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:
Youngs Solicitors - Young & Co Solicitors Ltd in Longton (Stoke on Trent): The https: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk organisation offices 563652 young-and-co-solicitors-limited" pages about this firm< a> are quite mixed up with every office being called Young & Co Solicitors but with contact details and web addresses of alternative brandings mixed...
Woodstock Legal Services Ltd - Solicitors Law Practice in Poole: There was also only one similarly named firm of Woodstock Solicitors. In most review articles we don't bother including them for the reasons just stated. They include direct contact information and work history details of each staff member which is perfect. You'll see Pe...
Wildcat Law Ltd Solicitors in London & Southampton: Alot of firms might state they are 'award winning' without ever actually letting you know whether that award was for best logo design or something actually useful for practicing law. If you've already been through a dozen law firm websites today you'll probably have noticed ...
WH Law Ltd - Immigration Solicitors in Woking: Sometimes based on nothing more than a single official-looking email saying to do so. However today's law practice, WH Solicitors, is simple. Just remember to read all comments and not rely on average star ratings. It's one of those ones that make us use tired out sayings su...
Waterstone Partnership Solicitors in Bradford:
When there is a difference between the firm name and the web address it is sometimes a good idea to bookmark it just in case. For example if you see any firm stating 'established in 1881' or any other such ancient founding date - that only tells you how old their com...
ULA Solicitors Ltd - Law Firm in London: ULA list positive quotes from peers on their site, which is something we would consider to be much better than customer testimonials. a dedicated criminal defence practice specializing in high-profile, complex cases, often with an international dimension"< div>
They t...
Trojan Solicitors Ltd Immigration & Family Law in London: That always bothers us and we think it's far too common a practice across all industries. For example, for many years now people have been able to hire a barrister direct through the new Public Access scheme. These days the high-street-solicitor is not the only option availa...
The Law Partnership Ltd - Solicitors in Coventry: But let's take two extremes to highlight this example. The best and most popular way to check up on this kind of statement on a law firm's website is through public reviews. Lots of people make mistakes leaving reviews so the best thing to do is look for any positive or ne...
Wilford Smith Solicitors in Sheffield (Meadowhall) & Rotherham - WS Strategic Ltd: Many home buyers have https: www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk conveyancing-scams " handed their entire house deposit< a> to a scammer sometimes merely because they received an official-looking email saying the bank details for payment had changed. So they could have 10x staf...
The Legal Practice Ltd - Solicitors in Rickmansworth & Wembley Park, Greater London: That's because the legal industry is currently plagued by fraudsters trying to scam house buyers out of their deposit money. Law firms can get so boastful of their ancient start dates that it makes TLP's claim of 1964 sound almost in it's infancy.
This is because most ...
Stephanie Heijdra - The Lady Barrister & Clerksroom Chambers in London: We try to make sure you know about the different types of legal help you can get in your area including the typical high street solicitor but also things like will writers and accountants that can sometimes help with legal issues at a fraction of the cost. But what about ex...
Thaxted Legal Ltd Immigration Solicitors in Chislehurst, London: They were all very positive and helpfully provided examples of why each of them were happy with the service rather than just blank ratings. etc. So you'd think we'd always have an arsenal of tools to research any firm we come across.
class="infoquote "We are speci...
Taylor Price Legal Ltd - Solicitors in Leeds & Levenshulme (Manchester): Word like 'friendly', 'efficient' or 'modern' pop up constantly but don't really help to distinguish that firm from their competitors. You may think it's standard for all solicitors to provide free initial chats.
There's others listed too making a good mix of wise old ...
Swain & Co Solicitors Ltd in Southampton, Liverpool & Havant: That's a considerable range of experience between them but it should also be a good mix of seasoned wise heads alongside fresh eager ideas. The official site we link to is www.swainandco.com but www.swainandco.co.uk is for a different firm. So are Swain & Co Solicitors p...
Summerfield Browne Solicitors in London, Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford, Market Harborough & Leicester: 'summerfield browne birmingham') to get reviews only on that office rather than the firm as a whole. 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.
...
Stowe Family Law - Divorce Solicitors in Harrogate, York, Beverley & Other Locations:
As you can see there is a wide range of experience within Stowe, with solicitor's start dates covering all of the past five decades such as Mark Christie who qualified as a solicitor in 1984, Sarah Barr-Young in 2009, right up to Fatima Baig who qualified in 2021. It ...
Smith and Graham Solicitors in Hartlepool, Peterlee and Middlesbrough:
class="infoquote "always available when we had questions"
"Fair priced and transparent in their dealings"
"responsive and always kept me updated with the developments of the case"< div>
The independent review boards were mainly positive comments like this...
