http://www.solicitorsfromhell.com/ is a new consumer website that has attracted the attention of the Law Society Gazette and numerous solicitors firms who have had the pleasure of an entry on it. There appear to be over 500 law firms listed on it, and as far as I could see most of the complaints were not really complaints but fairly damaging comments...
I recently came across it when looking for a firm of solicitor's contact details and discovered the second entry in Google was this site. The review of the firm read as follows:
LEGAL LAW - London SW
London SW
Solicitor : Legal Eagle (details changed for obvious reasons!)
" Unfortunately we have only just heard about this site, had we had a chance to do a check on him prior it would have saved a great deal of upset and stress. My female cousin went to see this ‘solicitor’ with housing problems. At the initial consultation he was extremely friendly – actually overly so when his secretary went out of the room.
He asked many personal questions that were not actually relevant to the case in question and gave out information about what he had allegedly done to help other clients. He kept going on about her being a young vulnerable woman and stated that he was going to take several actions on her behalf as she was being harassed by the landlord.
However as my cousin felt uncomfortable seeing him alone she asked me to come to the next meeting. When he saw that she was accompanied by a male family member, he was abrupt and tried to give the impression that he had not really wanted to take her on as a client in the first instance. He stated that she did not need the help of a solicitor – however this had not stopped him from applying for and receiving the legal aid to progress her case.
He wrote a long letter of summery allegedly to explain ‘why’ she did not need his help - which was actually more like a personal tirade against his own client and told her to make a complaint if she felt she had the strength! It was then difficult to find another solicitor to transfer the LSF to; luckily the solicitor my cousin then found was extremely professional, helpful and progressed a speedy resolution on her behalf.
Only use this firm if you want to be disappointed and put under stress. Not to be trusted!! "
I am not quite sure what the complainant's complaint is having read it through a few times - is it that the solicitor was not only from hell but also a bit of a creep? Was the solicitor trying to defraud the LSC? Does this feedback assist anyone in deciding whether to hire this firm of solicitors or not?
The service obviously provides a genuine service when you get a firm like SMK Solicitors, who are now shut down due to a range of problems and have been intervened. A site with feedback detailing the potential fraud that a client experienced would be helpful for anyone else to know to avoid it.
However read the feedback on a law firm in the South West:
"I worked at X (thankfully not for long). A good example of the way the firm operates is when I was told to create as much conflict as possible in child contact cases in order to maximise costs. This firm definitely needs some intervention from the Law Society. The Senior Partners are a joke and would not survive in a modern law firm. It is true, they are fascist bullies. Oh, and where I work now, I am allowed to make myself a cup of coffee! "
This sort of entry could be put down to a former employee airing a grievance and trying to get one over on the firm. They have certainly done this. The firm in question obviously now have anyone thinking of instructing them and reading this that the staff do not like working there, the firm is bent, the partners not very nice. It could damage that firm's reputation forever. I certainly had no idea that the firm were thought of in this way, and we introduced one of the partners mentioned to the firm many years ago!
I understand that unless a law firm pays an "administration fee" of £200 then the entry remains on the site for eternity. This means that anyone searching for the law firm will inevitably come across comments like this one.
Think of the black hat marketing potential of this site. Any law firm in Swindon for example could post anonymous comments onto the site for their competitors and sit back and watch their instructions increase. Obviously this comment is intended as irony....(before we get sued!).
So in summary I am afraid we think that the site is b**ll**ks. There has been no effort to identify the posters, and this makes the site positively evil as it could unfairly irreparably damage someone's reputation who does not deserve it.
I hope the owner of the site sees some sense or gets tired of receiving writs in the post and takes it down or identifies each complainant. I think that without any control this site is simply destroying law firms very unfairly indeed.
Jonathan Fagan - Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment - www.ten-percent.co.uk
Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment - Online Legal Recruitment for Solicitors, Legal Executives, Fee Earners, Support Staff, Managers and Paralegals. Visit our Website to search or download our Vacancy Database or view our Candidate Database online.
I recently came across it when looking for a firm of solicitor's contact details and discovered the second entry in Google was this site. The review of the firm read as follows:
LEGAL LAW - London SW
London SW
Solicitor : Legal Eagle (details changed for obvious reasons!)
" Unfortunately we have only just heard about this site, had we had a chance to do a check on him prior it would have saved a great deal of upset and stress. My female cousin went to see this ‘solicitor’ with housing problems. At the initial consultation he was extremely friendly – actually overly so when his secretary went out of the room.
