Tuesday 15 April 2008

CAB dilema for the day

Soooo

When advising a client who has lost his home I find that he may have grounds to pursue another CAB who referred the case to me for quite frankly useless and inept CLS casework in helping the client at the with his possession proceedings (it was totally avoidable and should have been avoided). Do I

a) Assist the client in making a claim against the other CAB by referring him to a specialist

b) Go behind the wishes of my manager (who is working with the other CAB manager and others to from a Local consortium) and not advise the client there is sufficient benefit in a referral.

Blerg, It really should be A!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if CLS and CAB workers have a similar rule, but a solicitor is obliged by the Conduct rules to inform a client where a possible negligence issue has arisen. Not obliged to given them any details, mind, but definitely that a possible issue has come up.

My view - you have no choice. You tell the client, informally/off the record or not, that they may well wish to get advice on the quality of advice they were given. You don;t have to go into any detail. I assume that the CAB has professional negligence insurance - this is what it is for.

House said...

I agree totally. I shouldn't be a dilema. Client is numero uno and that's a risk the CAB takes when it runs a CLS contract.

Thanks for your view on the matter though as it's helpful to reinforce the fact that I know what I have to do!

House said...

Client advised, waiting to see what they decide. Eep.