Simper Law Ltd - Solicitors in Norwich & Great Yarmouth: For some reason, thousands of people have sent tens of thousands of pounds of their money to the fraudsters bank account instead of checking with their solicitor that the email is genuine. Our article today is about Simper Law which turns out to be much more of a unique off...
Reynolds Macdonald Solicitors in Hackney: It boggles the mind. Whilst many people will be quick to jump online and tell people about a meal they've just eaten.
If you https: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk office 464412 reynolds-macdonald" check out the page< a> for any firm on their site you should be able to...
Rose Fendlen Law - Solicitors in Wigan (Formerly LRose Law): For example, a firm proudly saying they are 'modern' or 'friendly' doesn't strike us as particularly useful because no firm is ever going to claim they are 'living in the past' or 'rude'.
class="infoquote "Rose Fendlen Law is Authorised and Regulated by the SRA (Soli...
OneLaw Chambers - Solicitors, Barristers & Advocates in London:
Direct Access, or Public Access as it's sometimes known, allows members of the public to skip that step and hire a barrister directly. With that in mind we always recommend people read actual comments left rather than simply flicking through the star ratings.
...
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...
My Law Matters from Fentimans - Solicitors in Wolverhampton, Manchester, Solihull & Waltham Cross: It can therefore be a good idea not to type important web addresses into the browser bar incase you make a mistake and succumb to a https: www.gov.uk report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing" phishing< a> site too. However there were some negative comments that really...
MJV & Co Solicitors Ltd - Law Firm in Thornton-Cleveleys, Blackpool: If you https: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk office 595126 mjv-co-solicitors-ltd" check out the page< a> for this firm you'll be able to see any alternative business names they use, their specialist areas of law, alternative contact details, and the qualification dates of e...
Milners Law LLP Solicitors in Leeds, Harrogate & Pontefract: Now, through Milners, you can get your hands on all this legal expertise for a sensible price."< div>
The information provided on the law society site certainly bears out their claims of extensive experience.
That may be confusing to use the word 'specialist' to de...
Michael Leighton Jones Solicitors in Bargoed & Tredomen, Wales: So if these sorts of claims can't help distinguish between the firms. New tech companies, car makers, or even a new local bakery would never be thought of as worse for not being 200 year's old. There will always be 'specialist' firms that target a single case type such as Mo...
Mckie Legal Solicitors in Penrith & St Helens (ConnectMeToaLawyer Ltd): However the concept of the local solicitors office has become something of an almost quaint, nostalgic notion these days when Amazon will bring you any item in the world within 24 hrs of you ordering it (usually whilst sat on the toilet). Usually with just a single email to...
Mark Croft Driving Offence Solicitor in Derby: You may see many references to 'time' on law firm's sites. For some reason, the buyer doesn't bother checking up on this before transferring the entire house deposit to the fraudster's bank account. Todays article will focus on the motor offence solicitor Mark Croft as ther...
Mackenzie Jones Solicitors in St Asaph, Menai Bridge & Chester: The things we use to evaluate a firm are probably things most potential clients do as well. If you're not sure, phone the official number you have been given - not the phone number being provided in the actual email you are suspicious of.
. Even better: get an actual soli...
Lyons Solicitors - Law Firm in Kingswood, Westbury-on-Trym & Chew Magna (Bristol): But if a law firm states they have '20 years of combined experience' or '20 years of experience within the firm' - that means they've added up all the years between all staff members.
A quick note on navigation as there are several firms with 'lyons' in the name such a...
Brian Barr Solicitors Ltd Chronic Pain & Fibromyalgia Compensation in Manchester: Experience is also a massive part of a successful and swift outcome to your case. So what are they saying about this firm on the independent forums?
class="infoquote "began work immediately and tirelessly on my behalf for over four years"
"nothing was too much troub...
LS Legal Solicitors Ltd: It can get very confusing when trying to find a solicitor for your case. But we were impressed by the fact that as they've grown they seem to have limited that growth only to areas of law where they could provide similar focused expertise.
A quick note on navigation ...
Lefevres Law Firm - Litigation Solicitors in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen: However they claim decades of experience. The obvious inference being that the older the company, the more experience they must have. Here is what they said about him:
class="infoquote "A Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, he is also the current conv...
KRS Estate Planning Ltd - Will & Probate Advice in Leicester: There's obviously a massive range of variants people could attempt such as www.krs.co.uk or www.krsestateplanning.co.uk so we would recommend bookmarking the site just to be sure. But what do prior clients think of the firm?
class="infoquote "friendly, efficient and ...
