Cfcjohn

court sat in my absense today, and it has been adjourned/postponed until May 9th. Am I glad I didn't fly out to hear this, yes? I'm happy to have a Scottish advocat to talk to now, knowing that he will be able to speak to the opposing solicitor, or tell me what is going on if he cannot. I've paid just under 9000 euros to an architect and have been asked to pay another 9000, and I have plans, permis, and a document with some estimated prices to give to builders to get an estimate. I'm not sure this is worth 18 000 euros (half the price of the barn). If it is, even if it is judged by the architects professional body, I will pay.  Still sounds like a lot to me especially when the architect couldn't back it up with a contract which would have protected both parties.

no - I think I  was trying to point out I got it wrong (as usual) you were 100% correct.  Its just not a nice word to use imho (not by you) especially when large financial losses may be involved!

Dick, I demand free license to spell how I like after a bottle of white wine to drown my sorrows (New Zealand wine at that!). Never trust policeman, solicitors, professional bodies, but you can always rely on a good spell checker! I won't be afraid to post the results of the court hearing tomorrow night, regardless.

None was negotiated? Correct.  It takes two to negotiate, I sent an email direct to the opposing solicitor asking what was required payment wise to avoid court after he gave the email address to use. No response. You like the word niave. So you think a professional body is worthless. I assume you are qualified and carry your cynical view to all such bodies?  A fellow poster suggested differently from experience.  I spoke to them today and they are struggling to help because the architect isn't responding to them. I'm niave enough to think this strengthens my case.  They have asked me to inform them of the outcome. I did find a local advocat who has liased with the court.  They know I won't be turning up having spoken to this advocat.  I'm paying for this advice - I seek nothing for free here, just knowledge and experience. Judging from your 1100+ posts you must be in a good position to dispense it. I was niave to expect to resolve this before court, based on what I was told from conversation my french speaking friends had with the solicitor whilst I was 4000 miles away in a different timezone. I'm sure others may benefit from our personal insights then at least some good will come from it.

Was I expecting the other solicitor to act for me? Of course not.  Was I trying to settle out of court? Yes. So  I got French speaking people (including solicitors) to try to negotiate a settlement.  If you followed some of the other posts in another recent stream, there was a suggestion that the professional body would not advocate this course of action and in my opinion would be well qualified to arbitrate between me and their member. They have said they are investigating, not they aren't interested or it is nothing to do with them. When you say they are messed about, what exactly do you mean? I have contacted the solicitor, the architect, the professional body, the court, the insurance firm and generally get no response or ,as I said, the opposing solicitor said they would only talk to me about what is required to resolve this, gave  an email address  and then ignored my email until it is too late. Who is messing who about?

In my dispute over architects fees I was expecting the professional body (looking into it for the last fortnight) or the architects solicitor (wouldn't speak to my French speaking friends but gave email address for me to contact them) to come back to me, but neither have with  the case due in Bergerac on Tuesday.  I will try telephoning both on Monday. If neither will help to resolve out of court, then I am left with no local representation.  If I cannot get any at such short notice can I fax the court with my position? I'm in London so it will be difficult for me to attend in person.

Still waiting for a reply from the ordres investigation but time is running out. Assuming I pay everything (claim/compensation/court fees) to avoid further expense getting representation in a French court and the ordres come back and say I have a valid case, it raises something that has been in the back of my mind regarding international law and jurisdiction. I presume I could sue the architect, he would get summonsed in France and have to employ English speaking solicitors - the reverse of what I have had to do.  I guess he would be covered by insurance so it would actually be no hassle/worry for him unlike what it has been for me. I do feel if there is a cross border agreement that I should have a right to reply in English at all times.  All my dealings with the architect have been in English so it seems unfair that I should receive a French summons from an English court  to appear in France but not have a right to reply to the English side of the process!

I did report him some months ago, but the Law Society only have jurisdiction over their members unfortunately. Les ordres des architectes have replied that they are investigating. I have 10 days until the court date now, so I'm hoping they can help resolve, otherwise I have run out of options.  

Thanks. He is registered - I sent an email to the ordres des architectes (Bordeaux) on Monday, with a chaser on Friday (Bordeaux and the general email) explaining the situation and asking if they could asist.  No reply as of yet. As I mentioned I'm actually stuck in New York (no chance of any enjoyment with this going on) so I'm not sure about timings of registered mail from over here ie if it will take longer to get there - I have two weeks (on Tuesday) to get it resolved before a hearing in Bergerac. I'll try sending copies of the email by fax and I guess I could get someone in England to send a registered letter on my behalf  

