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QualitySolicitors Burton & Co in Lincoln & Sleaford:
Whilst most of our articles are about individual firms along with the pros/cons and things that stood out, today's piece on Burton & Co LLP will have to cover some new ground. All cards on the table - we like Burton & Co. (Obviously, otherwise we wouldn't have added them to our network of searchable legal practices.)
But being clear up front that we consider them in a positive light is important, because then we can point out that any bias has nothing to do with much of this article. It mainly discusses how a branding exercise can end up with any perfectly decent firm looking as though they are far less. To start off we should try to clarify that 'QualitySolicitors' is not an actual law firm with 100 locations. It's actually not even a sort of franchise either like people who open their own McDonalds restaurant.
That official explanation of what it means didn't help us much initially either. The easiest comparison we can give is that 'Qualitysolicitors' is sort of a hallmark, badge, or accreditation. Like those Law Society logos you see stamped across many solicitor websites. But rather than simply place an extra logo on each law firm's website - they all put the words quality solicitors in front of their name.
So Yates and Co became QualitySolicitors Yates and Co. Jordans Solicitors became QualitySolicitors Jordans. And Burton & Co became QualitySolicitors Burton & Co. The idea being that they all work together to grow each other's businesses and each member firm is meant to get a positive buzz from being attached to the name. It's meant to convey 'quality' services with minimum levels expected amongst all members such as flexible hours for appointments, free initial consultations, and so on.
The firm itself has therefore been a local firm for a very considerable time. The age of the branding though whether pre or post QS signup is really unimportant though (in our opinion). We've always said that you can end up with a 1-year-experienced lawyer from a 200-year-old firm the same as you can get a forty-year-experience expert from a 1-year-old firm.
One of the best resources for finding out the specialties and experience of the individual solicitors within a firm is the local law societies. Burton and Co LLP are registered with The Law Society of England & Wales which is great because it is by far the best. It provides a wealth of data user-side such as all trading names, alternative offices, languages spoken - plus the aforementioned qualification dates and expertise of each solicitor within each registered law office.
They actually have solicitors at the firm who joined the legal profession in nearly all of the past six decades. That's quite something unique to see. For example John Wood qualified as a solicitor in 1977, Judith Brennan in 1987, Nicola Booth in 2001, Jodie Peters in 2016, right up to Alysha Jade Eiles in the extremely recent 2020. A huge mix of seasoned gurus along side fresh legs and ideas. An enviable group of staff to have at any firm surely? Legal-based or not.
With all this going for them, it was therefore strange to see the firm having an absolutely huge amount of negative reviews on the regular boards such as Google, Trustpilot, Facebook, Yell.com, etc. So why is that? On their own website of course there is the standard testimonials.
"sensible advice & information"
"Nothing was too much trouble, in fact going the extra mile"
"A very friendly and easy experience"
Such company provided reviews like the snippets above from the company's website - are always going to be positive. That's probably why less than 8% of you indicated you trusted company testimonials during our poll last year. But the independent boards were also packed with positive comments as well.
"Things were moved quickly and Felicity was always on the ball"
"Fast, efficient and helpful"
"was very helpful and I would recommend anyone who has problems in child access"
The question of 'why so many negative comments then?' is easily answered if you actually read through those negative reviews. Unfortunately, in the heat of anger it seems that a considerable number of people who are unhappy with a 'QualitySolicitors' branded firm - simply rush online and write a negative review against the first 'QualitySolicitors' branded firm they come across. We can only assume they think they are complaining about an actual company called 'QualitySolicitors'. Therefore they believe leaving the negative review anywhere is 'probably fine'.
It doesn't stop there though. There are negative reviews from people who were told they didn't have a case. There are 1-star ratings from people on the other side of a matter such as a property sale. All of which seems grossly unfair. (Hence us bringing it to your attention here.) Obviously we would never tell anyone that a specific firm is the right one for them. That's totally up to each individual to decide after careful research and having spoken to someone at the firm about the case. But this sort of mixup on the review boards is certainly something to keep in mind when doing some due diligence on law firms, not just Burton & Co.
A quick note on navigation. The official website for all QS firms is www.qualitysolicitors.com but you need to go to the www.qualitysolicitors.com/burtonandco/ page to see information and contact details for this specific firm. Currently neither www.burtonandco.com or www.burtonandco.co.uk get you there. www.burtonlaw.co.uk did redirect there at one point but we haven't seen that for a while. But they are listed across the internet sometimes with that domain name and with email addresses using it.
To be on the safe side though, make sure to bookmark the current site in case you want to come back. There is a simply huge number of scams targeting law clients right now. Especially those with huge house deposits waiting to buy a property. The QS site is https secure for submitting your personal details via the contact forms.
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General Notes: Legal Aid availability changes constantly, so ask up front. If you are looking for a career with QualitySolicitors Burton & Co it's best to visit the website (www.burtonlaw.co.uk) and locate the correct phone/email contact details. Any quoted here will be for potential clients. Alternating or adding words such as Burton & Co Quality Solicitors may bring up different background/reviews on the firm. Each firm's Law Society and/or SRA number should be on their site too.