Kee Solicitors Ltd in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Stepps & Falkirk: But you never know what fraud might come your way, so be vigilant about what site you're on and what you discuss via email.
. Hopefully one day the Scottish database will be as good as the English (which is a tough thing to say as a Scottish firm ourselves!)
class="i...
JPS Walker Solicitors Ltd in Manchester:
The difference is that a solicitor may take a cut of your compensation under a no win, no fee guarantee. So if you see one written on a solicitor's site it does not mean both are on offer.
So if you see a law firm with barely a handful, or even zero, reviews - don...
Jacobs Law Solicitors: This is done through phishing (similar looking domain names) or even the full on hacking of solicitor's contact lists and emailing clients directly. We link to the official site for this firm which is www.jacobslaw.org, and not a standard tld ending for a law firm. For all w...
HooperHyde Business Law Solicitors in Solihull: But they're understandably less likely to share their experiences about a messy divorce, criminal charges they are facing, or suing their employer for sexual harassment. Sadly, some businesses use marketing jargon to try and cover up when they don't have a good deal of exp...
Hill House Chambers - Barristers Based in London: That's still very useful information though and something people typicaly want to know yet can't find out when it comes to barristers. A solicitor's firm will have all staff working as if it's one big company together. For the case types they handle this isn't too much a c...
Guardian Law Ltd - Employment & HR Lawyers in Nottingham: So make sure you are always on the correct site and never discuss payment details via email.
class="infoquote "our specialist employment lawyers can advise and represent you"< div>
Today's article is on Guardian Law, an Employment Law specialist based in Notti...
Goldsmith Bowers Debt Recovery & Litigation Solicitors in Bradford:
Making sure you are on the correct website and not tripping up when typing in domains is mostly important when it comes to online scams including https: consumer.ftc.gov articles how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams" phishing< a> or for people moving large sums ...
Fulton's Solicitors & Estate Agents in Clarkston & Mount Florida, Glasgow: So if you see reviews relating to such, it's not an error by the reviewer. There are news articles about Fultons https: www.scottishlegal.com article gildeas-completes-acquisition-of-glasgow-firm-fulton-s" being bought over< a> by a firm called Gildeas not too long ago. ...
Frei Solicitors Ltd - Luxury Asset Law Firm in London: (A thing we assume they learned from the rise of Kardashian-style role-models before them.) So while a specialist firm to help people with the 'problem' of massive wealth might sound odd to most - it will be welcome news to those who have built their wealth on being carefu...
Frazer Coogans Ltd - Solicitors in Ayr, Prestwick & Glasgow: But on a law website it can look to some as almost brand new. Even when things are completely outside the control of the solicitor, clients will often leave negative comments on review boards. Unlike tech companies , food outlets, streaming services, or practically any comp...
Foster & Coleman Ltd Solicitors in Bromley, Greater London:
class="infoquote "Legal advice you can depend on, from people you can trust"< div>
A quick note on navigation considering the alternate firms that kept popping up during our researching. The site is https secure for submitting your personal details on their c...
Fair Result Ltd Divorce Settlement Mediation Services in Leicester: A big part of their setup seems to be that they will only work with reasonable people. With the generic words in the brand name and the hyphenation, there are obviously dozens of other possibilities not to mention common typos with double lettered middles such as using 'fair...
EMD Law LLP Solicitors in Staplehurst & St Leonards-on-Sea: only 8% of you apparently trust company provided comments. That of a sizeable, high street office with experienced professionals - but not in the old style of solicitors some of us might remember from the pre-2000s. So keep an eye out for the padlock when browsing. There ar...
EDC Lord & Co Solicitors in Southall: Each section includes detailed information about the relevant legal issues, along with case studies that illustrate the firm's experience and expertise in each area. This is an excellent way for potential clients to get to know the lawyers at EDC Lord and determine whether...
Dylan Nair Solicitors Ltd in Preston, Lancashire: That's not something we are so keen on. Don't despair. There's also a good mix of fluent languages spoken at this firm. The main points you need can often be gained from a local Law Society.
class="infoquote "very responsive and helpful in every way"
"I eventua...
Drummond Miller LLP Solicitors in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bathgate, Musselburgh, Dalkeith & East Kilbride:
class="infoquote "Words can’t express our gratitude for your kindness"
"we had chosen the right lawyer to handle our application"
"I had met a true professional who actually cared about our case"< div>
It's an odd thing that company provided testimonials ca...
DisrepairClaim.co.uk - Housing Disrepair Claims Company based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire: Because we're trying to get people directly in touch with a legal professional which they can evaluate and choose themselves - claims management companies don't generally fit our mould. We've talked a lot before about 'specialist' law firms. for other inconveniences and lo...
