no
period of credit and the invoice will be due for payment immediately after
it has been issued, though (as with other points) custom and practice may
be a factor.
ONE THE DECISION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
7
If everything goes well, your terms and conditions may not matter much,
but if things go wrong, it may be crucial that they have been accepted and
govern the contract. For example, if you want to charge interest permitted
by the terms or if you want to rely on a retention of title clause, you will
probably have to show that the terms have been accepted. You will certainly
have to do so if you are dealing with a liquidator or receiver.
Arbitration
Quite often there is no point in arbitration because there is nothing to
arbitrate. Everyone knows that the money is owing and the only problem

is that the customer cannot or will not pay within an acceptable period of
time. In these circumstances you have to threaten legal action and be prepared
to carry out the threat if necessary. A threat to offer arbitration does not
carry the same conviction. On the other hand, arbitration may be worth
considering if there is a real dispute and both sides believe that they have
a case. Apart from anything else legal action usually ends a relationship
with a customer, regardless of who wins. Arbitration may cause less ill feeling
and allow scope for future trading.
Arbitration may be particularly suitable when a dispute is very technical
or specialised. In these circumstances both sides may prefer to trust the
judgment of an appropriate arbitrator. Some contracts contain clauses which
specify that disputes will be settled by arbitration, and the law allows parties
who are not bound by such clauses to choose to resolve a dispute by arbitra-
tion. One of the organisations offering non-court based arbitration is:
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
12 Bloomsbury Square
London WC1A 2LP
Tel: 020 7421 7444
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
8
Negotiation
The parties may at any time try to negotiate a settlement and they may do
this in any manner that they choose. Negotiations can take place after a
claim has been issued as well as before, and they can even take place whilst
a trial is in progress. Alternatively there is a formal system for making offers
to settle, and this must be employed using strict rules. The system is known
as Part 36 Offers and Part 36 Payments and it is covered in Chapter 7. This
system can only be used after a claim has been issued.
Negotiation does not have to be conducted on a without prejudice basis,
but there are obvious advantages in doing so. You should make it clear that

you are negotiating in this way, and the words ‘without prejudice’ should
be prominently marked on any letters and perhaps on other documents
too. This means that if the negotiations fail, you will be free to present your
strongest case in court and to press the full amount of your claim.
Documents marked in this way may not normally be used without your
permission, but they may be taken into account when costs are awarded.
The law about acceptance of without prejudice offers may be summarised
as follows:
• a without prejudice offer may be withdrawn at any time before it
is accepted;
• if a without prejudice offer is accepted, it becomes a contract and
is binding on both sides;
• an oral agreement is usually binding on both sides, but it is sound
practice to confirm it in writing. This avoids arguments about exactly
what was agreed.
ONE THE DECISION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
9
The exercise of retention of title rights
There may be a clause in your conditions of sale that states that you retain
ownership of goods after delivery until payment has been made, and that
you may repossess the goods if you have not been paid. Such a clause will
only be of use if your conditions govern the contract and the pitfalls in this
area were explained earlier in this chapter. Of course such a clause is only
of use if you supply physical goods, as it is not possible to repossess a service
that has been performed.
Recovery of goods is almost always less attractive than payment but it may
well be worth considering, especially if you fear a possible bad debt. Retention
of title clauses are usually very technical. Yours may be an ‘all moneys’ clause
which gives you the right to recover all goods if any payment is overdue,
or it may only allow you to recover goods that have not been paid for.

Obviously, ‘all moneys’ clauses give better protection. In exercising reten-
tion of title rights you are likely to face the following limitations:
• Rights are only against the customer. They cannot normally be
extended to a third party who has brought goods in good faith.
• Goods cannot be repossessed that have been materially altered. For
example, cloth that has been used to make clothes cannot be taken.
• The seller is responsible for the transport costs.
• Full credit must be given, even if the goods are old, soiled or out
of fashion.
• Repossession may only be accomplished with a court order or with
the agreement of the customer. You do not have the right of forcible
entry.
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
10
Bad debt write off
At first sight this may seem a very poor alternative to legal action and it
will probably look that way on second sight as well, but there are two alter-
natives that are even worse than writing off the debt. One is to bring a case
and lose. The other is to bring a case and win, but fail to enforce the judgment
and get actual payment. In both instances court fees and perhaps other
costs must ultimately be written off, as well as the original debt.
If VAT is included in the amount written off, it should be recoverable from
Customs and Excise. If the debt was incurred as a result of a transaction
for profit, then tax relief (income tax or corporation tax) may be claimed
at the top marginal rate. This can be illustrated with an example of a bad
debt of £11,750 (including £1,750 VAT) written off by a company that pays
corporation tax at a marginal rate of 30%. The after-tax cost of the write-
off would be £7,000.
TWO PRELIMINARY PLANNING
11

TWO
Preliminary planning
Introduction
Chapter 1 posed the question whether or not legal action should be taken
and it explained some of the factors that should be considered in reaching
the decision. It also explained some of the alternatives to legal action. This
chapter moves on to some of the points that should be considered after an
affirmative decision has been made and before the claim is issued.
It is a sound military axiom, reputedly first enunciated by the Duke of
Wellington, that time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted. It makes
sense for legal actions too. A few minutes thought may increase the chances
of success. It is worth considering the issues raised in this chapter.
The importance of acting decisively
A customer that is having problems paying your invoices is probably also
having problems paying other suppliers too. Your legal action may well
put you into competition with these other suppliers and early decisive action
may give you the advantage. This applies to issuing a claim, pursuing a
claim through to obtaining judgment and to action to enforce the judgment.
It is widely believed that money obtained from a customer as the result of
an enforcement measure goes pro rata to all claimants with outstanding
judgments. This is not usually the case, and money is normally applied to
the judgment creditors (as the successful claimants will usually then be called)
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
12
in the order in which they applied for the relevant enforcement measures.
The following illustrates the principles:
• A Ltd issued a claim for £10,000 against X Ltd on 10th January and
obtained judgment for this amount on 8th September;
• B Ltd issued a claim for £6,000 against X Ltd on 17th January and
obtained judgment for this amount on 26th September;

