When you need a solicitor: what to look for

Pick a solicitor who specialises in your exact kind of problem, check them on the SRA register, and get the fee structure in writing before you agree to anything.

Most people only hire a solicitor a handful of times in their lives, and usually when something important is at stake. That’s an awkward mix: you don’t know the ground, the stakes are high, and plenty of legal work is still billed by the hour. There are solicitors and legal firms listed on WotsItCalled, and the right one depends almost entirely on the problem you need solving.

Specialism matters more than anything else

A firm that’s brilliant at conveyancing might be useless in a boundary dispute, and a commercial solicitor may never have drafted a will. Work out which area of law you need.

• Conveyancing. Buying or selling a house. It’s high volume with competitive pricing and lots of online firms. Quality varies, and the cheapest isn’t always the fastest.
• Wills and probate. Drafting wills, administering estates and inheritance planning. Some firms specialise in simple estates and others in complicated ones.
• Family law. Divorce, separation, children and financial settlements. It’s emotional work, and the solicitor’s manner matters almost as much as their grasp of the law.
• Employment. Settlement agreements, unfair dismissal and discrimination, usually on a no-win-no-fee or fixed-fee basis.
• Property disputes and boundaries. This is litigation, a different skill from conveyancing.
• Commercial and contracts. Business law, shareholder agreements and commercial leases call for a business specialist rather than a high-street generalist.
• Personal injury. Usually no-win-no-fee. Lots of firms advertise heavily, and the good ones stand out on service rather than adverts.

A high-street generalist can handle the everyday stuff. For anything unusual or contested, look for a firm whose website talks about your type of case, not its “full range of legal services”.

Check them on the SRA register

The Solicitors Regulation Authority regulates solicitors in England and Wales, and its register is public and free. Go to sra.org.uk/consumers/register, search for the firm, and check:

• that the firm is actually regulated
• whether there are any disciplinary decisions on file
• that the individual solicitor you’ll be working with is registered too
• that the firm has professional indemnity insurance (a legal requirement, but worth seeing)

It takes a minute and rules out anyone working without regulation, which for legal work is the one thing you can’t compromise on.

Questions to ask on the first call

1. How much experience do you have with this specific kind of case? You want years and volume. “I do a few of these a year” is a long way from “that’s 70% of my workload”.
2. Who will actually be handling my case? At bigger firms, the partner you meet may pass the work to a junior or a paralegal. That isn’t necessarily bad, but you should know.
3. How are you charging? Fixed fee, hourly, conditional fee or no-win-no-fee each have trade-offs, and the structure matters as much as the headline number.
4. What’s your estimate for the total cost? Especially on hourly work, get a realistic ballpark rather than just the rate.
5. What are the disbursements? These are third-party fees on top of the solicitor’s costs, such as court fees, searches and Land Registry fees. They always come to more than people expect.
6. How will you communicate and how often? Weekly updates, or only when there’s news? Some firms go quiet for weeks, and it drives clients mad.

Understand how they bill

• Fixed fee. The same price whatever happens, which suits conveyancing, wills and simple divorces. Check the quote for exclusions, as there’s usually a list of “extras”.
• Hourly. £180 to £350 an hour is normal outside London, and £350 to £600+ in central London. Every call, email and letter gets billed.
• Conditional fee / no-win-no-fee. You pay nothing if you lose, and they take a cut of the damages if you win. Read the agreement carefully, because there are often deductions you didn’t expect.
• Deposit on account. Most firms want money up front, topped up as you go. That’s fine, as long as you know how much and when.

If the first meeting turns into a sales pitch and you can’t get a clear number, take note. Decent solicitors are used to being asked about cost.

Where to start looking

The solicitors and legal directory covers firms in every UK city, including Warrington, Liverpool, Manchester and London. Most offer a free first chat, so use it to ask the questions above before you decide.

Managing the process once you’ve hired them

On hourly work especially, how you behave as a client makes a real difference to speed and cost.

• Send documents in batches, not dribs and drabs. Ten emails with one attachment each can mean ten billable units, where one email with ten attachments is one.
• Prepare for meetings and calls. Write down what you want to cover beforehand and work through it.
• Keep your own records. Don’t rely on them to remember every conversation. A simple folder with dates saves fees later.
• Ask questions in writing when you can. At most firms, email costs less per minute than a phone call.
• Chase politely when things go quiet. Solicitors juggle a lot of files, and a weekly check-in keeps yours moving.

You’re not micro-managing them. The clients solicitors like working for tend to be the ones whose cases move quickest.

The short version

• Specialism beats prestige, so pick a solicitor who handles your kind of case often.
• Check them on the SRA register. It’s free and takes a minute.
• Ask who will handle your file, not just who you’re meeting.
• Get fees in writing, with disbursements spelled out.
• Free first calls are normal, and a good way to judge tone, speed and clarity.

WotsItCalled is a free UK business directory. No signup, no catch. Find the place everyone’s on about, or browse the full solicitors and legal services directory.