David Stinson & Co Personal Injury Solicitors in Aylesford, Kent: The latter means that you have nothing to pay whether your case wins or loses . For a name that's been around for a while, it may appear as though the number of reviews doesn't reflect that. It should be pointed out though that a good solicitor taking 25% of your £500...
Cullimore Dutton Solicitors Ltd - Conveyancing & Legal Services in Chester: Not so many firms are forthcoming with such details, especially those trying to disguise their levels of experience. The largest conveyancing firm in England last year had a Google review star rating in the 3s and some of the most praised conveyancing companies we've worked...
Cooks Solicitors in Newcastle under Lyme & Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire: For example those firms stating 'founded in 1881' or even older dates. Therefore there will likely be reviews, information, and links for each branding within the group dotted about on the same pages. All trading names, office locations, languages spoken, case types handled,...
CEL Solicitors in Liverpool - Housing Disrepair, Knotweed, & Data Breach Claims: We've seen someone leave a negative review about a Criminal Law firm for refusing to take on their Divorce.
class="infoquote "As a law firm, we’re a bit different but in a good way!"< div>
There were several things that stood out to us on their site. (See what we ...
Calio Claims Ltd - Personal Injury in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Dundee: The official website of the backing firm Lindsays is https: www.lindsays.co.uk" www.lindsays.co.uk< a>, with the official site of this branding being www.calioclaims.co.uk which is HTTPS secure for submitting your personal details via the contact form. For the new gener...
QualitySolicitors Burton & Co in Lincoln & Sleaford: (Hence us bringing it to your attention here.) Obviously we would never tell anyone that a specific firm is the right one for them. Therefore they believe leaving the negative review anywhere is 'probably fine'.
It doesn't stop there though. But rather than simply place...
Buchanan & Co Ltd Solicitors in Staveley, Chesterfield, Kiveton Park & Sheffield: The official web address we link to above is www.buchananco.co.uk and although the expected variant of www.buchananandco.co.uk redirects you there, www.buchananco.com is currently owned by a different company. Be careful though as some firms use sneaky marketing jargon to ma...
Brown & Co Solicitors in Greenwich, London: That's a lot of experience. You'll get a lot of opinions on social boards or 'help' articles about the pros cons of using a large law firm, a small local firm, a specialist, a general practice firm, etc. People are handing tens of thousands of pounds over to fraudsters some...
Bridge McFarland LLP - Solicitors in Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, Louth, and Market Rasen: Any claims they make on their site about experience are certainly validated. So what are previous clients saying? Certainly there are a bunch of testimonials on the Bridge McFarland website. 8 staff x 5 years experience = 40). One thing to remember though is that when a firm...
Branch Austin McCormick LLP Solicitors in Mayfair, London: Why people fall for that and don't call their solicitor to check before sending tens of thousands of pounds - we don't know. So how can you tell if a firm has specialist or jack-of-all solicitors?
class="infoquote "Our team has extensive experience in working with c...
Bell Lax Ltd - Solicitors in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham: Luckily (again) you can use the Law Society website to look up whether the solicitor you've been chatting to does actually focus on your type of case. The majority of them were very positive with helpful insights into what parts of the service they felt Bell Lax staff exce...
Beers LLP - Solicitors in Kingsbridge & Plymouth, Devon:
class="infoquote "You have all been so efficient and made the whole process smooth running"
"Always accessible for any queries or advice"
"This was a much better experience than I have had with bigger firms in the past"
"Both ladies professional, sympath...
Backhouse Solicitors in Chelmsford, Essex: Because whilst every word in that sentence sounds great - most firms say the exact same thing so it doesn't really help you distinguish one firm from another. It's very common to see negative reviews from the other side of the transaction, not actual clients. Because if yo...
Antony Hodari Solicitors Housing Disrepair Specialists in Manchester: Just watch out for ads using keyword matching to display. Almost a 'crusade' mentality. Those are the obvious targets for fraud.
If you check on https: solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk organisation people 532203 antony-hodari-holdings-limited?Solicitors=True" the page fo...
A City Law Firm Ltd in London:
That last bit of data is hugely helpful when it comes to working out if a firm is experienced or not. This doesn't always happen when a firm has non-unique words in the brand name. Some firms may state they have '15 years combined experience' or '10 years experie...
Two Harcourt Buildings Chambers - 2HB Barristers in London: If you've already been through a dozen other law firm's sites before reaching this article and have started to think just how alike they all seem to be in both language and imagery - this will be a happy jump into cold water for you:
class="infoquote "Founded in 195...
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