Finding Legal Help When Things Go Wrong
Hopefully you'll have seen the dozens of articles on our site telling you to be wary of the Legal Assistance addons many insurers stick on your policy as already having opted into rather than asking you if you want to opt in like the pretty much do for everything else such as breakdown cover or a courtesy car. It may sound like a good idea at the time when you see costs of a couple dozen pounds in order to secure the services of a solicitor if you need one. Considering solicitors cost hundreds of pounds per hour this sounds like a great deal. However remember that insurers are already making much of a loss on car insurance policies and are not really going to give away more stuff if they can help it. For most car insurance related matters, solicitors work for free. In other words, all that no win no fee and 100% compensation stuff you see on the adverts. In other words, you're paying the insurer for a service that is free and the majority of people don't bother to use their insurance appointed solicitor when something goes wrong anyway because it feels like a conflict of interests:
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WYM Legal Ltd Conveyancing Solicitors in Watford: by setting entry standards and regulating providers to deliver high quality, accessible legal services' .
You must take extra care when dealing with house selling buying these days as so many people https: www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk lifestyle homes-and-gardens y...
Woodstock Legal Services Ltd - Solicitors Law Practice in Poole: The current official website is www.woodstocklegalservices.co.uk but www.woodstocklegalservices.com does not currently redirect. You'll see Peter Fowler qualified in 1974, Roger Clayson in 1981, Nichola Turpin in 2009, Carly Jermyn in 2010, right up to Rebecca Newton in 201...
Wolf Law Solicitors Ltd in Wirral: It's the same firm as far as we can tell.
. Wolf Law don't make any such claims which is a good sign to start off with.
class="infoquote "handled in a professional manner and in a timely fashion"
"Always available with advice and to answer any questions"
"resp...
Wilford Smith Solicitors in Sheffield (Meadowhall) & Rotherham - WS Strategic Ltd: While these are obviously good things to describe your firm, there is no-one claiming the opposite (i.e. So what can you do?
class="infoquote "We have been successfully representing businesses & individuals for over four decades."< div>
Normally on a firm's si...
Wildcat Law Ltd Solicitors in London & Southampton: Sound results."< div>
Most companies use words such as modern, practical, friendly, professional, experienced, etc in their website text and it all sounds great. For example thousands of people have handed their entire house deposit when buying a house straight into a ...
WH Law Ltd - Immigration Solicitors in Woking: There are firms out there that say 'we specialise in xyz' and list a massive number of areas of law. you'll usually be able to pick up enough bits and pieces. You can see for WH their main lawyer Waleed Hassan has been practising law since 2011. Normally our articles use a s...
Waterstone Partnership Solicitors Ltd in Bradford: Your browser should tell you which sites are and are not secure which is important if you are going to submit your personal details via any online contact form.
class="infoquote "For more information on our services please call 01274 652 555"< div>
On that poi...
Walker Foster Ltd Solicitors in Skipton, Barnoldswick, Silsden, Settle, Ilkley, Northallerton & Harrogate: For an example today we'll use the firm Walker Foster who describe themselves as:
class="infoquote "...
Aside from verifying a firm's experience and comments on them, there are often some things which we think sets one firm apart from another. If they have one...
UVS Law Immigration & Visa Solicitor in Burton-on-Trent & London:
UVS Law is a more recently set up branding than others, but it should be pointed out that the age of the firm bears no indication about the experience of the lawyer that will actually handle your case. So how do you find the best immigration service for your particul...
TWB Probate Solicitors Ltd - Estate Planning, Wills & Probate in London: Unfortunately, in the UK there are no good guidelines blocking people from calling themselves a 'lawyer' considering most are not aware it does not mean the same thing as a 'solicitor' or 'barrister'.
. clients complete a relatively comprehensive questionnaire which is f...
The Law Partnership Ltd - Solicitors in Coventry: So please keep aware of where you are and who you're communicating with.. We don't usually tell people what to do in our articles, but it's safe to say you can ignore such founding dates when deciding which legal services firm to use. That could still be a 'specialist' firm ...