He asked many personal questions that were not actually relevant to the case in question and gave out information about what he had allegedly done to help other clients. He kept going on about her being a young vulnerable woman and stated that he was going to take several actions on her behalf as she was being harassed by the landlord.
However as my cousin felt uncomfortable seeing him alone she asked me to come to the next meeting. When he saw that she was accompanied by a male family member, he was abrupt and tried to give the impression that he had not really wanted to take her on as a client in the first instance. He stated that she did not need the help of a solicitor – however this had not stopped him from applying for and receiving the legal aid to progress her case.
He wrote a long letter of summery allegedly to explain ‘why’ she did not need his help - which was actually more like a personal tirade against his own client and told her to make a complaint if she felt she had the strength! It was then difficult to find another solicitor to transfer the LSF to; luckily the solicitor my cousin then found was extremely professional, helpful and progressed a speedy resolution on her behalf.
Only use this firm if you want to be disappointed and put under stress. Not to be trusted!! "
I am not quite sure what the complainant's complaint is having read it through a few times - is it that the solicitor was not only from hell but also a bit of a creep? Was the solicitor trying to defraud the LSC? Does this feedback assist anyone in deciding whether to hire this firm of solicitors or not?
The service obviously provides a genuine service when you get a firm like SMK Solicitors, who are now shut down due to a range of problems and have been intervened. A site with feedback detailing the potential fraud that a client experienced would be helpful for anyone else to know to avoid it.
However read the feedback on a law firm in the South West:
"I worked at X (thankfully not for long). A good example of the way the firm operates is when I was told to create as much conflict as possible in child contact cases in order to maximise costs. This firm definitely needs some intervention from the Law Society. The Senior Partners are a joke and would not survive in a modern law firm. It is true, they are fascist bullies. Oh, and where I work now, I am allowed to make myself a cup of coffee! "
This sort of entry could be put down to a former employee airing a grievance and trying to get one over on the firm. They have certainly done this. The firm in question obviously now have anyone thinking of instructing them and reading this that the staff do not like working there, the firm is bent, the partners not very nice. It could damage that firm's reputation forever. I certainly had no idea that the firm were thought of in this way, and we introduced one of the partners mentioned to the firm many years ago!
I understand that unless a law firm pays an "administration fee" of £200 then the entry remains on the site for eternity. This means that anyone searching for the law firm will inevitably come across comments like this one.
Think of the black hat marketing potential of this site. Any law firm in Swindon for example could post anonymous comments onto the site for their competitors and sit back and watch their instructions increase. Obviously this comment is intended as irony....(before we get sued!).
So in summary I am afraid we think that the site is b**ll**ks. There has been no effort to identify the posters, and this makes the site positively evil as it could unfairly irreparably damage someone's reputation who does not deserve it.
I hope the owner of the site sees some sense or gets tired of receiving writs in the post and takes it down or identifies each complainant. I think that without any control this site is simply destroying law firms very unfairly indeed.
Jonathan Fagan - Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment - www.ten-percent.co.uk
Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment - Online Legal Recruitment for Solicitors, Legal Executives, Fee Earners, Support Staff, Managers and Paralegals. Visit our Website to search or download our Vacancy Database or view our Candidate Database online.
Our Legal Careers Shop has eBooks on CV Writing for Lawyers, Legal Job Interview Guide, Interview Answers for Lawyers, NQ Career Guide, Guide to Finding Work Experience or a Training Contract and the Entrants Guide to the Legal Profession. To visit our Sale/Clearance section please click here.
Comments
I then noticed the advertisement for "Solicitors from Heaven" and clicked on this and was shocked to note that postings about solicitors who provide a good service stay on that website for only 30 days and the Solicitor has to pay £299 (!!!) to have the posting remain permanently.
Definitely a money making scam as far as I am concerned, talk about double standards!
With kind regards
won his case in the European Courts and now on the statute books, then lost the same case in the Bradford Courts? 84 years of age, and Blairs gestapo kicked him on the ground for standing in Elections against the Iraq war he being a second world war hero. But one day the people power will rid the Country of all this CORRUPTION and I hope I see the day, and best wish's to the site owner who's doing a PUBLIC SERVICE and nothing other. Mr Raymond Ashley 100% character.