Legal Advice on contract issues with Agency

[ukcommando]

Hi All, I have a problem with a recent contract that was terminated by the client wrongfully. Now they are just ignoring me, clearly hoping I'll go away. I have to say that I've never seen an Agency behaving like this one in several decades of contracting. I've done my own research into the legal position and I am confident that I have a very good case. But I'm now at that decision point of deciding how to best proceed, and think it best to get some legal advice on my position. Any thoughts on where best to go for that? i.e. where the advice is from someone with a good grasp of the aspects that are common with contractors? It might be that the advice suggests it's worth the cost of having a lawyer handle it, or it might be that I'm advised how to best do it myself. The challenge is that sums involved are comfortably into five figures, but neither can I afford to spend a fortune on legal help if there's any significant risk of losing. Any tips/pointers much appreciated.

[sadkingbilly]

Hi All, I have a problem with a recent contract that was terminated by the client wrongfully.

how 'wrongfully' ??
no work=no contract.

[avonleigh]

Don't waste your time and money. Legally you don't have a case. They can terminate you whenever they like. I have had it done several times. They are obliged to pay for days you have worked and that's it.

[ukcommando]

Thanks for the quick response. It's tricky to answer your question simply. Basically a number of consultants were engaged by the "consultancy arm" of an agency to work on a programme with an end client. The idea being that all the contracts were Work package based. The contract said that the end client needed to sign off work at end of each month, but in my case and most of the others, there was no schedule of deliverables/outputs on a monthly basis that were defined by the client, clearly communicated, and agreed with the consultants. In my case, my work was highly technical, not the type of work that simply delivered paperwork artifacts on a monthly basis, though part of my work was going to deliver a governance framework with relevant documentation during the four month contract term. So following month 2, and 10 days into the following month, I was told that my contract was to be terminated with immediate effect. The following day, I was told that the client hadn't signed off my work in month 2. When I asked to know what criteria I was claimed to have failed, no info was provided, instead they tried to claim that an investigation about my conduct in meetings was unsatisfactory (That is a patently false allegation, and I had never had any such issues dealing with folk). I had never discussed the detail of my work with the client rep involved, so no opportunity to address any misunderstanding and reconcile perspectives, etc.. As a highly experience professional, I was just working hard towards an end goal within that 4 month contract term. So, no payment for month 2, nor work already done in month 3 and certainly no mention of paying the contract notice period. No statement from the Agency to support whatever case they might claim to have. My mention of wrongful termination is in relation to their attempt to smear my reputation with their claim of an investigation. In simple terms, they could have given me notice, which might still have been frustrating, but instead I'm getting the silent treatment. Other former colleagues have experienced treatment along the same lines. Obviously there's a lot more details, but I think that gives a fair summing up...

[ukcommando]

Don't waste your time and money. Legally you don't have a case. They can terminate you whenever they like. I have had it done several times. They are obliged to pay for days you have worked and that's it.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I've been in this game a very long time, but in my case there's 30 days work not paid for, regardless of notice.

[avonleigh]

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I've been in this game a very long time, but in my case there's 30 days work not paid for, regardless of notice.

Ah ok. Yes it you have done the work and you can prove it then you have a case. But they don't have to pay your notice period regardless of whether it's in the contract or not. If it were me I would send them a letter before action (you can find templates online, stating if the money is not paid within 28 days you will take legal action). If they don't pay them do a money claim via the smalls claim court.
Wouldn't worry about reputation. Nobody would care. Have been terminated several times for no good reason. Once I gave notice cos I hated the project and how it was being done. They fired me straight after. This is the crappy part of contracting.

[ladymuck]

Reputational damage only becomes an issue if you work in a niche area and the consultancy/agency starts bad mouthing you, leading to a loss of earnings. That would then come under separate libel law anyway.

MCOL is the route to go if the letter before action is ignored.

Can you still contact the client? Are they willing to say the work completed was to the required standard? It will help your case for payment.

[WTFH]

Forget about "repetitional damage", forget about "notice".
The only thing realistically to go after them for is work that you carried out but have not been paid for. That's all. Everything else may feel important to you, but you'll waste time and effort on it.
If you still have contact with the client, and can ask them in a direct but unemotional way, if they signed off your timesheets and approved your work, then that will be a big help. Do NOT go into a whole story about other contractors or what may or may not have been said, all you want to ask is if they signed off your timesheets.

The next step after a letter/MCOL is to get a solicitor involved. Any advice given freely on the internet is worth what you paid for it.
Involving a solicitor may cost you £500 an hour for their time, but they are professionals and will go through everything with you. If you have appropriate insurance you may well be able to claim some of their costs back. If the case ends up going to trial and you win, normally the defendant would pay costs - but there are exceptions to that - if the defendant attempts to settle and a reasonable settlement is refused, the judge may not force them to pay all costs.

I'm saying this based on experience where my costs ended up being more than the amount owed, and after 18 months, the week before it was due to go to trial the agent settled, including most costs.

[ukcommando]

Thanks both, but I am well aware of realities, I've been freelance for over 30 years now, my post was just to ask for any tips for a good solicitor/legal firm who understand contractor work to sense check my position. Certainly not looking for free internet legal advice.

As you both highlight, getting paid for work done is the key aspect for me. I am keenly interested in contract law, and I've already been through a lot of case law, which supports my position, on a number of points.

The matter of repudiatory damage is one that comes up when a debtor company claims to have done some kind of retrospective investigation to the creditor's detriment, and in some cases has led to full contract value being paid out in damages. Is that something that I expect to pursue and win on? No, not really, but it's all part of the issue of identifying what is the maximum potential scope of a claim vs. what would be an acceptable settlement.

Re the client, no chance of any direct contact there. Without going into detail on a public forum, a major of the problem for myself and others is very much the client person, and their apparent tendency to approve or not approve work on a whim.

I've been pointed towards a reputable local business that apparently specialise in B2B contract matters and disputes, so hopefully they can provide the help needed.

[malvolio]

Best of luck, of course, but it's not merely about "work done", it's about "work done to the required standard defined in the contract". The client may disagree that you have met that requirement. And that is outside the scope of the agency to determine; the fact that your contract is quiet on the deliverables is not a good sign..

But you won't know unless you try!

On the stuff about meetings behaviour, I've been here myself. I challenged that point and the director revealed that it was a couple of middle managers moaning about my proposed changes to the working practices, but since she agreed that was what I was there to do and what I was proposing it didn't really get anywhere.