01752967038
We're Hugh James. A top 100 UK law firm offering a full range of legal services. With more than 60 years’ experience and 560 staff members, we have the expertise to deliver a service you can trust. We’d love to talk to you about how we can help. Our lawyers will take the time to understand what you want to achieve and will work tirelessly to help achieve the result you want. Read more...
Also known as - Hugh James Independent Financial Advisers
Limited data.
Excellent does not necessarily mean ‘cheap’. It means that clients thought that the level of service received was Excellent for what they paid.
This score has been calculated using up to the last 300 reviews left by clients of Hugh James on ReviewSolicitors.
As part of our review questionnaire we ask reviewer questions about the value for money they felt they received by using Hugh James. These questions include:
We use data science to amalgamate the answers to these questions and create a ‘ReviewSolicitors score’ out of 100. The above chart representation score is a simple percentage representation of the averaged score across those who have reviewed this law firm.
If you would like to read more about how we work with our review data please see our Transparency section.
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ReviewSolicitors uses our community data to show you how many clients used Hugh James and have had a satisfactory experience where they have indicated that they would recommend the services of the law firm to their friends and family.
You can use this data to see how Hugh James performs against other law firms nationally. A score close to 100% indicates that this firm is highly valued by their clients.
As part of our review questionnaire we ask the question:
"Would you recommend this firm to somebody else?"
The reviewer can select either “Yes” or “No”.
The above score is a simple percentage representation of the total amount of clients who selected the “Yes” option:
If you would like to read more about how we work with our review data please see our Transparency section.
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ReviewSolicitors uses our community data to show you how many clients used Hugh James and were satisfied with the outcome of their matter. Being satisfied with the outcome of your matter is an important consideration to have in mind.
You can use this data to see how Hugh James compares to the national average of clients being satisfied with the outcome of their matter after instructing a solicitor.
As part of our review questionnaire we ask the question:
"Were you satisfied with the outcome of your case?"
The reviewer can select either “Yes” or “No”.
The above score is a simple percentage representation of the total amount of clients who selected the “Yes” option:
If you would like to read more about how we work with our review data please see our Transparency section.
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The rankings below show the areas of expertise that Hugh James offers to clients. You can see how good the service offered is in comparison to all other law firms nationally.
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Nationally
Data shown above is based on the reviews and client feedback collected by ReviewSolicitors over the last 12 months.
Client Reviews
martin
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
dont waste your money.nice initially but nothing gets done,hard to get hold of, poor communication, errors,useless. i wished i looked at reviews first
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T
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
READ REVIEWS BEFORE YOU USE THIS SERVICE!
Hugh James has been dealing with the probate of my late grandmother’s estate and have taken over 2 and a half years to process. As part of the estate I have been left a property which took 2 years to sign over to me as a benefactor and the moment that happened I was slapped with all the outstanding bills and have been told that as they are in my name, it’s now my responsibility and they are still holding a sizeable amount of money in their possession and I seem to have to chase them for updates on this frequently! This company has made a hard time even harder for myself and my family. I regret that my grandmother ever used this company and I’m sure she would be too!
2024- still no further along in the process and awaiting inheritance payments! I am disgusted by the service of this company and a property in Spain which has not been checked in 5.5 years.
DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE! They prolong the process to build up interest on your money! I am currently dealing with my 5th case manager and each is as bad as the last.
6 YEARS LATER - Hugh James hadn't even sent a death certificate to the relevant bodies after I was assured it was done years ago! I have now raised a second complaint to their complaints department after being assured that the head of the team took over my case to finally transfer the rest of an estate, only for it to drop back down to associates who had already mishandled the case.
After the first complaint, they admitted that their service was poor and refunded me a whole £125 when a foreign property has incurred charges due to not being transferred or foreign solicitors being updated.
I wouldn't wish these guys on my worst enemy!
Please note they do not respond to emails or google reviews, probably because that person is "out of office" too!
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Mark
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This review is for a different branch.
