A Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Solicitor

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Solicitor

• Finding the right solicitor to represent you in
  court can help to minimise the stresses and
  strains inherent in the legal system. However, it
  isnt always easy to find a good solicitor. This
  isnt because theres a shortfall of excellent
  solicitors, but rather, because solicitors are
  like gloves, either they fit you or they dont. A
  solicitor that one person finds excellent may be
  considered too pushy or hard by another person.
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• Dont worry, though, because theres a process
  involved in finding a good solicitor. Below, we
  are going to guide you through the process.
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• Step 1 Find a list of local solicitors that
  are Law Society accredited. You can visit The Law
  Society website, navigate to their Find a
  Solicitor option at the top of the page, enter
  the legal issue and the location and click
  search. For example, if you're looking for a
  conveyancer in Ashford, you would select All
  Issues, then under the heading Personal,
  select Houses, property and neighbours and they
  will return a list of relevant Ashford
  solicitors.

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• Step 2 once you have found a list of local
  solicitors that are Lexcel accredited (this is
  the Law Society accreditation stamp of approval),
  you can then ask around the local area for anyone
  that has experience with these solicitors. Your
  friends, family, and business associates can be a
  fantastic source of knowledge here. Using a
  solicitor that other people, who you trust, have
  used can really help to set your mind at ease.

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• Step 3 contact the solicitor and arrange a
  free initial consultation. The majority of
  solicitors will offer a free ½-hour interview.
  Here, they will listen to your issue and advise
  you whether they think you have a case. They will
  discuss prices and processes, too. Some
  solicitors may not offer you a free initial
  consultation. This usually happens when theyhave
  a particularly heavy work load, or if they deal
  mainly with businesses. Its not necessarily a
  sign of greed, but more a way that they can
  prioritise cases. You should try to talk to at
  least three different law firms, so that you can
  get a good feel for the process that you are
  likely to go through.

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• Step 4 find out how much it is going to cost
  you to take the case to court. Depending on the
  issue, you might be able to get legal aid if you
  are unable to fund the case yourself. In other
  cases, where legal aid is not offered, the
  solicitors may operate what we call a
  Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA). Generally,
  people refer to these as no win no fee
  arrangements. However, that is slightly miss
  leading, because it implies that you will retain
  all of your money, but actually, the solicitor
  will take a success fee on completion of a
  successful outcome. They are not allowed to
  charge more than 25 of your compensation claim
  for their success fee. You must get this in
  writing and you must ensure that you understand
  it before you sign anything.

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We have six offices located in South West London
Addlestone Ashford Chiswick Chiswick - Watson
Marshal Feltham Hammersmith Shepperton Solicitors
London Solicitors Middlesex Solicitors Surrey
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Thanks for your time
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