The hellish gauntlet of a former Bonn & Schmitt client

Imagine a contentious divorce, mixing personal and professional grievances, that drags on for ever – and then add to that the receivership of the law firm you hired, which has taken almost €20,000 in fees. This is the hell that Géraldine (name changed by the editors) is going through, in a desperate race to get these fees reimbursed. Because last August, she finally received a letter from the legal aid department informing her of her right to full legal aid for the legal fees incurred in her divorce proceedings. This is good news for the woman who had to sell her car and family jewellery to pay her last bill to Bonn & Schmitt, having been pressured by her lawyer under false pretences.

But when she contacted the firm to get her money back, no one answered. Her lawyer could not be reached. It was only when she consulted the Bar's online directory that she discovered a discreet entry next to the firm's name: "under provisional administration". The Journal has already reported on the fall of this well-known firm in a previous article. Several months later, where does Géraldine stand in her fight to get her money back?