Solicitors may be forced to hand back thousands

SOLICITORS could be forced to hand back money to thousands of clients who may have been overcharged following personal injury and other cases in the last 10 years.

As the Law Society confronts numerous allegations that solicitors overcharged abuse victims, a critic of the legal profession warned this was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Strict legal rules have to be followed by solicitors when dealing with clients’ bills. They can never charge a percentage of any award, must hand over a written estimate following the first consultation and furnish the client with an itemised bill.