In April 2013 there were large-scale civil legal aid cuts. At a stroke, legal aid was abolished for a large number of civil claims.

Excluded from provision were the type of clients that I had been advising for years.

These included elderly clients who had been mistreated and defrauded by greedy relatives.

These cases involve hours of investigation, obtaining the paperwork, multiple witnesses and potentially expensive handwriting experts when allegations of fraud or forgery have been made.

Solicitors find themselves in some difficulties when consulted by clients who have modest means but are unable to afford to instruct a solicitor privately and now cannot get legal aid.

Increasingly law firms are introducing some level of what are termed ‘unbundled’ services as a more affordable alternative.

This is on a number of different levels, such as providing clients with self-help packs, providing discrete advice about a specific step or steps in a case, checking or drafting documents or simply attending court.

The case remains client-led, so the solicitor does not accept service of documents and does not send out correspondence in the firm’s name or otherwise communicate with third parties. The solicitor does not go on the court record.

Solicitors do, however, open themselves up to the risk of being sued for professional negligence in these circumstances.

There is a risk that advice may be given on the basis of inadequate information being given by the client.

There may be a misunderstanding by the client as to the extent and limitation of the service that is being provided.

The important thing to remember is that the solicitor continues to owe a duty of care to the client.

This also applies when a solicitor witnesses a document. It would be a foolish solicitor indeed who simply witnessed someone’s signature to a document without ensuring that full advice was given on the implications of what they were signing.

Sometimes clients find that difficult to understand. They want it done then and there.

I remember several years ago, late on a Friday afternoon, a client came in to my office and saw one of my solicitors. The client could be described loosely as a ‘bag lady’. She was in a dishevelled state and she had a large plastic bag full of documents.

The solicitor was busy and could not make an appointment to see her until the following Tuesday.

The client decided to leave the bag of documents without informing the solicitor what it contained.

The solicitor did not look in the bag until the Tuesday morning and at the bottom, underneath discarded crisp packets, bundles of soiled utility bills and personal correspondence, there was a warrant for the client’s eviction, due to take place the day before.

Therefore by the time the appointment took place the client had already been evicted from her home.

The client then sued my firm for negligence on the basis that the solicitor should have checked the bag.

We argued that the client had an obligation to tell us what was in it. Our insurers thought differently and we had to settle the claim.