How to Find the Right Solicitor

Hiring a solicitor can provide you with comprehensive legal advice that can help you with your case. But with The Solicitors Governing Body – the SRA – stating that there are 140,000 practising solicitors in England and Wales, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with which solicitor to choose. 

Here are our tips on how to choose the right solicitor for you and your case. 

 

Choosing the Right Solicitor

 

1. Accredited Solicitors 

The Law Society is the professional body for solicitors in England and Wales, and their website allows you to find many solicitors. Since all solicitors have to be registered with the Law Society in order to practise, using their comprehensive directory is a great place to start. It will list all of the firms in your area, along with the kind of work they do and where they are available.

2. Legal Aid & Your Case 

It’s a good idea to find a solicitor that specialises in a particular aspect of the law. Research solicitors who specialise in the area of law that applies to the matter on which you need advice, and you can also make enquiries of firms. 

You may also need to ask if the firm can take on legal aid work. To work out if you’re eligible for this, you can use justask.org.uk to use their calculator to work out if you’re eligible. 

3. Location 

With email, Skype and mobile phones providing ways for us to stay in contact 24/7, it is not necessary to choose a solicitor that is close to you in location. It is more important to choose a solicitor that will act for you, rather than how local they are, irrespective of your location. 

However, if you are thinking about going in to sign papers, or have a face to face conversation with your solicitor, then take into consideration their location and how you can travel there. 

4. Good Communication 

When you trust someone with your case, you will want to be kept up to date with everything, including having call backs when needed. This means that you want to pick a solicitor that communicates with you easily and quickly, and a good way to get an idea of this is by phoning them or contacting them via website contact form. This will give you a good indication of how responsive the firm is.