Results for Buchanan & Co Solicitors:
Buchanan & Co Ltd Solicitors in Staveley, Chesterfield, Kiveton Park & Sheffield:
If you've been through a few other articles or pages of this site you may have noticed that 1to1Legal tries to offer a range of service providers with flexible search options - rather than cramming 100+ of the same type of firm into a directory.
The goal is to help people find the best solution for their particular case whether general practice solicitor, direct access barrister, specialist firm, or alternatives such as mediation or accountants. However every firm we add to our network goes through various checks which we often write about, because much of the things we do can be helpful for any potential client in their search.
"We are a long established firm of Solicitors and Conveyancers who are proud to serve the communities of Staveley, Chesterfield, Kiveton Park and Sheffield."
If you've already been through a dozen or more legal services websites today looking for someone to help, then you may have noticed many of them have the same sales language and even the same images of people in suits shaking hands and smiling. This snippet above from the website of Buchanan & Co Solicitors is one such statement - i.e. it sounds great but doesn't actually provide you any information to help you separate them from any other firm.
"We're a family run practice with more than 25 years of experience"
This is a much more helpful type of claim to watch for on firm's websites. Be careful though as some firms use sneaky marketing jargon to make you think they have far more experience than they do. For example, if a firm says they have '20 years experience within the firm' or '20 years combined experience' that could mean they have 5 solicitors each with only 4 years experience.
Luckily there is a great resource online with The Law Society of England & Wales who provide a wealth of data on any law firm registered with them. If you check the page for any legal professional or law office they will show you alternate business names used, case types practiced, alternate contact details, and the qualification dates of any solicitors at the firm.
The page for Buchanan & Co Solicitors shows solicitors Timothy Barlow as having qualified in 1989 and Julia Gibbons in 2001. So certainly their claims of decades of experience are well backed up. In fact, they could probably do with updating their website content to reflect the extra years of experience gained since that statement was put on the site.
"Our friendly and approachable team are here to help you deal with whatever legal issue you have"
Of course the first port of call for most consumers whenever checking out a company is the public comment boards such as Google, Trustpilot, Yelp, Yell, Facebook, etc. So when you see a firm stating they are good with clients like the snippet above - feedback is sometimes the only precheck possible. Buchanan and Company do have a Testimonials page on their website. But according to our poll a few years back only 8% of you put any stock in company provided reviews. So what are the independent forums saying?
"Professional staff. And they talk normal"
"easy to get through to my solicitor and they replied to me promptly"
"Put him at ease from the word go"
"Everything we wanted was sorted promptly"
"easy to get through to my solicitor and they replied to me promptly"
"Put him at ease from the word go"
"Everything we wanted was sorted promptly"
There were a lot of positive messages left on the boards, but sadly not a lot of good information such as the case type or length of time or their opinion on things like cost. But this is true for most reviews about law firms and is something you should bear in mind when trying to get an overview from review sections. While many people are quite happy to provide bucketloads of detail in reviewing a restaurant - they are less likely to give helpful details about their bankruptcy, criminal defence, or messy divorce.
Either way though, always make sure to read actual comments rather than rely on average star ratings. Especially when it comes to legal practices that deal with property matters such as buying/selling a house. Unfortunately even the best firm out there will end up with complaints about delays in property sales. We've been working in the legal industry for over 20 years and have never seen a property law firm without such comments left. (Quite often not even from their own clients but from impatient buyers/sellers on the opposite side!)
"People often feel that Conveyancers get paid for doing very little. But in fact the Conveyancing process can be complicated and is very important."
A quick note on navigation. The official web address we link to above is www.buchananco.co.uk and although the expected variant of www.buchananandco.co.uk redirects you there, www.buchananco.com is currently owned by a different company. Also while the firm's branding uses an ampersand, such characters don't exist in web addresses so variants such as www.buchanan&co.co.uk will not work.
This is hugely important because of the immense number of scams involving property matters. People have handed over tens of thousands of pounds in house deposits to fraudsters over the past couple of decades. Sometimes for something as simple as an official-looking email saying the bank details have suddenly changed. So make sure you are on the correct website and never discuss payments via email.
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General Notes: Legal Aid availability changes constantly, so ask up front. If you are looking for a career with Buchanan & Co Solicitors it's best to visit the website (www.buchananco.co.uk) and locate the correct phone/email contact details. Any quoted here will be for potential clients. Alternating or adding words such as Buchanan & Co 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.