DEBT COLLECTION

Property disputes are typically complex and fairly specialist types of litigation. Our property litigation solicitors can help businesses and homeowners solve issues as quickly as possible. Our experienced lawyers give pragmatic advice and take care to understand your situation.

This type of dispute commonly arises between owners or occupiers of neighbouring properties. This could involve a boundary dispute where one party erects a fence, wall or a building in a position where neighbours have different views as to where the boundary lies. Alternatively, disputes can arise over neighbouring proprietors claiming to have access or servitude rights over their neighbour’s property.

If you are in debt and you cannot pay what you owe, your creditor may take court action against you. This will be civil court action which means that you cannot go to prison for owing the debt. If the court grants a decree against you (an order stating you must pay your creditor) then your creditor could instruct Sheriff Officers to take enforcement action against you either at your home or place of work.

If a creditor has obtained a court decree against you then they may instruct Sheriff Officers to take in enforcement action against you at your home address.

A debt becomes time-barred when the prescribed period within which a claim in relation to the debt may be brought to court expires. In Scotland, the prescriptive period is five years in relation to most debts. This is an important and potentially complicated area and if any doubts arise about a debt becoming time-barred then early legal advice should be sought.

If you ignore debt then your creditor might raise court action against you at your local Sheriff Court. If at the end of that process the court agrees that you are due to make payment to your creditor then the court may grant a decree in favour of your creditor. That, in turn, may entitle your creditor to take enforcement action against you.

The Road Traffic Act 1988 applies in Scotland just as it does in England and Wales.

Section 172 Road Traffic Act sets out a mechanism requiring the registered keeper of a vehicle, or any other person, when requested by the police to provide details of the driver of a vehicle at a specified time. Failure to comply with such a request is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1000 and the imposition of six penalty points on your licence.

If you are convicted of a road traffic offence, then you will have a record for having committed a criminal offence.

Causing death or serious injury by careless or dangerous driving, dangerous driving, drink/driving and driving whilst over prescribed limits for certain drugs are generally considered to be serious road traffic offences.

A building or construction dispute occurs when there is a disagreement or conflict between parties involved in a building or renovation project. These disputes often relate to contractual obligations, project timelines, quality of workmanship, or payment issues.

Taking a builder to court could be worthwhile if you have a strong case with expert evidence of poor workmanship and the builder has sufficient assets to pay compensation. However, in some cases, the time and costs involved may outweigh the potential payout, so it's important to carefully evaluate your options. It must be remembered that if you raise a case against a builder and you are unsuccessful then it is likely you will require to pay not only for your own legal costs but also the legal costs of your opponent. An experienced civil litigation solicitor who is experienced in building disputes will be able to advise you on these issues. It is important to seek legal advice as early as possible.

Facing a building or property dispute can be a highly stressful and complicated experience. The sums of money at stake in such disputes can be significant. Our civil litigation solicitors can help homeowners, builders, landlords and tenants solve issues as quickly as possible. Our lawyers give pragmatic advice and take care to understand your situation.

The first step is to clarify what the contract says should have taken place and what the obligations of the parties are. That should be relatively straightforward if the contract is in writing. If the contract is not in writing, for example if there is a verbal contract, then this step may be more complicated. Once the contract terms have been established it is necessary to identify what has gone wrong and who is responsible for that. It is important to collect and preserve relevant evidence by way of documentation and communication between the parties. Is recommended that legal advice be sought from an experienced civil litigation solicitor as early as possible.

In business, a contractual dispute could arise between you and your client or your suppliers. If a party to a contract refuses to comply with their side of the agreement, then this could lead to a contractual dispute. If that dispute cannot be resolved between parties, then the matter could be taken to court for resolution. It is important to remember that not all contracts are in writing. Contracts can be verbal or can be implied from surrounding circumstances. An experienced civil litigation solicitor should be able to advise you on this.

Civil Legal Aid could help with the costs of using a solicitor to prepare a case and speak for you in court. Not everyone will qualify for civil legal aid – that will depend upon your financial circumstances and the nature of your case. Furthermore, it is now very difficult to find experienced civil litigation solicitors who are prepared to carry out cases funded by civil Legal Aid.

Whilst you have the right to represent yourself before the court if you become a party to civil court proceedings, this is not recommended. An unrepresented individual is likely to be at a significant disadvantage when conducting court proceedings particularly if the other party has representation from an experienced civil litigator. Also, it should be born in mind that civil court proceedings involving unrepresented individuals typically will take longer to conclude.

There are three crucial aspects to any civil dispute – first, the evidence (facts), secondly the relevant law when applied to those facts, and thirdly, the tactics of the case. An experienced civil litigation solicitor will be able to advise you on the quality of the evidence that you are able to lead in support of your case and also on the relevant law.

Civil litigation or dispute resolution solicitors deal with civil disputes between individuals and/or organisations. If those disputes cannot be resolved by negotiation between the parties, then a civil litigation solicitor can raise or defend court proceedings and deal with the complex court process that will follow on from that.

If you are assessed as being eligible for criminal Legal Aid then, dependent on the type of prosecution you face, you are unlikely to have to pay for us to represent you. If you do not qualify for Legal Aid then we would be pleased to discuss likely costs with you. If your case is likely to involve only a single court appearance, or relatively brief and clearly defined amounts of work then we may be able to agree a fixed fee arrangement with you. In other, more complicated cases we will normally charge you on a "time and line" basis which means the amount of work we carry out on your behalf will dictate the amount of our firm’s charges. Because every case and every client is different and because different clients require different levels of input from us, it can be difficult to predict at the outset how much work will go into any individual case. As your case develops, we may be able to develop a better understanding of the amount of work that is likely to lie ahead and in that situation, we may be able to provide you with a broad estimate of your anticipated legal costs.

A criminal defence lawyer will meet with you to note your position and advise you. He or she will then present and argue your position before the court. If it is your position that you are being wrongly accused of a crime, then your criminal defence solicitor will seek to highlight discrepancies in the prosecution case and will also aim to lead defence evidence to cast doubt on whether the crime has been committed by you. Alternatively, if you accept committing the offence that you are being prosecuted for, your criminal defence lawyer’s role would be to highlight mitigating circumstances with a view to persuading the court to impose as lenient a penalty as possible.

If you are deemed to be financially eligible for criminal Legal Aid, then it is likely that your legal costs will be met by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. To establish if you are eligible for Legal Aid, it is necessary to lodge an application with the Scottish Legal Aid Board together with documents to prove your financial circumstances.

Many people find one through word of mouth. Being referred to a criminal defence solicitor by someone you trust can give you some peace of mind. You should check reviews of previous clients of the criminal defence solicitor you are thinking of instructing. It is also important to establish the amount of experience the solicitor has. Some criminal defence solicitors have gained additional qualifications and this can act as a reliable verification of that solicitor’s abilities. By way of example some criminal defence solicitors try to qualify as criminal Solicitor Advocates. This means that they have carried out further training and independent assessment that allows them to appear in criminal cases prosecuted in the High Court of Justiciary which is the supreme court for criminal prosecutions in Scotland.