Thomas and Thomas Solicitors Ltd in Maesteg, Bridgend & Port Talbot:
Thomas & Thomas did not make any such misleading claims as far as we saw on their site. They all sound great descriptions, but as there are no firms claiming to be 'unfriendly', 'newbies', or 'out of date' - such terms don't really help you distinguish one firm from...
Stephanie Heijdra - The Lady Barrister & Clerksroom Chambers in London: (There have been none against Stephanie at the time we checked.) All extra information such as qualifications or even clear specialist areas of law are not provided. As part of a chambers you'll find every barrister works quite individually anyway though.
class="infoq...
Thaxted Legal Ltd Immigration Solicitors in Chislehurst, London: This kind of offering demonstrates two things (to us at least). The absence of negative information isn't the best indicator of a positive choice. There are also several other Ltd companies with Thaxted in the name so just pay close attention when looking up things like revi...
Summerfield Browne Solicitors in London, Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford, Market Harborough & Leicester: When Covid hit many companies across all industries realised they can do the job just as easily from their own home office rather than going into a specific location.
Many still might prefer that official office visit when it comes to legal matters, but for businesse...
Stowe Family Law - Divorce Solicitors in Harrogate, York, Beverley & Other Locations: So what are people saying about Stowe Family Law?
class="infoquote "very supportive during otherwise difficult times"
"She tells it like it is so I always know where I stand"
"kept my costs to a minimum throughout my separation"
"service was efficient and very r...
Sternberg Reed LLP Solicitors with Offices in Romford, Barking & Grays: The Law Society covering those areas is one we've often praised on our site. Claiming you get better personalised attention within a smaller firm rather than be lost in the crowd. It seems that no matter what a firm is, they can usually spin it to sound as though they are ...
Solidaire Solicitors - Solidaire Law Ltd in Milton Keynes: So how do you tell the firms apart when a website is pretty much all you have to go on?
Solidaire are a law firm based in Milton Keynes. If you've come here after already sifting through a few dozen solicitor websites, you may have noticed most look the same with the...
Smith and Graham Solicitors in Hartlepool, Peterlee and Middlesbrough: But it actually contains two of the main things we think you should look at when picking a firm.
class="infoquote "always available when we had questions"
"Fair priced and transparent in their dealings"
"responsive and always kept me updated with the developmen...
Sarah Rostamlou-Andrews Law - Landlord / Tenant Eviction Dispute Solicitor in Southport, Lancashire: My aim is to provide clear, practical, timely advice and services to my clients at a fair price."< div>
Most companies will state their goal is to have satisfied clients . In 25+ years of working in the legal industry, we've never seen such a firm. But people can cal...
Rose Fendlen Law - Solicitors in Wigan (Formerly LRose Law): Many companies have created Testimonial pages on their website. Many firms use the same sales language, offer similar services, make similar promises, and even use similar images on their websites of people looking sternly at pieces of paper or shaking hands smiling. On that...
PCS Legal Ltd Conveyancing Solicitors in Basildon, Ongar, Wickford, London, Rayleigh &Harlow: Some people https: www.theguardian.com money 2019 aug 24 the-45000-deposit-for-our-first-home-was-stolen-and-the-banks-did-nothing" have handed their entire house deposit amount< a> over to a fraudster's bank account simple because an official-looking email came through t...
Dispute Resolver Consultancy - Mediation & Alternative Dispute Resolution ADR in London: It's possible this could be because the firm is using generic terms in the name - i.e. People have also handed their entire house deposit to a fraudster sometimes based on a single faked email. We have plenty of regular multi practice firms, but also niche case handlers and ...
Oakwood Solicitors Ltd & Oakwood Property Solicitors in Leeds: It doesn't help that so many law firms repeat the same sales pitches, use the same language and even seem to use the same stock photos. Those were some snippets from the firm's own website where they list several such testimonials.
Oakwood clearly have a wide range o...
Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors in Macclesfield: Take this one also from the NJS site:
class="infoquote "With combined experience totalling over 60 years, they wanted to find a way to make exceptional legal advice more accessible for everyone."< div>
Most firms will state a length of time in one way or anothe...
