Bishopsgate Law Ltd

Sylvia and Runa took care of the sale of my flat and I was very impressed with their work. The sale went through quickly and seamlessly and I would have no reservations in recommending them. In fact, I’ll be using them again on my next sale.

This review is for a different branch.

Eleanora and Anup did an amazing job with our recent house purchase. They gave clear, professional advice and were fast and responsive when the chain finally neared exchange and completion. After weeks of little communication further up the chain, the last week was frantic and they handled it brilliantly. Many thanks, both!

This review is for a different branch.

Olubunmi (Sisi) Omoyele from Bishopsgate Law guided me, through my first house purchase and made it super easy for me.
Note that originally went for different lawyers and they told me that purchase can NOT go through!

She is simply amazing and i do recomend her.

This review is for a different branch.

I'll start off by saying we managed to exhange and complete on our sale and purchase, but the chain was very close to collapsing.

Our "team" Vanisha and Jodie, started off with solid communication. But over the course of the 6 month process, communication became more and more difficult. We would rarely get email replies to seemingly simple queries ("is there anything we can help with? Have there been any updates?"). We would receive replies with spelling mistakes, contracts with my partner's name spelled incorrectly, and more. Trying to reach either of them by phone was difficult and we resorted to passing on messages. Overall, communication was poor.

From our point of view, it wasn't clear how our case was handled. Queries would be left hanging for weeks and we would have to chase our solicitors - and other solicitors in the chain! Sure, this might not be unheard of, but considering the amount you pay for their services, you end up doing some of their work for them. On that note, I resorted to contacting other parties in the chain directly to speed things up (e.g. requesting documents, management packs) or contacting the council directly to resolve queries (e.g. section 106 documents). We would also receive communications at the end of the week, last thing on a Friday, when we can't do much to action queries - essentially wasting time as little can be done over the weekend.

The result of this was a very, VERY stressful legal experience during an already stressful, life changing time in our lives. Buying/selling a house is already difficult as it is and I find it difficult to recommend Bishopsgate for the legal part of this process.

This review is for a different branch.

Use their services if you want a non-hassle free experience!

I used Bishopsgate Law because of the good reviews in Trustpilot; however, dealing with them is a complete nightmare. The lack of care for their clients, the insufficiency of communication between their own internal departments and their disorganisation is just appalling. I am trying to buy a property and they have delayed the day for exchanging of contracts three times until now, and the completion day (which should have happened on the 28th, did not happen, then on the 5th, but it did not happen either). My mortgage offer ends on the 20th and I still don’t know when we will be exchanging. I should be on holidays abroad with my family right now but because I know they are a complete mess and a team I cannot trust, I cancelled them, so I could be more accessible and reply to their emails quickly, without causing any further delay. For the same reason, I also asked to be off work on the day we should first exchange contracts.
As with most flats in the UK, there is an issue with the ground rent. The seller had to start a lease extension and pass it to me. Emma Allchurch informed me that the seller would have to negotiate the premium, that there would be additional legal fees and that I will get a quote (29th of November), almost two months later, on the 17th of January, I got a quote which turned out to be over £3,000!! Also, it seems these solicitors never confirmed with the lender whether they would accept a 5 years revision of the ground rent. I found out just a few days ago.
I got a legal advisor for the lease extension, Petra Jestribkova, who informed me that it is not the seller’s responsibility to negotiate the premium but the buyer, and that I am also responsible for the landlord’s legal fees. So, why did these solicitors keep me waiting for three months, thinking that the seller and landlord were negotiating the premium? At this point I contacted other solicitors, but then I got a bit concerned thinking that I could go from bad to worse, so I decided to proceed with Bishopsgate Law. A big mistake.
However, I got some information in regards to the landlord’s legal fees, and it seems the seller should be liable for these costs. I asked Petra, but she replied I am liable for these fees and the valuation costs. She also mentioned that we can explore an informal extension, and I agreed, but she never did. These additional costs were never mentioned by Emma A. either, so it is obvious she never checked with the lease extension team. I don’t know what happened but then I was appointed a new solicitor, Amanda Turco.

I asked questions about the service charge which I never got an answer for, I neither got any reply for some questions in regards to the correspondence with the lender, nor for questions regarding the retention from the seller (in case the lease extension takes longer than expected)

On the 27th of March, the day before we should be completing (which did not happen, but we were trying to, at least, exchange), I received an email from Petra informing solicitors insisted in completing on the 28th - but they had agreed something different with Amanda-, and I was also informed the “Deed of assignment” was missing. Really? Do they realise the day before exchanging? I had to rush to a post office to print it out, find a witness to sign and post the document, so they could get it the following day.
The same day (28th) we should be exchanging, I got an email from Petra asking me for instructions sent the day before, which I had already replied 20 minutes after getting her email, with some questions which were never answered.

