We are meeting with two other solicitors this afternoon in an attempt to negotiate the settlement of a long-running and acrimonious dispute over a deceased estate.
One of the solicitors belongs to the third law firm that has been engaged by the opposition, which has not helped the situation. The other represents the other defendant, a trustee company.
We suspect that the enemy did not like the advice they were getting from their last solicitor. We are going to try to persuade the new solicitor to give the opposition some similar advice, while digging for as much useful information as possible in case we do not get closer to a settlement.
We are meeting without the clients because the last time the parties met together the meeting degenerated into a lot of shouting and swearing at each other.
We are also in a position of strength because in early May our application to dismiss one of the opposition’s claims for want of prosecution will be heard.
The basis of the application is that the opposition’s Statement of Claim will be nearly twenty-two weeks overdue by the time of the hearing.
For assistance resolving messy disputes, see Michael Paterson & Associates.