martin
Collected on:
incompetent, only interested in your money
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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Hugh James
033 3016 2222
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
- Address
- CF10 1FS
- 033 3016 2222
- www.hughjames.com
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How Hugh James Compares
Value for money
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:
- Value for money (a rating of 1-5)
- How much were you initially quoted or how much did you expect to pay?
- Approximately how much did you end up spending for the legal services provided (ignoring disbursements and court fees)
- Did you think this was underpriced, overpriced or about right?
- Overall experience
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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Would recommend to
friends and family
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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Satisfied with
outcome of matter
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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Rankings by area of expertise
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.
Locally
Nationally
Data shown above is based on the reviews and client feedback collected by ReviewSolicitors over the last 12 months.
Review Sources
Client Reviews
Reviews summary
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Excellent
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Very Good
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Average
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Poor
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Awful
Overall experience
- Value For Money
- Communication
- Initial Impressions
- Approachability
- Documentation Accuracy
- Legal knowledge
T
Collected on:
Wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy
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
Collected on:
Went from expensive to extortionate
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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Brenda
Collected on:
Executors of an Estate
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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Matt
Collected on:
Suicidal tendencies
I made the grave mistake of using Hugh James (Roman Kubiak) to attempt to resolve gross incompetence at another UK solicitors. Rather than help There were repeated delays and DELIBERATE abuse by Hugh James causing suicidal thoughts, stress leading to a week's hospitalisation with repercussions still present and increasing 3 years later. I now have physical impairment of one hand, regular suicidal thoughts and as the abuse was backed up by other members of Hugh James absolutely NO trust in them. if you want to die, use Hugh James, it as simple as that. I am known to police now (Interpol) as a 'person at risk of suicide' since dealing with Hugh James.
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Matter Type:
Residential Conveyancing
munawar
Collected on:
Conveyancing nightmare
Hugh James were the chosen solicitors by my new mortgage company. Absolutely appalling at feedback and contact. This is the eve of my exchange and I cant get an update. If you try to ring they wont take your call - the automated response lets you know that. There is no response to emails. The portal does not allow you to chat to anyone. What an awful service that shows contempt towards the client. Never use if you can avoid.
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Nicola
Collected on:
No one answers the phone
Due to complete tomorrow no redemption figure received but no update to tell me that. Now I’m waiting on the phone to check the fax number it’s been sent to twice 37 minutes and holding
Awful service really bad
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Sandman
Collected on:
Absolutely useless
ABSOLUTELY USELESS
Remortgaging with Money using Hugh James as the solicitor has been an absolute nightmare. None of my 15 plus emails in the past month have been responded to. Kept on hold for hours on end only to be cut off. Absolutely no communication whatsoever. I would leave them zero stars if I could. All they've done is waste my time and cost me money. My advice to anyone reading this is as soon as your bank tells you Hugh James is the conveyancer, request immediately that you are switched to another firm and use these reviews as the reason. Terrible, terrible service. I will be speaking to the bank today to request another solicitors as these guys do not have a clue what they are doing.
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Chloe
Collected on:
Avoid at all costs
Currently in the process of remortgaging and my case with Hugh James was accepted on the 28th April. It is a very straight forward remortgage, yet we are still waiting for a completion date 9 weeks later.
Shocking waiting times for someone to answer the phone. As I am typing this, I have been on hold and waiting for someone to answer for 2 hours and 51 minutes. Previous phone calls have taken a over an hour for an answer, or - I have just been cut off. I have never waited this long on the end of a phone for it to be answered, ever!
Their portal system is, in my opinion, a waste of time. I have received no response from emails I have sent to our dedicated case worker, nor has my case even been updated since the 20th May. I have since searched Hugh James on Google where I have read poor review after poor review, all with the same experience. Believe every one you read!
We are beyond annoyed at this point. How can we get an answer to any of our questions when it takes in excess of 2 hours and counting for someone to answer the phone.
We were automatically given Hugh James via our lender HSBC, we would have never have chosen them otherwise.
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Matter Type:
Residential Conveyancing
Martin
Collected on:
Worst conveyancing solicitors out there?
Trying to do a simple remortgage - totally straight forward. Done it many times before without issue.
Had plenty of time to complete it, but because Hugh James are so poor - I'm moving onto the SVR which will costs £100's if not £1000's.