Contested Probate department. Cannot question their legal knowledge, but you get milked financially. Started off with a very detailed, well researched 14-page letter of claim plus quite a lot of documents read and included to the other side for just under £4000. Expensive, but I felt like I had some value from that work. Then £5000 later and I noticed letters being sent did not include all the issues which resulted in either second letters needed sending or email exchanges to their office running up my bill further to get things included. Eventually dumped them off when I asked for a simple 2 sentence email to a health authority to obtain some outstanding hospital records and they wanted £1000 plus vat just to send that single email and forward the records direct to me by a fairly junior member of the staff. Felt expensive to start but more like theft in the end, question it and the reply either sidesteps the point or you get ignored, not good Roman Kubiak & Ellen Shipton.
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Joanne Armer
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
Had a very positive experience,Suzanne was so helpful and understanding whilst dealing with my case,she was always available to answer any questions i had and always made me feel at ease.I would highly recommend her services.
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This review has been left by a verified client who used Hugh James.
John and Family
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
Loosing a loved one is tragic, especially following an accident for which someone else is responsible. Seeking equitable financial compensation could be a very stressful process, we chose Potter Rees Dolan to act on our behalf.
Their team was very compassionate and understanding, thorough and exceedingly professional. Their communication throughout a four year process was constantly reassuring and the end result exceeded our expectations.
Our grateful thanks.
John and family.
A representative from Hugh James responded to this review on 18 September, 2023:
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, we really appreciate your comments and have passed these on to Sami and his team. Many thanks!
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This review has been left by a verified client who used Hugh James.
Sahar
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
Following being attacked in a traumatic armed robbery at my work place, I suffered from both mental and physical injuries. I was rejected two times for benefit claim to support me with my difficult life, part of it due to my PTSDA which led me not be able to explain my difficulties as it was a trigger to remind me the attack.
At one point I found Potter Rees Dolan through google search, and while I didn’t have much hope, it all turned out to believe there are still good people who help others.
Peter Renshaw assisted me with my appeal. If he wasn’t there I probably never came this far and just lived my difficult life. However with all his professionalism and caring manner he encouraged me to appeal the decision, patiently explained the procedure and advised me all through the way. The appeal was allowed by the judge and this could not happened if Peter Renshaw did not support me with my case.
I highly recommend PRD and specifically Peter Renshaw and his team.
A representative from Hugh James responded to this review on 15 February, 2023:
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review Sahar. we really appreciate your comments and have passed these on to Peter and his team. Many thanks!
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Michelle
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
I dealt with Suzanne, she was recommended through headway(for head injuries) she was very professional and easy to talk to and approach. She communicated very well throughout the process and was patient when I called.
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Brenda
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
These people have no morals when getting business. They do not ring back, they promise to do work but have not completed half of the responsibilities required of an executor keeping another executor out of the loop because he isn't employed by them, costing the estate due to the inability to complete their duty of making sure that the house included in the the estate was insured so when a burst pipe occurred they tried to ignore their responsibilities. No one else could do anything due to them shutting down all access to money. Not contacting anyone to let them know that the house was uninsured.
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Jeremy Barker
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
Living with catastrophic injuries is a daily struggle for me and Potter Rees Dolan have provided me with incredible support from the beginning. My solicitor Mark Robinson is always on the end of the phone to talk to me through-out my case, even if I just need reassurance and mental support he has been there to steady me on my most difficult days. I could not recommend them highly enough, I have a number of severe and unusual injuries but the team at Potter Rees Dolan have made sure that in addition to my case progressing with the right medical experts they are highly focussed on what I will need for my future care and mental health. They have also provided me with full support during the PIP process to help my family financially which I couldn’t have won without the experience and kind support of Suzanne Sutcliffe in the PRD welfare team. The legal process with catastrophic injuries takes a long time, every day is hard for me and my family and I cannot stress enough how comforting and reassuring it has been to have the team at Potter Rees Dolan behind me so far.
A representative from Hugh James responded to this review on 13 January, 2023:
Thank you for your review. We appreciate the positive feedback you have given us and are so pleased you were happy with our services. Thank you!
