Solicitor

[LarryG]

How do I find a (good) solicitor to deal with my house sale and purchase?

[PlainJane]

Ask your friends. Recommendation from someone who has actually used their services (rather than an estate agent who plays golf with them) is always best. Flashy websites mean nothing.

[LarryG]

Thanks for that!

[MargeB]

Ask him/her what her qualifications are. Conveyancing is brilliant (no offence to anyone), it seems that someone with not so much legal experience can get into it and represent you 'legally' but really not even be a qualified solicitor, even though they are advising you for big bux on a contract that may expose you. Tread very carefully. And be prepared to ditch them if you think they don't have your interests at heart. Eg: house sale: your interests: maximize selling price. Their interest: Get you off the books as soon as poss. See what I mean? grrrrrr.

[smudge]

When we moved house, I ended up doing most of the conveyancing myself! Our solicitor was so slow - I bet that sounds familiar to some of you!

I would tend to go with recommendations - rather than websites, Estate Agents or Yellow Pages too!

[Miss Zippy]

Recommendation is best but it doesn�t really matter if the person doing your conveyancing is a solicitor or not.  It�s not rocket science and, especially in larger firms, most conveyancers are legal execs or other non-qualified fee earners who are overseen by a partner of the firm. Ask the conveyancer what their caseload is. If they have significantly more than 250 cases on at any one time they are going to be snowed under and slow. Conveyancing solicitors are notorious for taking on too many cases resulting in 3/4 week backlogs. It�s a case of who shouts loudest get heard, so once you do find a conveyancer I�m afraid it�s a case of having to continuously pester them if you want to complete this side of Christmas :o)

[erimus1]

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