-They have never responded to any email or call - I have made and sent many
-Spent hours on hold- only to have the phone hung up on me
-Never request anything they need
-Do not acknowledge receipt of any documents once provided
-I am only getting info from LMS
If don't invest hours every single day chasing them- I doubt anything would ever get done.
I simply can not believe how bad they are. Do what ever you can to use any other conveyancer out there. Hugh James are a joke.
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Reviews collected from
Kerry
Collected on:
Kerry
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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Claire
Collected on:
Claire
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
Collected on:
Karl
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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norman9394
Collected on:
norman9394
From start to finish always informative and on the phone and email to keep me up to date
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Jalene
Collected on:
Jalene
Hugh james have been an a amazing support for myself and my son, they provided pro bono support for my son who had a spinal cord injury and difficulty trying to get his personal injury claim to pay out. They assisted with the claim and advice with regards any help and support he could get they passed us on to various agencies and helped with what route he needs to go down to learn to drive as a paraplegic.
They have been amazing with advice and I would not hesitate to use then again in the future
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Hugh James are accredited by
About this branch
Description
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.
Regulated by
Legal services
Personal areas of law
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Clinical Negligence
- Accident and Emergency Claims
- Amputation Negligence Claims
- Anaesthetic Awareness Claims
- Birth Defect and Wrongful Birth Claims
- Birth Injury Claims
- Birth Injury To Mother Claims
- Blood Transfusion Claims
- Bowel Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Breast Surgery Compensation Claims
- C. Difficile Claims
- Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Cauda Equina Syndrome Claims
- Cerebral Palsy Claims
- Cervical Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Clinical Negligence
- Cochlear Implant Claims
- Cosmetic Dentistry Claims
- Cosmetic Surgery Claims
- Defective Medical Device Claims
- Dental Negligence
- Dental Negligence Claims
- Dermal Filler Compensation Claims
- Diabetes Claims
- Erb’s Palsy Compensation Claims
- Eye Surgery Claims
- Failed Sterilisation Claims
- Fatal Medical Negligence Claims and Inquests
- Faulty Defibrillator Claims
- Fertility Negligence Claims
- GP Negligence Claims
- Group B Streptococcus Claims
- Hospital Negligence Claims
- Knee Replacement Claims
- Laser Eye Surgery Claims
- Laser Treatment Claims
- Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- MRSA Claims
- Medical Misdiagnosis Claims
- Medical Negligence
- Meningitis Misdiagnosis Claims
- Metal-On-Metal Hip Replacement Claims
- Misdiagnosed Miscarriage Claims
- Nerve Damage Claims
- Nerve Injury Claims
- Ophthalmic Negligence Claims
- Oral Cancer Claims
- Orthopaedic Negligence Claims
- Ovarian Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Periodontal Disease Claims
- Pregnancy and Gynaecology Injury Claims
- Pressure Sore Claims
- Prostate Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Restorative Dentistry Claims
- Sepsis Negligence Claims
- Skin Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Sorin Stockert 3T Heater-Cooler Claims
- Spinal Surgery Claims
- Stillbirth Compensation Claims
- Stroke Misdiagnosis Claims
- Surgery Compensation Claims
- Surgical and Transvaginal Mesh Claims
- Testicular Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
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Consumer
- Consumer Disputes
- Consumer Rights
- Dispute resolution - civil mediation
- Litigation - Breach of contract
- Litigation - Insurance disputes
- Litigation - M&A and warranty disputes
- Litigation - Product liability claims
- Litigation - Property litigation claims
- Litigation - Trust and pension issues
- Litigation Law
- Travel rights
-
Crime/ Criminal Defence
- Assault
- Business Crime
- Criminal Damage
- Criminal defence - All
- Drugs offences
- Fraud
- Murder and Manslaughter
- Professional Conduct
- Regulatory Defence
- Theft
-
Driving offences
- Appeal driving conviction
- Careless driving
- Convicted in absence
- Dangerous driving
- Dangerous vehicle conditions
- Death By Careless Driving
- Death by dangerous driving
- Discretionary disqualification
- Disqualification removal
- Drink driving
- Driving Whilst Unfit
- Driving Without Due Care
- Driving whilst disqualified
- Driving without a licence
