A Negligent Property Purchase
In persons grafted in a serious trust, negligence is a crime.
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… What is negligence?
Listening Activity
Vocabulary
Writing Activity
Check your Prepositions
Audio Transcripts
Listening 14
Lawyer: Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs Harrison. Please, take a seat. My name is James Rogers and I’m dealing (1) _____ your case while my colleague, Susannah Foyle, is (2) _____ maternity leave. I can see you’ve had quite a battle (3) _____ your former solicitors, and to be honest, I haven’t found them very helpful either. However, we have made some good progress (4) _____ the past few days, which I can update you (5) _____ now.
Mrs Harrison: Hello, Mr Rogers. It’s nice to meet you. It’s also very nice to hear there’s been some progress.
Mr Harrison: Yes, it is. We didn’t get very far at all when we were dealing with the problem ourselves and I think Susannah Foyle struggled with this as well.
Lawyer: Well, it hasn’t been easy. I think it might be useful (6) _____ have a quick review (7) _____ the facts, given that I’m new (8) _____ this case, and also given that, until this week, you hadn’t seen any progress (9) _____ the case (10) _____ several months.
Mrs Harrison: Yes, that’s no problem. Please go ahead.
Lawyer: Now, as I understand it, you moved (11) _____ London from Oxford in August 2002 and you bought a house in Oxford Road, Tottenham, using solicitors McCauly LLP to carry out all your legal work connected (12) _____ the purchase.
Mr Harrison: Yes, that’s right. Their bill was (13) _____ £1,500 in total. For conveyancing and various other legal bits and pieces. A lawyer called Joanne Phillipson dealt (14) _____ it. She seemed very efficient.
Lawyer: OK. And then, in, …. let me see, …. in February, just gone, you wanted to change your mortgage lender. Is that right?
Mrs Harrison: Yes. When we bought the house in Tottenham we borrowed £200,000 from Barclays Bank (15) _____ a period of 20 years. But earlier this year we decided to switch (16) _____ a new lender to try and get a better deal. And that’s when we realised there was a problem.
Lawyer: Which was that you had never been properly registered (17) _____ the legal owners of the property in Tottenham with The Land Registry. The house was still registered (18) _____ the name of the previous owners in 2010, even though you’d paid (19) _____ it, and had been living (20) _____ it for approximately 8 years.
Mr Harrison: Precisely. We also found (21) _____ that the stamp duty, which should have been paid when we purchased the house, had never been paid. It led (22) _____ all sorts of problems. And when we complained (23) _____ this firm to The Law Society, who regulated solicitors’ conduct before the Solicitors Regulation Authority took (24) _____, they just advised us to get another law firm to take action (25) _____ the first one. Which is what we did.
Lawyer: But you never actually paid the stamp duty due to McCauly LLP, is that right? They never at any point asked you to pay it?
Mrs Harrison: No, they didn’t. We paid everything they gave us a bill (26) _____, but we mustn’t have had a demand (27) _____ them (28) _____ the stamp duty. Then, when we moved (29) _____ the house, we just forgot (30) _____ it.
Lawyer: Then, it must have showed (31) _____ as an outstanding amount (32) _____ their accounts. It leads me (33) _____ wonder why no-one in the accounts department at the firm ever followed this (34) _____, even if the solicitor omitted to ask you (35) _____ the payment. Dear me, they’re not coming out of this well, are they?
Mr Harrison: Indeed not. To add insult (36) _____ injury, they completely ignored our first few letters and phone calls. We had to threaten them (37) _____ a letter (38) _____ the local newspaper before we got any response (39) _____ them (40) _____ all.
Lawyer: And what was their response to your threat to write to the local newspaper?
Mrs Harrison: They wrote to us immediately. That got a response all right.
Mr Harrison: Except the reply wasn’t what we expected. They didn’t mention their own mistakes (41) _____ all. They warned us, if we printed anything (42) _____ them that wasn’t true, and which harmed their reputation, they’d take legal action. Reputation! What a cheek!
Lawyer: Well, that can only have added fuel (43) _____ the flames. As far as I understand it, that’s where you were (44) _____ the story (45) _____ date.
Mr Harrison: Yes. That’s as far as we’ve got so far.
Lawyer: Well, I’ve got good news. I’ve been chasing this matter (46) _____ over the last few days and this morning I spoke (47) _____ a partner at McCauly LLP, a gentleman named Keith Fosset. He told me, somewhat unhelpfully, that ‘her files were moved (48) _____ other solicitors’, so it seems that a decision was made not to replace the solicitor dealing (49) _____ your house purchase, even temporarily, but to share (50) _____ her work. In any event, things went badly wrong and your home was left registered to the previous owners. As for the situation since February, Mr Fosset blames delays on solicitors acting for your home’s previous owners. They’ve now obtained the sellers’ signatures on a new transfer and the good news is that your ownership was finally registered several days ago.