My saga with my legal dispute with a French architect msut come to an end in 2 weeks time - my final postponed court date. The dispute concerned work I believed the architect hadn't started and was completed after I cancelled.  We had no contract and the payments were staged at certain points based on 11% of the total final build costs.  I was expecting to trim the costs down after the estimates to be sent to builders (the stage in dispute) which would have reduced amounts due and those already paid. I posted here some time ago and employed a London based French solicitor recommended (I'm sure innocently) here.  He has since admitted he is not a registered solicitor and  gor my money I got a letter offering settlement and him to refuse to return my documents demanding further payment. I went to a London based firm recommended by the Law Society.  That initially seemed quite promising they said they would argue on grounds of jurisdiction and the fact that I do not have a contract with the architect and not to worry. They even suggested ignoring it as it would be difficult for them to persue the debt! They achieved case postponement and another offer of settlement which was turned down but  the details were sent to the non-solicitor.  I finally found this out 2 weeks ago that the case was due to be heard again in 2 days time as I departing next day for a month working in New York. The case was postponed again until the day after I get back.  The solicitor asked for a further £1000 to continue, but could not advise on the case without anylsing it (which I assumed had been done already). So I am now without solicitor. The outstanding money is just under 7000 euros with a demand for 1000 euros compensation and 1 200 to the court. The architect has refused all attempts at amicable settlement (including an offer of the full amount obviously less compensation) everything is ignored and has been ever since the initial threat of legal action. It feels like I am having to give in to blackmail.  I guess now I must find the best place to sell a barn with planning permission ASAP. Some initial advice to just pay it all here and cut my losses seems good in retrospect now. Alternatively I would recommend seeking legal help in France as this would hopefully be at least as good as what I have had in London - there's just the problem of finding it when not fluent in French.

I have contacted th Law Society and they are having difficulty establishing whether this gentleman is actually a solicitor at all. Things are going from bad to worse. I appreciate the post regarding the Ordre of Architects.  I will try asking someone whose French is better than mine to prepare an enquiry for me.

I would not mind if the lawyer had stated as Lori's had what he would charge prior to doing the work.  I am aware (since I paid the £500) that  under the Law Societies code of practice the lawyer should state what the charge should be before asking if you wish to proceed. I don't consider sending a letter as 'negotiating', particularly when the architect and his solicitors have ignored all communications since threatening to take legal action. I expected the letter to be followed up with a telephone call negotiating a settlement up to and including 100% of the claim which I would pay. Many people here gave good advice that I was on a hiding to nothing regardless of the legality or morality of the case and should pay. I'm no nearer to this resolution and have just added more problems on an already extremely stressful situation.

I would not mind if the lawyer had stated as Lori's had what he would charge prior to doing the work.  I am aware (since I paid the £500) that  under the Law Societies code of practice the lawyer should state what the charge should be before asking if you wish to proceed. I don't consider sending a letter as 'negotiating', particularly when the architect and his solicitors have ignored all communications since threatening to take legal action. I expected the letter to be followed up with a telephone call negotiating a settlement up to and including 100% of the claim which I would pay. Many people here gave good advice that I was on a hiding to nothing regardless of the legality or morality of the case and should pay. I'm no nearer to this resolution and have just added more problems on an already extremely stressful situation.

I posted recently regarding a dispute I have and a pending court case over architect fees for work that was done post cancellation. I received a private message recommending a London based French lawyer.  I emailed the lawyer with the details and he requested all the documents which I hand delivered. He then said he would get the details from the court and required £500 for disbuirsments which I paid. He received the details and said I should pay and would I like him to negotiate a settlement.  I agreed to this amd he wrote a letter to the other solicitor. He then wrote to me saying he had no reply what did I instruct him to do? I wrote asking whether the fact I had no contract with the architect affected anything particularly my wife who has also been summonsed, whether he had telephoned the solicitor and what he advised next. He replied saying he had given his advice and by now had gone over the £500. I asked for return of my documents as I would need to seek the assistance of someone who was more willing to help. He has replied that he will keep my documents until a further £375 is paid. Does this sound like good practice to all, or am I extremely niave and expect to be told if I am to be charged prior to work being done, and £875 for a letter that was not replied to and the advice that I should pay?   I

the payments were based on 11% of the total build cost.  So he estimates the total build as costing 200 000 euros so his overall fees would be 22 000 euros to manage the project to completion. These fees are spread across various phases of the project, which is fair. I have paid for Etudes preliminaires 1, 100 Avant Project 4 400 Permis de Construire 1 760.  That is what I have received , plans and planning permission and paid 7 260 + tax. Nothing has happened further than this other than printing a description file for each worker that was done after I cancelled. I cancelled in writing (via email) in June at which stage he had again in writing (email) advised that he hadn't started the work he had promised to deliver in April and would not start until I supplied socket information. After I cancelled two weeks after he told me he would not start the work he claimed he started the work the day after he said he would not be doing the work. We conversed in English via email, so yes I can say that none of my problems were due to my poor French. I find it hard to believe that emails and fax mean nothing in the French legal system. The writ includes details of emails explicitly.