This article is recommended to parties who have their business in Isle of Man and need legal advice or legal representation.
For more information, Pls see also my other blog:
Corporate service providers, Off- shore companies, Isle of Man
My first recommendation is that you don't take your business to Isle of Man, however if you do make sure that you don't need legal representation, if you do, make sure that you don't pay in advance because you will be charged at random. Furthermore once they are paid in advance they don't bother with your case any more.
Pls see below my experience with Quinn Legal Advocates.
It was very stupid of me to pay Quinn Legal in advance. I was charged £18000 for 2 days of work. That is about 52 hours of work for representing me in court for maximum 16 hours.
Initially I had sued a corporate service provider called Trident Trust Company Limited, Isle of Man who had made a mistake in the management of my company. They lied and cheated and bullied and insulted me. My case against Trident Trust is 3 blogs in itself. Pls see:
Trident Trust Company Limited Isle of Man law suit and cover ups.
Mr. David Bester managaing director Trident Trust Company Limited Isle of Man
Mr. Barry Short tax adviser Trident Trust Company Limited Isle of Man
I was a litigant in person til the last minute when following the advice of an advocate Mr. Charles Coleman at Gaugh advocates, i chose to be represented during the trial by Mr. Christopher Webb who at the time worked for Quinn Legal. This turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life. I was stupid enough to tell him that i could not find anyone to represent me during the trial. He took advantage of the fact that i did not have time to shop around for an advocate and said he would do it for £18000.
If you asked me whether in Isle of Man advocates get a commission for throwing cases to each other, I would say in my experience everything is possible in that place.
I had done all the work myself and instructed Mr. Webb exactly how to show my case to the court. However Mr. Webb turned out to be a total idiot. Not only he was not prepared at all, he did not follow my instructions, threw away my evidence, mumbled and jumbled and lost my case. Well, he had already been paid so why bother?... Only after this mess I found out that Mr. Webb had already been sued for negligence at Advocates Disciplinary Tribunal Isle of Isle of Man, and one of his clients had committed suicide because of the way he had handled his case.Indeed he is a dangerous advocate and should be barred from all courts. Naturally he got away with it at ADT. That is the way things work in IOM.
IOM locals are INFALLIBLE. In a way it reminds of the Pope and cardinals who protect the church by ignoring all the kids, because they don't want the whole world to find out about all the mess in their place, they might loose their reputation and income,...I wished
After the trial I complained again and again and again several times to Quinn Legal that they had overcharged me for 2 days of work. But they ignored all my complaint letters and did not reply. I had no idea that I had 6 months to ask for assessment of my bill and Quinn Legal although they had been my advocates made sure not to tell me. As such I lost the deadline for assessment of my bill and Quinn legal kept the £18000 for 2 days of work and making a mess in my case.
I decided to sue Quinn legal and this time I decided to represent myself during the trial. Needless to say that when i sued QuinnLegal, Mr. Webb left the firm and joined good friends Gaugh Advocates.I pity Gaugh people who will have to clean up Mr. Webb's next mess. Pls make sure that you don't get involved with any firm where Mr. Webb works.
During the trial I brought to the attention of the judge His Worship Needham that Quinn legal had overcharged me. It did not made sense to pay £18000 for 2 days of work.
Mr. Webb explained to the judge that before Trident Trust's trial when he explained to his partners that he had charged me £18000 for 2 days of work, his partners were not content as they considered that he should have charged me more! Mr. Webb did not explain why his partners considered £18000 was not enough for 2 days of work.
I asked His Worship to allow me to ask for assessment of my bill. Frankly why should he? And His Worship did not allow me because thanks to Quinn legal who had ignored all my complaint letters i had lost the deadline.
My case against Quinn Legal is yet another blog in itself.Pls see:
Proceedings against Quinn Legal Advocates Isle of Man for negligence
In Isle of Man there is an understanding that locals get full protection from the courts of justice, which is probably the reason that they don't even try to settle. So when you are a litigant in person or a foreign party you don't have much chance to win your case. I showed clearly Mr. Webb's shortcomings and failures to the court as he mumbled and jumbled during the whole trial,but I lost the case. All the way through the trial I had the feeling that i was on trial, I was the guilty party and as such I was punished, kicked out of the court and ordered to pay Quinn Legal's legal fees.
Only after I read the Transcript i asked myself frankly what were the chances of a foreign litigant in person that nobody knew versus a reputable local party defended by another reputable local party? Why would local parties have to pay foreign parties? What sort of business would that be? How would it look in a transcript if local parties lost to foreign litigant in persons? No way!
Quinn legal was represented by Mr.Tim Swift at Appleby Global Advocates Isle of Man. Appleby's fees and tax bill is yet another blog in itself Pls see:
Appleby Global Advocates, Isle of Man, fees, fake tax bill
I objected to Appleby's tax bill and did not pay because I claimed that I had been overcharged. This time Quinn Legal who had not been paid in advance did not miss the 6 months deadline and took action! They actually bothered to ask for the assessment of their bill which is another blog in itself. Pls see
Assessment of bills of solicitors and advocates at High Courts of Justice of Isle of Man
Whether in Isle of Man or everywhere else, there is an understanding that even when you have your bill assessed, you are ordered to pay two third of the bill.Isle of Man is a small place and all professionals know each other and all day long they are working with or against each other and cutting deals with each other. Perhaps they come to agreements on the golf course.... In this blog I explain exactly how in Isle of Man advocates cut deals and decide how much you should pay at the beginning of your case and how they produce a bill accordingly and maybe even give each other commissions or discounts.
As I already knew, Mr. Kennish, the court assessor ordered me to pay about two thirds of the bill.I wrote an email to Appleby and said i had sold everything and left the country which was partly through, but i told them that i would pay them gradually and did pay a part of the bill...Quinn Legal did not wait to get paid fully and went beserk! They actually spent a part of the £18000 which they had overcharged me, appointed another set of solicitors to "enforce" and catch me! It was amazing as their attitude changed because they had not been paid in advance !!! I paid and got rid of a gang of stinking people. I actually had 6 years of my life wasted and been milked and milked to the maximum
....NEVER AGAIN.
The moral of this blog? If you pay in advance they make a mess and don't even bother to answer you, if you don't pay in advance they are ready to spend their own money on legal fees to catch you!