Mrs Harrison: Oh, what a relief! I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry! Thank you, very, very much!
Lawyer: Not at all, we’re happy to help. The other good news is that McCauly LLP tells me that it accepts responsibility for “any damages or losses” linked to its failure to register your property. We will calculate, for example, how much you would have saved by switching mortgages. There are other factors too, such as the worry and stress you suffered after finding you were living in a house you couldn’t remortgage or sell.
Mr Harrison: And what about this firm’s fees, Mr. Rogers? Will they be covered as well?
Lawyer: Certainly. We’ll work out a total sum which is acceptable to you in order to settle this matter, including your reasonable legal fees, and we’ll write to Mr. Fosset over the next day or two. Hopefully we can then draw a line under the whole sorry business. Does that sound like a solution?
Mr Harrison: It does. Thank you very much Mr. Rogers.
Lawyer: No problem at all. I’ll be in touch when I have the letter drawn up and we’ll get it off as soon as we can.
Mrs Harrison: Thank you. Bye.
Lawyer: Goodbye. Take care.
Listening Activity
Area of Law: Tort/Negligence/Settlement
Listening Task: Complete all questions below
Timing: 8 minutes long
Mr and Mrs Harrison moved to London from Oxford in 2002.
True / False
McCauly LLP charged Mr and Mrs Harrison £15,000 for carrying out the legal work in connection with the purchase of the house.
True / False
Harrison’s original mortgage for the purchase of the house was with Barclays Bank.
True / False
McCauly LLP failed to register Mr and Mrs Harrison as the owners of the house with the Land Registry.
True / False
Mr and Mrs Harrison complained about McCauly LLP to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
True / False
McCauly LLP asked Mr and Mrs Harrison to pay the stamp duty on the property.
True / False
McCauly LLP threatened Mr and Mrs Harrison with legal action on the grounds of defamation.
True / False
Keith Fosset blames another law firm for the delay in solving the problem since February.
True / False
McCauly LLP accepts responsibility for any damages or losses connected with the problem but will not pay James Rogers’ legal fees.
True / False
James Rogers intends to contact Keith Fosset again within a week.
True / False
General Vocabulary
maternity leave
to deal with
a battle
a solicitor
to struggle
the case
the facts
to harm
to add fuel to the fire
to cover
a fee
reasonable legal fees
to go ahead
to carry out
to purchase
a bill
conveyancing
a mortgage lender
to borrow
to blame
a signature
damages or losses
to draw a line under something
to add insult to injury
bits and pieces
a stamp duty
to lead to
to complain
to show up
to follow up
to chase up
a matter
to draw up
to threaten
ownership
a total sum
General Vocabulary – WEEK 1 & 2
to squeeze in
a sum
to dismiss
full and final
damages
specific performance
just bear with me
to settle
to sue
to invoice / an invoice
a tenant
a landlord
breach of contract
a formal written warning
foreseeable future
to sign and date
wrongful
to sack / to fire
straight away
to win a case
a small fortune
business premises
self-employed
a bit shabby
new competition
a deposit
to turn up
to earn a living
a Charging Order
substandard work
to take to court
small claims court
to take out a loan
an installment
a claim
outcome of a case
to seize
legal interest in an asset
to hold by a third party
to award
interest and costs
to enforce a judgment
bankrupt
a bailiff
sold at auction
waived
hasn’t paid a penny
to put a charge
to draw a line
Writing Activity
Area of Law: Settlement Agreement
Writing Task: A formal letter
Length: 400 – 600 words
Write a Settlement Letter to Mr. Fosset (the partner at McCauly LLP) to arrange a total sum that is acceptable to settle the situation. Include a schedule of costs and fees.
Check your prepositions.
Prepositions – In & At
In the case of time, these prepositions have the different meanings.
The hearing is at 3pm. (Exact time)
The hearing is in the afternoon. (Rough time)
The hearing starts on August 23, at 3pm. (Exact time)
The hearing starts on August 23, in the afternoon. (Rough time)
The judge always arrives at 7am. (Exact time)
The judge always arrives in the morning. (Rough time)
In August 23, 2022
In 3pm on August 23, 2022
At the morning on June 7, 1983
In the morning in February 2, 1983
At January 23, 2022
In the morning in December 25, 1983
On January 2023 I will graduate.
On August 23, 2022
At 3pm on August 23, 2022
In the morning on June 7, 2022
In the morning on February 2, 2022.
On January 23, 2022
In the morning on December 25, 2022.
In January 2023 I will graduate.
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Omit surplus words
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Prefer the active voice
Use short sentences
Arrange your words with care
Use familiar concrete words
Avoid language quirks
Punctuate carefully
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About the Author
Eric Froiland
Eric is a legal English teacher from the United States and has been based out of Bogota, Colombia for the last 10 years. He is the owner and founder of Legal English Innovation SAS, which is recognized as the top legal English academy in Colombia and is an official Test of Legal English Skills (TOLES) examination center.
