There are many companies both on the high street and online who provide legal services. When contacting a company offering legal services, such as writing a Will, assisting with Probate, advice on a marital breakdown or buying and selling property, most people assume that the advice they are receiving is from a legal expert and that the company they are using is properly regulated.
Unfortunately, this is not the case and not all legal service providers or even firms claiming to be legal practices are regulated.
What is the benefit of using a regulated law firm?
When seeking out legal advice, it is important to use a regulated law firm. Regulated law firms must provide advice that meets the high standard set by the firm’s regulator. In the unlikely event that something was to go wrong, in using a regulated law firm you may be able to claim through the Regulators Compensation Scheme, and every law firm must have sufficient insurance in place to protect you should something go wrong., therefore you are always protected.
In addition to the above, each law firm must have a fully regulated complaints procedure in place so that if you are not satisfied with the result of a complaint you have made directly to the firm, you will also have the option to complain directly to the firm’s regulator or the Legal Ombudsman.
So how do you find out if a law firm is regulated?
Every law firm in the United Kingdom must be clear about who they are regulated by, and this information must be shown on their website. Law firms can be regulated by CILEx Regulation, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and the Council of Licenced Conveyancers. Each of these regulators give the firms, that they authorise and regulate, a smart logo to display on their website. You will be able to click on the smart logo which will verify that the firm you are using is an authorised law firm. You can see our CILEx regulation badge, which states that we are regulated for probate in the footer on every page on our website.
Only fully authorised and genuine law firms display these smart logos and therefore, to be confident when searching for legal services, please look out for these logos to be sure that the firm you are choosing is regulated.