• B Ltd applied for enforcement action by a county court bailiff on
28th September;
• A Ltd applied for enforcement action by the same county court bailiff
on 29th September;
• The county court bailiff seized the assets of X Ltd and these were
ultimately sold. After deducting fees and expenses the amount
realised was £8,000;
• B Ltd gets £6,000 plus any properly claimed continuing interest and
court fees. A Ltd gets whatever is left.
This shows exactly why it may be beneficial to act quickly and decisively,
but even if there are no competitors, you will still want your money as soon
as possible.
The final warning letter
You should almost always send an explicitly worded final warning letter
before commencing legal proceedings and there are two sound reasons
for doing so. The first and most important is that it often works and you
could well get payment without resorting to the courts. The second reason
is that it is expected, and a judge may be displeased and penalise you on
costs if one has not been sent.
A good final warning letter should be short, not abusive, should state exactly
what is going to happen and should state when it is going to happen. By
definition there should only be one final warning letter. If you send two or
TWO PRELIMINARY PLANNING
13
more, you were not serious the first time and it may adversely affect your
reputation. The following is indicative of what might be sent:
Mrs L James
Company Secretary
Faltron Services Ltd
14 Kerry Drive

Aylesbury
Bucks HP18 1PR 11th May 2003
Dear Mrs James
Overdue Balance of £3,148.26
We notice with regret that the above balance is still
outstanding. Although we wrote on 23rd April and 2nd May
we have received neither payment nor a reason why payment
should not be made.
We must now tell you that we expect payment to be made by
18th May. If payment has not been received by that date, we
will pass the matter to our solicitors with instructions to
commence proceedings. This will be done without further
warning to you.
Yours sincerely,
P Jones
Credit Manager
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DEBT RECOVERY
14
What professional help will you employ?
The issue of a claim and perhaps fighting a case is well within the capabil-
ities of most readers of this book, and so is enforcement action after judgment
has been obtained. You should seriously consider the do it yourself route.
This is encouraged, though not required, for claims up to £5,000 handled
in the small claims track. Legal costs will not be awarded in the small claims
track.
The second option is to employ a solicitor and this is a requirement for a
company issuing a claim in the High Court. Solicitors are specialists likely
to give good service and there are advantages in using specialists, even in
doing things that we are able to do ourselves. The use of a solicitor is probably
wise if the claim is large or not straightforward, and it may make sense if

it is likely to be defended.
Thirdly, you could use one of the many credit agencies that offer services
in this field. These will employ solicitors or use the services of solicitors as
necessary. Credit agencies range from large organisations operating
nationally or internationally, through to small businesses specialising in
particular sectors of the market or areas. Experience and personal recom-
mendation may well be factors in the choice of solicitor or credit agency,
if one is used. Small firms of solicitors are likely to collect debts alongside
many other sorts of work. Larger firms are likely to have specialist depart-
ments to handle debt collection. These specialist departments do have certain
advantages.
The traditional way for a solicitor to charge for his services is on the basis
of time expended plus reimbursement for expenses incurred. However, many
solicitors and virtually all credit agencies offer some variation of ‘NO WIN,
NO FEE’. This sounds too good to be true, and of course it is because they
are remunerated by a percentage of the money eventually recovered. The
precise details are negotiated and the percentages are usually on a sliding
scale. The solicitor or credit agency is banking on a spread of cases with
the successful ones paying for the failures. It is a matter for negotiation
but court fees and perhaps some other costs will probably be payable by
the client regardless of the outcome. ‘NO WIN, NO FEE’ has obvious attrac-
TWO PRELIMINARY PLANNING
15
tions, but of course solicitors and credit agencies normally make satisfac-
tory annual profits and do not suffer. Do think carefully before handing
over a straightforward claim for a large amount and with a good chance
of success. This could be expensive.
Your relationship with your
solicitor or credit agent
You may well have heard the advice that having appointed your credit agent

or especially having appointed your solicitor, you should step back and let
him get on with it, just speaking when spoken to and answering any questions
that he may ask. They are after all, the experts. There may be some sense
in this and in legal matters you should rarely challenge a solicitor’s advice,
but in some respects it does not have to be this way.
Most solicitors and credit agents press on remorselessly according to a pre-
set pattern. This is a cost-effective approach and is most likely to achieve
the maximum payment in the minimum time. It is exactly what is wanted
by most clients. The client hands over the case, hopefully banks a cheque
at the end and does not think much about it in between. This is probably
right for you, but you can change your mind and you can ask questions.
You can decide to accept a customer’s proposal, and you can come to feel
sorry for the customer and call the whole thing off. This does happen and
not all slow payers are rogues. Some may be facing real personal tragedies.
It is of course the solicitor’s privilege to give you frank advice, perhaps
including the advice that you are being silly. It is probably also the solic-
itor’s privilege to charge for abortive work undertaken.
There may be a little scope for cutting back on your time commitment. Clients
routinely photocopy all outstanding invoices for their solicitors and this
can be a big job. It may be worth asking if it is really required in all cases.
An acceptable substitute may be a list of the outstanding invoices showing
the invoice numbers, amounts and invoice dates.