SG Murphy & Co Ltd - Solicitors in Newtownabbey, Belfast: Including each side leaving negative feedback on each other's firm. For today's article we're looking at SG Murphy Solicitors in Northern Ireland who describe themselves as:
class="infoquote "... At this point if you've been searching for legal services for a few hour...
MJV & Co Solicitors Ltd - Law Firm in Thornton-Cleveleys, Blackpool: We therefore turn to the same places most consumers do which is the public review board such as https: www.google.com search?q=mjv+law+Thornton-Cleveleys&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB926GB926&sxsrf=ALiCzsalxGo7bn__bt5tCtdwUowu1oS7AA%3A1663791418678&ei=OnErY_-GKaWShbIP6JWx0Ao&ved=0ah...
McCarthy + Co LLP Solicitors in Dublin, Cork & Clonakilty:
This offers huge advantages when trying to verify a law firm or look into which is best for you. But pay attention whether any claims a firm make are actually backed up. They are not the be-all and end-all of important things to check. Sometimes simply because they ...
Mark Croft Driving Offence Solicitor in Derby:
class="infoquote "I have been involved in the criminal justice system for over 28 years."< div>
First is this quote above from Mark Croft's website. So that could be 5 members of staff each with only 4 years of experience.
This isn't a huge deal, however, ...
Mackenzie Jones Solicitors in St Asaph, Menai Bridge & Chester: Always make sure you are on the correct website and never discuss payments or bank details via email. If we do add a general law practice in an area though, we try to find one that looks the most 'solid'. So what are people saying:
class="infoquote "Any questions th...
Lyons Solicitors - Law Firm in Kingswood, Westbury-on-Trym & Chew Magna (Bristol): It's strange to think the internet has only been with us just over two decades because it really feels as though the way in which we shop and hire services has changed more in those 20 years than in the 200 before it. For example if a solicitor states they have 20 years of...
LS Legal Solicitors Ltd: Many companies provide a Testimonials section on their website and LS Legal https: www.lslegaluk.com testimonials" is no exception< a>.
class="infoquote "The high standards of our personalised client care form an important part of our business."< div>
Of cou...
QualitySolicitors Large & Gibson - Law Firm in Southsea, Portsmouth:
class="infoquote "QualitySolicitors is the largest network of law firms in the UK, with local law firms spanning the whole of England and Wales and customer service at the heart of everything we do. However, Quality Solicitors is not the parent company of Large & Gib...
Kee Solicitors Ltd in Glasgow & Aberdeen: Certainly we've seen hundreds of legal professional sites with 'make a free enquiry' above the contact form, but that doesn't always mean the same thing. All firms will say they have these qualities.
class="infoquote "Kee Solicitors from the outset was set up to be ...
Horsley Law Solicitors in Stafford aka Horsley Holdings Ltd: Pay special attention if the firm you're looking into handles property matters because they are often targeting by fraudsters and https: www.ncsc.gov.uk collection phishing-scams" phishing scams< a>.
.
class="infoquote "worked tirelessly to ensure a speedy recover...
Law (aka All Law Ltd) Solicitors in Preston: For example, if you https: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk office 26041 all-law-limited" look up a firm< a> on their database it will tell you alternate contact details, other names the firm may go by, languages spoken, and more. This way you can see the specialist areas of...
Hill House Chambers - Barristers Based in London: provide you with expert legal advice ... There are accountants that can help with tax law matters, budget will writing firms, paralegal services, and so on. At the moment there are only names and the year the person qualified as a barrister.
class="infoquote "I have b...
Heritage Park Family Law Ltd - Barrister Chambers in Ampthill, Bedford: In fact, we would say the majority we know of still work 9am-5pm Mon-Fri. As you can see on the information page for this firm the main barrister, Lisa Smith, entered the profession in 1994. Heritage Park is listed on the other source we recommend, the website of the https:...
HCR Legal LLP Solicitors Law Firm incl Medical Accident Group in Worcester, Birmingham & Hereford:
class="infoquote "We work as part of our parent law firm, Harrison Clark Rickerbys, whose roots stretch back to 1796."< div>
Over that length of time there have been several name changes and mergers for the company during growth. For example, while www.hcrlaw.co...