- Driving without insurance
- Drunk in charge
- Early return of driving licence
- Exceptional Hardship
- Failing to notify DVLA
- Failure to furnish identification
- Failure to provide a blood sample
- Failure to provide a specimen
- Goods vehicles - operators licence
- Goods vehicles - tachograph offences
- Mobile phone offences
- New Driver Provisions
- Notice of intended prosecution
- Recognition of disqualification
- Restoration of licence
- Road rage incidents
- Serious injury by dangerous driving
- Signs and signal offences
- Special Reasons
- Speeding offences
- Stopping and reporting
- Taxi offences
- Taxi offences - illegally plying for hire
- Taxi offences - licensing investigations
- Taxi offences - points and disqualification
- Totting Up Driving Ban
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Education
- Education
-
Employment
- Agency Staff / Temp Workers
- Constructive/Unfair Dismissal
- Disciplinary Hearings
- Discrimination at Work
- Employee Team Moves
- Employment Contracts
- Equal Pay Disputes
- Family Leave
- Flexible Working
- Gardening Leave
- Harassment/Bullying at Work
- Holiday Pay Issues
- Maternity and Paternity
- Media and Sports
- Military
- Part Time Workers
- Pension Law
- Privacy and Data Protection
- Professional Discipline
- Redundancy
- Restrictive Covenants
- Senior Executives
- Settlement Agreements
- Stress at Work
- TUPE
- Tribunal Claims
- UK Employment Laws
- Unfair Dismissal Claims
- Whistleblower Protection
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Family Law
- Adoption, Surrogacy, Care and Special Guardianship
- Asset protection and tax mitigation
- Child Arrangements Following Divorce
- Child Law
- Child Relocation After Divorce
- Child contact
- Children
- Children Act proceedings
- Civil Partnership Dissolution
- Civil partnerships
- Cohabitation agreements and disputes
- Cohabitation and Unmarried Relationships
- Collaborative Law
- Divorce After A Brain Or Other Serious Injury
- Domestic Abuse
- Family Mediation
- Family law
- Financial Matters
- Grandparents' Rights
- Inheritance Act claims
- Injunctions
- Lasting power of attorney
- Matrimonial finance
- Out Of Court Divorce
- Parental responsibility, paternity disputes, surrogacy
- Pension and property advice
- Pre and Post Nuptial Agreements
- Separation Agreement
- Social Services
- Unmarried Couples' Rights
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Housing & Property
- Anti-social Behaviour
- Boundary Disputes
- Buying at auction
- Declarations of trusts
- Deeds of Gifts
- Deeds of easements, variation, deeds of rectifications
- Dilapidation Claims
- Evicting Squatters and Trespassers
- Exclusivity and lock-out agreements
- Extending your Lease
- Freehold Enfranchisement
- Housing Associations
- Housing Management
- Housing disputes
- Injunctions
- Investment and buy to let properties
- Landlord and Tenant
- Lease Extensions
- Leasehold properties
- Matrimonial transfers
- Neighbour Disputes
- New home purchases and sales
- Option agreements and conditional contracts
- Planning
- Possession and repossession proceedings
- Property Disputes
- Purchase and Sale
- Remortgaging
- Renting and Tenancy Agreements
- Repossessions
- Residential Conveyancing
- Restrictive Covenants, Easements and Wayleaves
- Right of First Refusal
- Right of Way and Rights to Light
- Right to Manage
- Service Charge Disputes
- Service Charge Recovery
- Tenancy Breaches, Injunctions and Forfeiture Claims
- Tenant Eviction
- Transfer of title
- Transfers of equity
- Transfers of parts of land
- Unpaid Rent, Service or Ground Charges
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Human rights
- Human rights
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Immigration
- Applications for British citizenship
- Asylum applications and appeals
- Citizenship
- EEA Family Permits
- EEA Registration Cards
- EEA Residence Permits
- Human Rights
-
Money & Tax
- Debt and Bankruptcy
- HMRC Tax Investigations and Disputes
- Inheritance Tax
- Insolvency and bankruptcy
- Property Holding Structures
- Tax
- Tax Advisory Services
- Tax Compliance Services
- Trusts
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Notary
- Notary
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Personal Injury
- Against The Council
- Benefits Available To Asbestos Victims
- Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
- Gym Injury Compensation
- Personal Injury Law
- Welfare Issues After Serious Injury
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Professional Negligence
- Barristers
- Financial advisors
- IT professionals
- Insurance brokers
- Professional trustees
- Valuers
-
Welfare & Benefits
- Benefits
- Housing
- Mental Health
-
Wills, Trusts & Probate
- Probate
- Trusts
- Wills
Business areas of law
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Agriculture
- Agricultural land for sale or development
- Buying and selling a farm
- