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The Legal Ombudsman-risks and pitfalls.

March 4, 2011

The Legal Ombudsman has now taken over all new complaints against legal professionals for individuals and small businesses. There is a link to its website in the links section of Matthew Wilkinson’s home page. There are important deadlines to comply with. Any complaint has to be brought to them within 12 months of the act or default complained about AND within 6 months of the final response of the firm to your complaint. All complaints must be made to the firm first. If the 12 month period is about to expire you could lose out even though you make the complaint to the Ombudsman within 6 months of the firm’s final response. There is discretion to allow late complaints but this should not be relied upon.

There is also a clear risk that if you refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and you have suffered as a result of negligence that if you accept an award you could be under compensated and have no right to pursue your negligence case.  This is because once the Legal Ombudsman’s award is accepted it is legally binding. It is imperative that BEFORE you accept any such compensation that you get independent legal advice. For example, if your solicitor has negligently failed to ensure that there was a Building Regulation completion certificate for the property you bought the Legal Ombudsman might agree that their subsequent obtaining of Insurance cover for lack of such a certificate plus £1,000 for distress and inconvenience is a reasonable award. However, if after you accept the award we advise you that the Insurance will not cover this particular case or only in limited circumstances or is likely to be avoided you would no longer be able to claim the difference in value of your property which could be very substantial and cost you tens of thousands of pounds when you come to sell. The moral of this story is that the time to obtain good independent advice is before you accept any compensation and Matthew Wilkinson is very well equipped to help in these circumstances to provide the advice which will help you protect your own interests. Mr M B Wilkinson BA MPNLA Solicitor.

Matthew Wilkinson

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P LtdWest Midlands
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Mr. TRedcar
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Mr KSheffield
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Mr and Mrs HMiddlesbrough
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Mr CGateshead
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Mr MShenfield
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Mrs. S Bournemouth
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Mr EWrexham
I was very pleased that Matthew Wilkinson Solicitors agreed to act on my behalf and during the two year time span of my case they acted professionally and personably throughout.
Ms MWrexham
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Mr MSouthampton
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Mr BHartlepool
Mr Wilkinson was dedicated to getting a positive outcome from day one. I dealt with almost a dozen Solicitors, Advisors and Experts over the years ONLY Matthew Wilkinson knew what he was doing. Thanks… Read more
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Mr. CEastbourne
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Mrs CSwansea
“Matthew Wilkinson assisted me in a professional negligence claim against another firm of solicitors, who had previously represented me with a medical negligence claim. Their practice had left me wi… Read more
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A Ltd, Cheshire
You believed in our case when other solicitors didn’t. You worked thoroughly through complex financial situations and got us a result we were very happy with.
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Mr CGateshead
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Mr HYarm
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Mrs HMiddlesbrough

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    Matthew Wilkinson BA MPNLA

    • Degree BA Hons (Law) 1980

    • William Hutton Law Prize 1981

    • Admitted as a Solicitor October 1983

    • Member of the Law Society and the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association.

    • Trained with family firm (Father and Grandfather were Solicitors)

    • Solicitor and then Partner in family firm 1983-1991

    • Set up Matthew Wilkinson Solicitors 1991

    • Deputy Coroner District of North East North Yorkshire 1988-1996

    • Acting Coroner North East North Yorkshire 1996- 2000 (District closed)

    Extensive experience in a broad range of contentious and non-contentious legal work for individuals and businesses. First became interested in claims against Solicitors in 1986 and has over 25 years experience in Professional Negligence claims against Solicitors and other lawyers. Having specialised in this area of work, he has built up a niche practice, which he finds interesting and challenging, at the same time as giving him the opportunity to help people with difficult problems, which arise when they have been let down by a previous Solicitor or other lawyer.

    Interests

    • The Law and helping people.

    • Football and cricket supporter

    Matthew says “I enjoy using the law in challenging situations to help people achieve a just result regardless of the apparent strength or resources of the opposition.”

    Jahan Zand LLB

    • From Middlesbrough

    • Degree LLB Hons (Law and Politics)   2007

    • Member of the Law Society

    • Joined Matthew Wilkinson June 2009

    • Trained with Matthew Wilkinson 2009-2012

    • Admitted as a Solicitor March 2012

    • Experience gained in training with property, probate, family, general litigation and Professional Negligence. Since admission is now mainly handling Professional Negligence cases

    Interests

    • Japanese language and animation

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