What to know before hiring a law firm in the UK

Few people have much to do with the legal profession until they need to hire one for a major life event such as buying a property, divorcing, or being accused of a crime, and this lack of experience can make choosing a law firm a time consuming and stressful exercise.

A good way to make this easier is to be confident about what to ask a solicitor when you make those first few calls to law firms, as the more you can learn about them, the more likely you are to feel confident about making the final decision on what law firm to go with.

So, let’s get started with this brief guide we think covers the major things you need to know before hiring a UK law firm.

Do they have the right knowledge?

The law covers a large number of topics and areas, and most solicitors specialize in only one of them. Consequently, it would be pointless approaching a family law solicitor to give advice on your tax, or using a corporate law specialist to help you sell your home.

So first you need to check that the law firm you contact either concentrates only in the relevant field, or if they are a general practice, that they have an associate capable of taking on your case. If the latter do not be shy about checking who will be in charge of your case – asking how much experience they have of cases the same, or very similar to yours, and their legal background. Most solicitors hire legal assistants to do some of the work, but in a general law firm the named lawyer should be quite experienced as they have no senior to supervise them.

How much they are going to charge you

There is no standard way of billing, as some law firms charge a set fee, and others by the hour – with the pay rates graded according to the status of the person doing it. Many law firms will provide at least a general outline of projected costs, so don’t settle for the first place you get a quote from.

That they make communication as easy as possible

Despite you paying for their services, not all law firms are as responsive and user-friendly as you may expect, so use the initial enquiry process as a way to assess if you are going to be satisfied with their approach. This is pretty crucial as if they are slow to reply to queries they may be the same with sending updates, and if they overuse legal jargon in their communications you can assume they don’t prioritise making a specialist subject understandable to a largely clueless audience.

If a no-obligation meeting is standard

Most law firms do offer a certain number of free (usually 30 minutes) initial meetings per month, allowing potential clients a chance to discuss their needs and decide if they feel comfortable progressing.

Final words

Hopefully the points that have been discussed above makes you feel a little more confident in phoning up and hiring a law firm. Provided the case is serious (which it is likely to be if you’re needing to hire) then picking the best law firm is extremely important, if you go with the wrong one, and one that doesn’t really understand what you want out of the case, then you could end up with a poorer deal than you deserve.

If you’re looking for a reliable and trustworthy law firm in Manchester England then head over to Myerson Solicitors.