Solicitors North West

Choosing a Solicitor

Expert legal advice is something that most people require at different times in relation to important issues in either their business or personal life. Typically this may be in connection with matters such as moving home and buying or selling a property, relationship breakdown and marital problems or perhaps organising your financial arrangements and making a will. Legal assistance can also be needed to establish a framework for either your relationship with a partner with whom you plan to cohabit or help to organise the finances and care of an elderly person or relative. If you want to begin a new business venture or perhaps deal with the broad range of commercial issues that can arise, involving company structures, commercial property, finance or disputes and debt recovery a solicitor will be able to help you. Whatever situation you are faced with, law can be complicated and it is important to ensure that you get the best quality advice available to achieve the right outcome for you. The process of finding a solicitor is one that you should invest time in to ensure that you access the services of a specialist solicitor not only in a convenient location for you but also with the right skills, experience and expertise. This service allows you to view the details and profiles of lawyers and solicitors in your area who specialise in different areas of law. It is worth spending time reviewing the profiles and services offered by a few firms and then contact those with whom you see the best match to begin discussion around how they can help you.

How to contact Law Firms
Most solicitors practices and law firms can provide services for both businesses and individuals and in most cases the structure of the firm is based around a number of specialist departments operating under one roof to provide a full legal service to clients in their area. There are also firms who only provide services in niche or specific areas of law such as personal injury, industrial disease or medical negligence for example and solicitors who specialise in commercial work. If you have used the services of a firm of solicitors for a particular issue but they cannot help you with everything that you require, they may be able to signpost you to another solicitor who can, or possibly they may obtain advice from another specialist solicitor for you. This local solicitor search service provides you with information of the services offered by specialist legal departments in your area to identify a match with services that you are looking for. You can then view the profiles of the individual specialist lawyers in those departments and contact them directly by sending an email enquiry, submitting a call back request to be called at a convenient time or simply give them a call during office hours.

Regulation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority was set up by the Law Society to regulate the profession and govern the rules and code of conduct by which solicitors must operate. Solicitors are obliged to hold a practicing certificate issued by the SRA to allow them to work in private practice. This effectively acts as your guarantee that the solicitor is qualified to practise and has suitable insurance to do so.

Tags: Solicitor Manchester, Solicitors Liverpool, Solicitors Bolton

Specialist solicitors

In addition to industry quality marks such as the ‘Lexcel’ practice management accreditation for example and recognition by industry journals such as the Legal 500 and Chambers guides, individual solicitors may also be members of ‘quality-assured accreditation schemes’ which cover many areas of law. In order to become an accredited member of these schemes, solicitors have to show that they have a required level of specialist knowledge, experience and expertise. There are also numerous independent and not for profit associations to which solicitors and lawyers can become affiliated which demonstrate specific expertise. Examples include Headway (the Brain Injury Association), AVMA (medical accidents) and MASS (motor accidents) which offer additional support to victims of different types of injury. When using this solicitor search service, details of relevant accreditations held by firms, departments and individuals will be shown in the search results and profile information. If you are looking for a particular law firm whose details are not shown here, try the Law Society Find a Solicitor website

Find the right solicitor for you
It is possible that when you need to take legal advice you are in a stressful situation and it is almost certain that the issue will be of importance. You need to ensure therefore not only that you are talking to the best quality solicitors but also that you feel comfortable with them and have confidence in their ability. Even in the case of an insurance claim where your insurance company recommend a lawyer, you have the right to choose your representation and make sure the profile of your solicitor fits what you want. This service allows you to search for specialist solicitors near to you and view, assess and compare their profiles to help find the best match local solicitor for you. There is also an archive of legal articles from local firms to help demonstrate expertise in specific areas of law which may be relevant to your legal issue.

Tags: Solicitors Burnley, Solicitors Blackburn, Solicitors Blackpool, Solicitors Lancaster

Legal funding

For people who receive a low income or benefits, it may be possible to obtain legal aid funding. Your local citizens advice bureau or law centre will be able to help you find out if you are eligible if you are not sure. Not all solicitors firms will provide legal aid funded work so you will need to check with to see if this is offered by any firm you approach. When using this service, check your search results for the Community Legal Service accreditation scheme tick which will show you firms who may be able to help. If you can’t find a local solicitor able to offer legal aid work using this service, visit the Community Legal advice website.