Harrison's Solicitors - Conveyancing in Reading, Caversham & Woodley: For example, when we searched for "harrisons solicitors reading" the local listing simply would not pop up. There are no firms claiming to be unprofessional and bad value for money are there? So these statements don't help much. So you need to be really careful and ensure yo...
Guardian Law Ltd - Employment & HR Lawyers in Nottingham: That shouldn't cause too much confusion . They were all very positive , but lacking enough comments content to provide a good overview of the firm. So make sure you are always on the correct site and never discuss payment details via email. We've seen a law practice praise...
Goldsmith Bowers Debt Recovery & Litigation Solicitors in Bradford: For example, if you see a law firm of two solicitors stating they cover a dozen different areas of law including Immigration - they are logically less likely to be able to keep fully updated on all legal guidelines for every case type versus an Immigration specialist firm....
Girlings Solicitors LLP & Girlings Personal Injury Claims Ltd in Sandwich, Ashford & Canterbury: When searching for information on Google these days you may need to enter a specific location such as 'girlings solicitors ashford' otherwise reviews and other local business details will not pop up. can provide you with advice and a free initial consultation"< div>
...
Frei Solicitors Ltd - Luxury Asset Law Firm in London: While they are all clearly positive, they are also very few in number. Founded by Hakan Doganci, this is a one-off firm on our network. For any given area we might displays results for a general high street solicitor next to a direct access barrister or a specialist non-so...
Foster & Coleman Ltd Solicitors in Bromley, Greater London:
Be aware that ampersands can't exist in website URls so www.foster&coleman.com will either return an error or redirect you to search results depending on which browser you are using. Foster Coleman do have https: www.fosterandcoleman.com testimonials" a testimonial...
Eve Lake Conveyancing & Legal Services in Hope Valley: Both deal with preparing contracts, land registry searches, local authority access checks, money transfers, etc.
class="infoquote "Over 10 years post qualification experience, gained within 2 regional and national law firms"< div>
A quick note on navigation as ...
EMD Law LLP Solicitors in Staplehurst & St Leonards-on-Sea: We tend not to quote any provided testimonials in these articles. On this occasion the firm's official web address also matches the branding being located at www.emdlaw.co.uk, but note that www.emdlaw.com is for a different firm. Not just fill a form in with a junior member ...
EDC Lord & Co Solicitors in Southall: The site also includes a blog section that features articles and updates on legal topics of interest, such as employment law, family law, and commercial law. The comments and reviews seem mostly positive:
class="infoquote "took the time to explain the entire process c...
Eatons Solicitors in Bradford, Bingley, Yeadon & Leeds West Yorkshire: You can't just look up overall reviews.
. It's important to note that most law firms that handle property matters do end up with a larger portion of negative feedback compared to solicitors that don't. It's very easy for a firm to claim they are large or experienced in th...
Drummond Miller LLP Solicitors in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bathgate, Musselburgh, Dalkeith & East Kilbride:
class="infoquote "We get to know our clients and understand the issues that are important to them so we can provide them with detailed, common sense legal advice and practical assistance."< div>
But even with other legal matters and firms, don't rely on star ra...
Defank Solicitors in London: We have seen notes about a Defank Solicitor in Croydon but that seems to be the same firm as this one based slightly further north in Greater London. For all you know the award was for best logo design which doesn't help with your legal matter.
class="infoquote "With ...
CWJ Solicitors & Notaries - Clarkson Wright & Jakes Ltd in Orpington, Kent: People have handed https: www.theguardian.com money 2023 oct 07 i-lost-240000-uk-victims-share-their-stories" their entire house deposit to fraudsters< a>. But you can end up with a 40-year veteran lawyer from a 1-year old law firm or a 1-year novice solicitor from a 20...
Cullimore Dutton Solicitors Ltd - Conveyancing & Legal Services in Chester: If a firm's is promoting the idea of their brand being 200-years old, it's obviously meant to infer they are incredibly experienced. So the quotes above are taken from the usual public boards https: www.google.com search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tZP1zcsSTe2zDOqMGC0UjWoMLEwT0xJMbFMM7JMM...
