Stokes Solicitors LLP

Where to start with this appalling outfit?
I used this firm for almost 25 years, albeit with a specific lawyer (now retired) and predominantly for conveyancing.
Around 6 years ago I had an issue where another lawyer literally stole £30,000 from me that was on deposit in his client account to pay a deposit on a property. I discussed the matter with a solicitor at Stokes and they advised that we should take legal action and that it was essentially a simple slam-dunk, a no-brainer.
To cut a long story short, I have never witnessed such utter incompetence, bad advice and overcharging. These clowns managed to lose the case against the other solicitor (who was in prison for fraud at the time!), whilst continually assuring me that we would win, in order to rack up a truly indecent amount of fees.
When it became obvious that there was no point in continuing, I was presented with their final bill (after paying many thousands already), I disputed the amount which was entirely unexpected and unjustifiable. Instead of having a reasonable discussion about the matter, they immediately took legal action against me, knowing I was (due to their incompetence) in no financial position to defend myself.
After placing a charge on my property, they then went silent for (almost) 6 years, then just before the opportunity passed by at 6 years, they then came back all guns blazing with threats of legal action and demanded the original disputed fees with a huge amount of additional costs and interest.
I can only say that I had never disputed a single invoice with this firm previously, we had done a lot of business with them for conveyancing, yet as soon as a bill was legitimately disputed, they came after me with everything they had.
There are many good law firms out there that are honest and decent, this is not one of them in my honest opinion.
Whatever legal help you need, please do not use this firm, there are far far better firms out there that don't treat their clients in this way.