My first complaint about a solicitor - and how AI assisted me

In over 25 years of instructing law firms, I never once complained about a solicitor. That changed when I investigated the lawyer taking forever to wind up my late father's estate.

It's been 1,412 days since my dad died from COVID-19. Within four weeks, the lawyer handling his will retired and passed the file to a colleague.

I knew I had to share this story when I discovered last year's damning verdict from the Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The same solicitor had taken over nine years to wind up another estate—an inordinate amount of time by any standard.

This wasn't a one-off. He had previous findings of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct on his record. The Tribunal deemed him a risk to the public if working unsupervised, placing a three-year restriction on his practicing certificate. Unsurprisingly, none of this was ever disclosed.

This experience taught me two crucial lessons:

1) The importance of ensuring vulnerable elderly relatives use a specialist firm with strength in depth and a strong reputation. The wheels fell off when my parents' trusted adviser retired weeks after my dad died.

2) How AI can be a game-changer for legal professionals in summarising and analysing case reports.

I've witnessed first-hand the anguish and frustration caused by constant delays and lack of communication.

A key takeaway: ensure your elderly family members choose the right law firm for their will—one with a specialist reputation and capable replacements to ensure a smooth transition when a trusted partner retires.

Don't wait for disaster to strike. Ask the difficult questions now. My parents didn't check reviews and chose their lawyers for convenience and because they liked the well-known local partner. But he retired within weeks of my dad's death, leaving no strong replacement.

On the tech front, I used Claude, an AI tool, to summarise the lengthy tribunal decision related to the replacement solicitor handling my dad's estate.

AI has been indispensable in my professional life for researching new areas of law and preparing drafts quickly. Using it for a personal issue was eye-opening. The speed and accuracy with which Claude distilled key facts from the Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal report were invaluable.

Below is the summary Claude generated, which helped me file my complaint with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

To protect your family from unnecessary legal delays and agony, vet the solicitors lined up to handle your parents' affairs if the worst happens. This applies to your own arrangements too. And if you're in law, don't underestimate AI's power for summarising lengthy judgments in a flash. It's a strong use case for AI in legal work and saved me hours. The only delay was the few minutes it took to convert the PDF judgment into Word for Claude.

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Claude summary:

“Based on the Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal findings, here is a brief analysis of the case against Thomas Steel of Brunton Miller:

What Thomas Steel was found to have done wrong:

- He failed or unduly delayed in progressing the winding up of an executry, particularly regarding the marketing and sale of a property owned by the deceased.

- The executry took over 9 years to wind up, which was deemed an inordinate amount of time.

- He failed to take control of the situation and expedite matters, even when there was a threat of sequestration of the estate.

- He agreed to market the property following mediation, but failed to do so by the agreed deadline.

- He delayed in responding to correspondence from one of the beneficiaries.

Reasons for his punishment:

1. Previous poor disciplinary conduct:

- He had previous findings of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct on his record.

2. Risk to the public:

- The Tribunal deemed that a period of supervision was necessary to protect the public, as the Respondent had been struggling and required supervision and support.

3. Risk of damage to the reputation of the profession:

- The Tribunal stated his conduct brought the profession into disrepute, not just with the individual beneficiaries but also to the wider public.

- His failure to act was deemed a serious and reprehensible departure from the standards of competent and reputable solicitors.

The Tribunal found Steel guilty of professional misconduct and imposed the following sanctions:

- Censure

- Restriction on his practicing certificate for 3 years, limiting him to acting as a qualified assistant under approved employers

- Liability for expenses of the complainers and Tribunal

- Publicity of the decision including his name”

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