Does Anyone Know a good solicitor??

[Jack Kada]

Hi Guys,

Been on here a while but first post. I'm looking for a solicitor to take a company to court over a wrongful termination of contract. I had been working at this company for 3 months without any issues whatsoever, then out of the blue I get a call from my agency saying the company have terminated my contract with immediate effect. When I asked why they stated that " I did not meet the required level of expertise for the role" this was complete news to me and also my immediate manager who I asked the question about my work. I had been given no notice of any issues with my work at any point and indeed my immediate manger was happy with my work (his words). This came from senior management who I had had no dealings with. I was supposed to be on a month's notice but due to them stating the above they were saying they could terminate my contract with immediate effect. I have looked into this and spoken to a barrister friend of mine and he states they would need to prove a level of incompetence or gross misconduct in order to terminate my contract in this manner. I asked them for specific instances of where I had not performed as expected. they came back with 4 instances that had been completely doctored to make it seem that the fault or the issue was down to me.
After I left I spoke with a number of other contractors who worked there and found that several contractors had been let go in exactly the same manner, so basically I found that they had either gone over budget or run out of funds and didn't want to pay any of the contractors a month's notice in wages so decided to use a false accusation as grounds to immediately terminate the contracts.

I would like to fight this, not just because of the money we've all been there with contracts terminated prematurely but also I am unhappy with the slur on my technical ability I think the way they have gone about things has been totally disgusting and i don't think they should be allowed to get away with it. Can someone please help?

Thanks

Terry.

Let me help you.

Going to court is a nightmare. It is expensive and even if you win you will not get all your costs back. Apart from the cost the mental exhausation that it will put you through is shocking. It can easily break you.

Court should only be used by the brave where there are big sums at stake and where you have tried every other alternative. I went through this recently and it nearly broke me

You are a contractor - That comes with the thick and the thin. Not being given notice is not nice but brush yourself down and move on.

There are tons of jobs at the moment and the service industry (software dev / hardware dev) is really picking up

[psychocandy]

Bummer. But tulipe happens. Even to permies.....

Had it once as perm. Company couldnt be arsed to follow redundancy procedure so hiked up some 'charges' for a few people and said, sign agreement or we'll suspend you and sack you eventually. Of course, not worth the hassle to fight. I remember the 'reasons' they came up with - it was laughable thats all the could think of.

But yep thats what they all do - make something up to get rid of. No hassle no notice. Yet if we did the same clients would go mad.

If it was me I'd have a tilt at getting notice period off the agency. Worth a go - cheap enough to take to small claims court and might be a laugh.

Getting a solictor - nah. Costs too much and you wont get anywhere.

[terrythompson]

Thanks for all the Advice Guys

[terrythompson]

- you cannot bring an action - under the contract - against the client. you have no contract with them. Any claim needs to be against the agency.

- your potential claim needs to be against the agency. you may be able to use employment law to your advantage, if the entire termination procedure was not followed correctly then you may have a case [even though you are on contract you are PROBABLY a worker under employment legislation with the associated protection]

- the question of competence is always highly subjective. What would I think when presented with the evidence? Your evidence is, essentially, "well they are sort of making it up by painting me in the worst light possible".

- arguably you could try a defamation suit against the client, if you have a few hundred k to spare. However, given the subjective nature of the question of competency, and also the fact that it is not widely circulated (except by you) it would be very hard to assess any real level of damage. [Though reputational damage is pricy].

- if you barrister friend is any sort of employment expert and he uses direct access then you could engage him directly. A warning shot might yield some benefit (though unlikely, the client will have bigger and more expensive lawyers and deeper pockets).

- you could also ask him, in the absence of direct access, who usually engages.

fwiw I think the probably should pay the notice period. But when it comes to going to law you need very deep pockets. And the legal profession simply adores people who are litigating based on a principle.

Thanks for the Adice

[BlasterBates]

No point fighting, as ASB says if you are going to sue then you sue the agency, so there will be a zero educational effect.

Usually the agency contract has a clause which enables them not to pay when the client doesn't pay, i.e. you aren't paid if there is no work at the client.

Therefore you will probably be given your months notice and will receive nothing.