Beside all these issues, they overcharged me (not much, I must say), but I am still waiting to get this difference back; however, the firm expects you to pay upfront for the lease extension legal fees, even when hardly any disbursement has been made, and we are just at the very first stages of this process, and they don't care if you are left with less than £200 for the rest of the month.

So after a few cancellations to exchange of contracts and a couple to complete, I am still waiting… And, of course, they won’t admit any error on their side and won’t apologise at all for all these inconveniences.

Unfortunately, I still have to deal with them in regards to the lease extension, but I do hope this can be done as soon as possible because the level of uncertainty, stress and anxiety that I got from these solicitors is unbearable.

This review is for a different branch.

I feel obliged to write a review to express my profound disappointment and frustration with the level of service we received from Bishopsgate Law during our conveyancing process during the period of August 2021 to February 2022 during the purchase of our property in London. Unfortunately, my experience with this firm has been nothing short of dismal, and I feel compelled to share my grievances.  These have been acknowledged by the firm through a formal written complaint, at the point of writing this review the dialogue is still ongoing.
 
Firstly, communication was a significant issue throughout the entire process. We dealt with several members of the team which resulted in a break-down in communication, continuity, and diligence.  I found it incredibly challenging to get in touch with my assigned conveyancer, and when I did manage to make contact, the responses were often vague and lacked the necessary detail; often this took a protracted period. It became evident that there was a severe lack of transparency in the way information was relayed to me, causing unnecessary stress and uncertainty.  It was also apparent that vital documents and queries were never forwarded to us for review and resulted in a very protracted and stressful process.
 
Furthermore, the overall lack of organisation within the firm was painfully evident, and it was very confusing who we were dealing with at variable times during the process; we received correspondence from at least four team members during the process with uncertainty about the qualification or delegated job title during the process.  It was also becoming evident by the 18th January that Important documents were frequently misplaced and had not been reviewed approximately three weeks before out proposed date for exchange of contracts; this meant the estate agent and sellers became frustrated, exasperated and started hounding us about our Conveyancing teams lack of diligence and meant we had to keep chancing up the issues rather than receiving guidance. This ultimately led to delays and an overall sense of frustration. It was disheartening to witness such a lackadaisical approach to handling crucial paperwork, especially in a field where precision and attention to detail are paramount.
 
The standard of professionalism displayed by your team was sorely lacking. I found the general demeanour of the staff to be indifferent, bordering on apathetic. It was disconcerting to feel like a mere number rather than a valued client who had entrusted your firm with a significant and personal transaction.
 
Another glaring issue was the frequent delays in the process. While I understand that unexpected complications can arise, the lack of proactivity and a failure to communicate these issues in a timely manner only exacerbated the situation. Again, this led to unnecessary setbacks and frustrations.
 
I then dealt with Ryan (Operations Executive) on 7th Feb 2022, at the 'final hour' as so to speak, to address an issue with our conveyancing and Compliance Team who said a review of our supporting finances had to be undertaken, immediately before the proposed exchange of contracts.  All the vetting of funds and finances was originally undertaken back in August 2021, but the team then decided the initial review was incomplete and a further review was requested.... again, slowing down the process further.  Ryan was great at resolving this issue and ensuring that the process moved swiftly at this point to ensure a timely
completion of the sale.
 
We officially submitted a written complaint with the company in March 2022, which was upheld, and a response received from the Customer relation team. 
Unfortunately, further issues have arisen which further highlight the lack of diligence shown during the process and another important factor was overlooked, and essential documents relating to communal areas and fire safety were not shared with us; I have not had to approach Bishopsgate Law to discuss this matter further in Nov 2023.
 
 In conclusion, I felt driven to provide a synopsis outlining our experiences with this conveyancing firm which had/has been thoroughly unsatisfactory. The combination of poor communication, organisational deficiencies, lack of professionalism, and chronic delays has left me with a deeply negative impression. I sincerely hope that this feedback is helpful for any prospective clients while demonstrating the inefficiencies of this firm which allows for feedback utilised for implementing improvements to ensure that future clients do not endure the same disappointing experience.

I do have to acknowledge how helpful Ryan and the senior legal team were when we raised the initial complaint, but this does not make up for the tremendously stressful process we experienced; we are now dealing with further consequences of the poorer service, and I hope this may be addressed in our more recent dialogue (dated 17th Oct 2023).