Making an appointment 

Making an appointment to see a solicitor can be a daunting step.  Few people relish the idea of talking about their personal problems to a third party.

All our solicitors understand this and we are experienced in dealing with sensitive situations.

Often it is important to seek advice as early as possible, so do not put off making an initial appointment.

 

Fixed fee interview

As we know that costs are always a concern, we provide an initial fixed fee interview to all our new family clients.  This is in complete confidence and without any commitment for you to take the matter further.  It will enable you to come in and meet one of our family solicitors and have an initial discussion about your current situation.

The initial fixed cost advice appointment is at a reduced rate which we will advise you of before you commit to the meeting, and lasts about an hour.  This will include notes following the meeting made available to you.  We have found that an hour is really needed to give time for us to get to know about the situation and to answer the questions that our clients have.

After the appointment you are then free to decide:
a) to take the matter no further.
b) to go away and think about matters before deciding what further steps to take.
c) that you would like to instruct us to act on your behalf.

 

Initial telephone call 

If you would like to take up our fixed fee interview offer then telephone our office on 01202 484242 and tell the receptionist that you would like to see one of our family law solicitors.  They will put you through to one of the family assistants who will take your name and some outline details about the matter and will be able to advise you who is the best solicitor for you to see, depending on the nature of the matter and the availability of the solicitors due to other work.

If you have been recommended to one of our Solicitors or have a particular preference then let us know.

We can then make an appointment for you.

The initial appointment will be for around an hour but if you are fairly certain you will want to instruct us to take matters further and want a longer appointment then mention this and that can be fixed.

Because of the amount of initial information that needs to be taken and the discussions that need to be had, the first full appointment can sometimes take up to two hours.

 

Coming to the office 

We would normally see you at the office here.  If you have mobility difficulties please note that we have a downstairs interview room that can be booked and the office is adapted for wheelchair access.  If you are unable to come to the office and require a home visit let us know.

 

What to bring to the first appointment  

• We would ask you to bring two items of identification documents (such as a passport or driving licence and a bank statement or utility bill with your address on). Like many organisations these days, we are required to copy these for identification and money laundering purpose.

• For us to understand the position, we will need to ask you for basic details such as full names, dates of birth and addresses of yourself and the family members and date of marriage (if married). If you are able to bring a note of those that will help save time at the first appointment

• If you have received any letters from Solicitors or any court proceedings, ensure you bring those in with you for us to see.

• If you have particular concerns, do not hesitate to make a note of any questions you want to raise so they are not overlooked.

• If you want to bring a friend or relative, feel free to do so. They can either wait in reception whilst you have the meeting or if you have no problem in them listening to the discussions, you are welcome to bring them into the meeting if you feel that would help you.

• In situations where you are looking for advice about the financial implications of your situation, it would be helpful to bring a note of the finances as far as you are aware of them. There is no need to bring all your financial documents to the first meeting.

 

Further costs 

We know that costs are always a concern and as part of the fixed fee interview we will explain to you our method of costing and we refer to the page below on this web page that gives further details.

We will always put our charging basis in writing to you and if you ask us to proceed we will keep you informed of the costs regularly.