Results for GloverPriest Solicitors:
GloverPriest Solicitors Ltd in Birmingham (Great Barr), Stourbridge, Wellingborough & Tamworth:
Typically when a firm gets quite large, they tend to hire a full time 'web guy' who then goes on to generate thousands of inner pages of a website targeting various topics, viral videos, celebrity-related law news and so on. This all gets editorialised and endlessly posted around social media. Thankfully, GloverPriest have not done that. The website is concise with everything in it's place.
"We believe in being the expert local solicitors on the High Street that supports the legal needs of local communities."
This idea of being several local offices rather than one large firm is a recurring theme throughout the firm's material. They even state having roots in the area as far back as 1749, although clarify this is under a different trading name. Obviously claims to a long heritage look nice and many firms seek out even the most tenuous links. But the most important dates you should be looking at are those of the actual solicitor you get. A 200-year old firm might still stick you with a 1-year qualified solicitor to run your case.
There are some personal profiles on the About page of the site detailing a couple of dozen staff. This is something we've always encouraged firms to create. These should consist of at least the professional's name, expertise and experience. Direct contact details are always a huge bonus too though. GloverPriests cover most of these. Some firms decide to go further and tell you the staff member's hobbies, pet's names and favourite colours. No, we're not exaggerating and no, we're not a fan when they do this. It's as if they believe solicitors need 'humanising'.
If you want to know more about any particular solicitor at any firm you can usually get it from The Law Society website. The page for this firm lists details of each solicitor within in it, how long they've been qualified, what areas of law they specialise in, and so on. It's useful tool to keep in mind when browsing firms.
"... our lawyers have a wealth of experience in dealing with legal matters from start to finish."
That's one of the biggest concerns for people and something that will always incur negative reviews for a firm. Clients don't want to feel as though they're always talking to reception or junior staff. Paying for a solicitor that is always too busy to talk to you is naturally infuriating. So seeing direct contact details for solicitors on the Glover Priest's site and text about solicitors dealing with matters from start to finish - is encouraging.
On the subject of reviews, you may find it a bit more difficult than usual to flick through third party reviews of this firm. As sometimes happens with forums such as Google, Yellow Pages or Yelp - firms with multiple offices get reviewed individually. So make sure you've entered the name of the firm and it's office town when searching to make sure you're reading about the right place. Overall though, each office has positive reviews:
• "... by far the most patient of people as it wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been! They always answer the phone and emails quickly ..."
• "Emma our solicitor has been great, communicated to us throughout and kept us up date"
• "I have used glover priest 4 times now when buying and selling properties and can’t recommend them highly enough"
• "... on the ball the entire time, no stone left unturned. Offer to completion was 12 weeks exactly"
Those are just a few snippets from around the web. There were several negative reviews but every one we looked at related to property sales. We've gone in depth on this issue in other articles (site search box below) however in short - Conveyance firms will always have far more negative reviews than firms in other areas of law. That's because so many things can go wrong outside of the actual solicitor's control.
• "Emma our solicitor has been great, communicated to us throughout and kept us up date"
• "I have used glover priest 4 times now when buying and selling properties and can’t recommend them highly enough"
• "... on the ball the entire time, no stone left unturned. Offer to completion was 12 weeks exactly"
We've seen negative reviews for when the buyer/seller pulls out, for incorrect local searches, for third party delays - all of which the client believed their solicitor should have been able to sort. Certainly, if there is a recurring theme of incompetence in the reviews then that's something to take note of. But just as an example, the largest conveyancing firm in the UK dealing with thousands of sales a month has a 2 star average rating on most sites despite having hundreds of positive reviews.
We didn't see any mention of opening hours on this firm's site which was unusual, even with a couple of pages listing their office's addresses and contact details. However we did spot:
"We give you peace of mind through a free 30 minute consultation, ensuring that we meet your exact requirements. We offer you face-to-face appointments and also remote dealings with our superb staff."
Which is clearly good to know. We also read in the reviews about how Glover Priest have an online tracking system for clients so they can log in at any time to see where their case is at or if anything is required of them. This may be reserved for house purchases/sales only though. But still, it's an indication of a firm that puts communication and keeping people in the loop as a priority.
A note on navigation as we're dealing with property matters. Whilst the individual names Glover and Priest may sound common enough, there is still room for errors. The official site is www.gloverpriest.com and not even the normal www.gloverpriest.co.uk variant redirects people to it. Glover&Priest with the ampersand in the middle is not possible as a web address but www.gloverandpriest.com is. But neither it nor any others we checked such as hyphenated versions redirected us to the correct site. We therefore absolutely recommend bookmarking the official site once you're on it and of course never discuss personal/bank details via email. For more details on the plague of conveyancing scams, just search for "lost my house deposit to scammers" in the news.
"GloverPriest have a wealth of experience and expertise in representing our valued clients, in personal and business legal matters, in Birmingham, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire ... We have offices that span the midlands region, so we can offer the support of a large group, all from a local office."
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General Notes: Legal Aid availability changes constantly, so ask up front. If you are looking for a career with GloverPriest Solicitors it's best to visit the website (www.gloverpriest.com) and locate the correct phone/email contact details. Any quoted here will be for potential clients. Alternating or adding words such as GloverPriest Solicitors Ltd may bring up different background/reviews on the firm. Each firm's Law Society and/or SRA number should be on their site too.