Cook Legal Ltd Law Firm in Wirral, Merseyside: Law firms authorised to practice in England & Wales can practice in any area of those countries. provide expert legal advice, delivered in an approachable, straight-talking way, backed by a high standard of client care."< div>
When people want to get an idea of past c...
Calio Claims Ltd - Personal Injury in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth & Dundee:
class="infoquote "Calio Claims has helped thousands of people recover physically and financially following an accident."< div>
The idea of law firms using separate branding for personal injury matters arose as a matter of necessity a few decades ago in the big ...
Buchanan & Co Ltd Solicitors in Staveley, Chesterfield, Kiveton Park & Sheffield: While many people are quite happy to provide bucketloads of detail in reviewing a restaurant - they are less likely to give helpful details about their bankruptcy, criminal defence, or messy divorce. (Quite often not even from their own clients but from impatient buyers sell...
Brown & Co Solicitors in Greenwich, London: However it's amazing just how similar law firm websites look these days with similar language and similar images of people smiling - all shaking hands. To check the individual experience amongst law professionals there is a great resource on The Law Society of England & Wa...
Brodies LLP Solicitors in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh & Inverness Scotland: So those words are pretty much meaningless. Read our case studies to find out more."< div>
According to our poll a few years back, it's not just us industry workers who like a good case study. We can only direct you to https: www.lawscot.org.uk find-a-solicitor ?Firm...
Bridge McFarland LLP - Solicitors in Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, Louth, and Market Rasen: Depending on which browser you use a typo can end up with you seeing adverts for other firms if not simply pushing you directly to the wrong site. So what about the independent boards such as https: www.google.com search?q=bridge+mcfarland+llp+lincoln&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB92...
Brian Barr Solicitors Ltd Chronic Pain & Fibromyalgia Compensation in Manchester: But the comments posted on the Brian Barr site do include useful bits of information such as these snippets above. is to get a wider range of opinions but also to see if there are any themes in the negative feedback too such as not answering the phones, https: www.lawgazet...
Bell Lax Ltd - Solicitors in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham: Surely an enviable staff selection for any firm to have? It should hopefully mean wise, seasoned heads but with eager, fresh ideas bouncing around.
Despite this, there are a handful of things we recommend you definitely checklist for each and every firm you are consid...
Scotland Injury Solicitors from Baker Hardman Ltd in Glasgow:
A note on navigation as there are variations to bear in mind. Top Solicitors in Preston and Glasgow."< div>
That's an opening line from the website of Baker Hardman Solicitors , a firm handling a range of legal matters with offices in both England and Scotland. ...
Backhouse Solicitors in Chelmsford, Essex: That's a lot of space to have to fill with words.
A quick note on navigation though. You can get a 1-year newbie solicitor from a 200-year-old firm and a 40 year veteran lawyer from a 1-year-old law practice brand. Note that you may need to enter the full name plus l...
Amy King Legal - Personal Injury & Litigation Solicitor in Gillingham, Kent: There is no hard and fast rule. But how can a member of the public tell an experienced solicitor from a non-experience one?
If a solicitor is registered with The Law Society of England & Wales you are able to look up alternate trading names, contact details, areas of...
ACSL Solicitors Ltd in Liverpool: Some firms are registered with their https: www.liverpoollawsociety.org.uk lawyers acsl-solicitors-ltd " local law society< a> as well. We have often championed the website of The Law Society of those two countries for providing a wealth of information to consumers. All o...
A City Law Firm Ltd in London: Don't make assumptions because for all you know it may be an award for best logo design and nothing to do with their actual law experience. Surprisingly dispite the generic words in the name, when we typed 'a city law firm' into sites we were shown reviews and results for th...
Two Harcourt Buildings Chambers - 2HB Barristers in London: But of course they will all say that. That's because whilst the head office is technically located in the same building, most barristers work from home or out of offices near their home. Especially if there isn't much extra independent information to base a decision on inste...
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