About Law Centres
Law Centres are not-for-profit legal practices providing free legal advice and representation to disadvantaged people. There are 56 Law Centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, staffed by solicitors and barristers who specialise in areas of civil law including employment, housing, discrimination, welfare benefits, education and immigration. Law Centres are embedded in their communities and answer to committees of local people. They assist vulnerable people when they suffer injustice, educate people about their rights and tackle local problems. In doing so, they transform people’s lives, helping them to stay in their homes, keep their families together and get into employment or education. Law Centres are members of the Law Centres Federation. http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/

In the North West, there are Law Centres in Bury, Carlisle, North Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, South Manchester, Trafford, Vauxhall, Warrington, and Wythenshawe.

Tags: Solicitors Manchester, Solicitors Preston, Solicitor Warrington, Solicitors Widnes, Solicitor Wigan

Costs

Depending on the type and nature of your legal issue, it may be possible for your solicitor to offer a ‘conditional fee’ arrangement, also often referred to as ‘no win no fee’. This will typically mean that if you are successful in winning your case, your solicitor will obtain their fees from the other side. Similarly, should you lose then you will not have to pay your solicitors fees. You may be asked to take out an insurance policy to pay for the other side’s costs if you lose. As with any transaction in your life, be sure to ask questions and understand the details of any fee arrangements and obtain quotes from more than one firm.

Solicitors charges
It is quite common for solicitors to charge fees on a sliding scale dependent upon their experience and the complexity of the work that they are able to undertake. It is worth looking at what different firms can offer before making a decision to find the right solicitor for you. Decide on the profile of solicitor you need and with which skills to contact and ask for quotes from at least three. Many solicitors will provide a short first interview free of charge so ask if this is a possibility. Do not make your decision only on price. This is likely to be an important issue so you should spend time trying to find a solicitor who you feel comfortable with and whose advice you feel you understand and have confidence.

Tags: Solicitors Burnley, Solicitor Oldham, Solicitor Stockport, solicitors in Manchester

Meetings

Sympathetic attitude?
It is quite possible that you may be distressed and emotional about the issue for which you need to take legal advice whether a personal matter such as a relationship breakdown or bereavement or financial problems and so you will want to choose someone who makes you feel comfortable. You may have preferences as to the profile of person around whom you will feel most at ease and this service enables you to view the profiles of local specialist solicitors to help you decide who to approach and contact for quotes and further information. Solicitors specialising in the area of law of you need help with will generally through their experience be sympathetic and understanding if you are distressed but you should not have to commit to engage a solicitors services until you are happy with them. If you would prefer to deal with someone who is the same sex as you, don’t be afraid to say that this is what you want or use this service to see the profiles of local specialist solicitors in your area and get in contact with them directly.

Languages?
Increasingly law firms can offer multilingual capabilities but if English is not your first language and you need to conduct your affairs in another language then you should mention this at the outset. Most firms can access translation services if necessary.

Preparation
Preparation is key to any meeting but if you are fully prepared you will get more from your agreed time. Make sure you know which questions you want to ask and organise any relevant documents or paperwork. Your solicitor will then be able to understand your circumstances more quickly and decide how best to advise you.

At the meeting
Your meeting time may be limited according to the agreed fee structure so check and monitor the meeting length so that you can ask your questions in time. Make sure that you understand al l of the answers given to you and ask your solicitor to summarise all of the advice you have been given in writing and send it to you.

Keeping in touch
It is important that you keep in contact with your solicitor once you have instructed them so that they can keep you informed of all critical steps in the case and you can let them know of any changes in your personal circumstances, financial to ensure ongoing legal aid eligibility or otherwise.

Tags: Solicitors in Liverpool, Solicitors Chester , Solicitors Kendal , Solicitors in Preston

Making an Enquiry

Use this solicitor search service to view the profiles and services offered by specialist solicitors in your area. From the home page, input your full postcode and select the area of law with which you require assistance. Results of law firms will be displayed by distance from your postcode. Click on the different law firms listed to view the details of the services and expertise within the department and also the individual profiles of the specialist lawyers who can assist you. Once you have identified suitable firms and individuals, their contact details are shown for you to either call them directly or send an email enquiry or call back request.

You can also read current information from local law firms across the main social media networks and you can access and bookmark our local solicitor search application on Facebook and become a fan of the northwestlawyer.co.uk facebook page and follow northwestlawyer on Twitter and the North West Lawyer blog.

Choose from the list below to see legal news, comment and opinion from your town or city:

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