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G Mess
Collected on:
This review is for a different branch.
From start to finish Potter, Rees, Dolan made my negligence claim as easy as it could have been for me. I already knew of the firm and did not hesitate to choose them to represent me after our initial consultation. Their service throughout was professional yet personal and communication was excellent. With a lesser firm I may have given up during an extremely stressful process, but Lesley and Kelly could not have done more to allay this. At the end of this challenging process they managed to secure an exceptional outcome for me.
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chris
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Having found ourselves in need of a medical negligence law firm , we made appointments with several firms to have initial meetings , within 5 minutes of meeting Gill Edward’s we had our minds made up . Gill stood head and shoulders above the others we had visited and left us in no doubt we had found the law firm to take our case forward . During our time with Gill and her team , we were kept up to date with everything that was happening and explained in a language we could understand . We would 100% recommend Hugh James ( Gill Edward’s ) Thanks Gill and the very professional and knowledgeable team .
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Kerry
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Unprofessional in being non-communicative, as per many emails below. I emailed them on 28 Jan, with an enquiry as to whether they could handle this kind of case, and followed up with emails on 30 and 31 Jan to check they had received my emails as the matter was quite urgent. Today, nearly two weeks later, zero response from them. I'm a retired solicitor - in every firm I've ever worked in, including one of the largest nationwide practices in England & Wales, we would always acknowledge receipt of a communication, as a matter of courtesy at the very least, even if to say sorry we couldn't help. Can't recommend this firm from the word go for that reason - gives the profession a bad name to present itself this way.
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Ian
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I got details from Headway Charity about Hugh James, Manchester, after losing appeal at Tribunal, and they assisted me for over a year for free, which got the decision cancelled and new Tribunal hearing where I were made an award, Thanks to the professional staff from HughJames.com Manchester.
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Claire
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Rubbish service. Do not expect to speak to a solicitor. They are "paralegals" office juniors who don't know what they are doing. My parents were defrauded & in unlawful process with fabricated paperwork by council to pay for Alzheimer's care, After Dad illegally put in embargoed nursing home - as lone individual. Lost house contents & mother in process. The office bod I was given (SD) sent me lots of forms to fill in - some forms need medical records information. You give permission for them to acquire medical records so THEY can fill in forms. They send these forms to YOU to fill in whilst they have the required info? SD wrote to the care home for their records - but being dire they didn't keep any. He SAT for eight months waiting. I phoned HO myself to find home shut down and informed SD. I then got more forms to fill. You will only get input from a solicitor via 3 page nasty letter if you complain reminding you that you are contracted and liable for all the costs up to that date forcing you to stick with them despite diabolical services? Whatever cost was for SD sitting about picking his nose for months on end whilst you fill all the forms? At finish of their case I was not awarded any refunds or reimbursement dad being moved from nursing care into residential by the same rogue social worker that deprived wife of their home (had he been in nursing it would have been refundable).
At end I asked for ALL paperwork they had - forms they submitted on my behalf, bank statements, financial breakdown and medical records. I was sent some badly copied back to back upside down statements and some PART filled forms they apparently submitted.
IT IS POSSIBLE and PREFERABLE to do it yourself - you do most of it anyway. They are just "form forwarders" who claim 25 percent and waste year or two of your life.
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Karl
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I am so happy at how easy and smooth this process was. Hugh James took care of everything, communication with me was always 100 per cent clear transparent and easy to understand. All the staff were very nice really helpful and super efficient
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Hugh James is a top 100 UK law firm with offices in Cardiff, London and Southampton. The firm has grown from humble beginnings in 1960 to become a leading law firm, servicing a vast range of clients across the UK and overseas. Although our workforce has grown to more than 500, we have retained and nurtured a unique culture which is based on hard work, exceptional talent, ambition, empathy, innovation and good humour. It is those qualities that have helped us grow the business to where we stand today. We have ambitious plans to become a top 50 UK firm and our culture will be key to this.