[ASB]

- you cannot bring an action - under the contract - against the client. you have no contract with them. Any claim needs to be against the agency.

- your potential claim needs to be against the agency. you may be able to use employment law to your advantage, if the entire termination procedure was not followed correctly then you may have a case [even though you are on contract you are PROBABLY a worker under employment legislation with the associated protection]

- the question of competence is always highly subjective. What would I think when presented with the evidence? Your evidence is, essentially, "well they are sort of making it up by painting me in the worst light possible".

- arguably you could try a defamation suit against the client, if you have a few hundred k to spare. However, given the subjective nature of the question of competency, and also the fact that it is not widely circulated (except by you) it would be very hard to assess any real level of damage. [Though reputational damage is pricy].

- if you barrister friend is any sort of employment expert and he uses direct access then you could engage him directly. A warning shot might yield some benefit (though unlikely, the client will have bigger and more expensive lawyers and deeper pockets).

- you could also ask him, in the absence of direct access, who usually engages.

fwiw I think the probably should pay the notice period. But when it comes to going to law you need very deep pockets. And the legal profession simply adores people who are litigating based on a principle.

[terrythompson]

Chase them for the money they owe you for the work you have done and leave it.

There is no slur on your technical ability because the vast majority of places do not give references.

I'm more worried about the potential for the gossip or grapevine, it's a small world contracting and word sometimes gets around as everybody knows everybody. although I'm confident in my ability and don't have problems in interviews there's always the worry about hearsay.

[terrythompson]

Wait until you see the potential bill. The slur on your technical ability by one client you will never speak to again anyway may be a bit more palatable.... I see the point on the moral stance and applaud you but a four figure bill tends to mess with moral compass but you go for it fella

Thanks I was thinking of a warning shot across their bows sort of thing. I'm fairly certain they've played the numbers game in terms of hedging their bets i.e. 9 out of 10 won't bother to try to claim so they're quids in even if they have to pay the odd one

[SueEllen]

I didn't take it any further the last time just put it down to experience. I could ask my friend but thought it might be best to get someone already familiar with this sort of scenario.

Chase them for the money they owe you for the work you have done and leave it.

There is no slur on your technical ability because the vast majority of places do not give references.

[terrythompson]

I didn't take it any further the last time just put it down to experience. I could ask my friend but thought it might be best to get someone already familiar with this sort of scenario.

[northernladuk]

Wait until you see the potential bill. The slur on your technical ability by one client you will never speak to again anyway may be a bit more palatable.... I see the point on the moral stance and applaud you but a four figure bill tends to mess with moral compass but you go for it fella

[Batcher]

Shirley your "barrister friend of mine" could put you in contact with a good solicitor?

[jmo21]

What about the one you found the last time?

[terrythompson]

Hi Guys,

Been on here a while but first post. I'm looking for a solicitor to take a company to court over a wrongful termination of contract. I had been working at this company for 3 months without any issues whatsoever, then out of the blue I get a call from my agency saying the company have terminated my contract with immediate effect. When I asked why they stated that " I did not meet the required level of expertise for the role" this was complete news to me and also my immediate manager who I asked the question about my work. I had been given no notice of any issues with my work at any point and indeed my immediate manger was happy with my work (his words). This came from senior management who I had had no dealings with. I was supposed to be on a month's notice but due to them stating the above they were saying they could terminate my contract with immediate effect. I have looked into this and spoken to a barrister friend of mine and he states they would need to prove a level of incompetence or gross misconduct in order to terminate my contract in this manner. I asked them for specific instances of where I had not performed as expected. they came back with 4 instances that had been completely doctored to make it seem that the fault or the issue was down to me.
After I left I spoke with a number of other contractors who worked there and found that several contractors had been let go in exactly the same manner, so basically I found that they had either gone over budget or run out of funds and didn't want to pay any of the contractors a month's notice in wages so decided to use a false accusation as grounds to immediately terminate the contracts.

I would like to fight this, not just because of the money we've all been there with contracts terminated prematurely but also I am unhappy with the slur on my technical ability I think the way they have gone about things has been totally disgusting and i don't think they should be allowed to get away with it. Can someone please help?

Thanks

Terry.