The Official Solicitor

And how he can help you...

Who is the Official

Solicitor?

Alastair Pitblado is the Official

Solicitor to the Senior Courts.

His job is to make decisions

for people who do not have

the mental capacity to

represent themselves or

instruct a solicitor in civil and

family court cases. He will

usually ask a firm of Solicitors

to help him with the case. He

will arrange Solicitors to

attend court for you where

necessary.

What is mental capacity?

Having mental capacity

means being able to make

your own decision about

something.

Why the Official Solicitor

becomes involved in a case.

The Official Solicitor agrees to

act either because you are

under the age of 18...

...or because the court does

not think that you can make

decisions about your court

case. Legal matters can be

difficult to understand and

very stressful. The Official

Solicitor is here to look after

your interests and he will

usually ask a Solicitor to help

you.

How will the Official

Solicitor help?

The Official Solicitor makes

decisions such as whether to

start a court case or fight it, or

agree what to do next.

The Official Solicitor also has

assistants who help him to

deal with every case. These

assistants are called Case

Managers. The Case

Manager looking after your

case will let you know the

details of the Solicitors they

have asked to help them with

the court case.

The Official Solicitor can only

make decisions about what is

happening in the court case.

The Official Solicitor cannot

make any other decisions for

you.

Case

Manager

Who can I speak to about

this case?

If a Solicitor is appointed your

Solicitor should be the first

person you contact.

You can also speak directly to

your Case Manager.

Your Case Manager is:

.......................................................

.......................................................

They can be contacted on:

: ..........................................

Solicitor

Will I be asked my views?

Shortly after he agrees to

help, the Official Solicitor will

usually ask a firm of Solicitors

to be his Solicitors and help

him with the case. These will

be either the Solicitors you

have already met...

...or new Solicitors arranged

by the Case manager. The

Solicitors, or a senior Solicitor

within the firm, should be very

experienced in dealing with

court cases like yours.

Solicitor

The Solicitor may visit you

and will also either write to

you or telephone you and

attend court hearings.

They will report what is

happening to your Case

Manager.

The Solicitor involved in

your case is:

.......................................................

Of: ...............................................

.......................................................

They can be contacted on:

: .........................................

Fees and Charges

In most cases, when the

Official Solicitor acts for

someone, he asks outside

Solicitors to help and so he

does not charge you any

money.

However, when the Official

Solicitor does all the legal

work himself, or if he cannot

get legal aid but still asks

Solicitors to help, he or those

Solicitors will expect to be

paid for the work they have

done. We will write to you

separately with further details

if this applies in your case.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the

way your case is managed

you should first speak to the

external Solicitor, or to your

Case Manager.

X

If you are still unhappy you

can write to the:

Complaints Officer

Official Solicitor’s Office

Victory House

30-34 Kingsway

London WC2B 6EX

For Further Information Please Contact:

Official Solicitor

Victory House

30-34 Kingsway

London WC2B 6EX

DX 141423

Bloomsbury 7

Your Case Manager’s name is: ................................................................

Their direct line number is: ..............................................................

Fax: 0203 681 2762

Web: www.justice.gov.uk

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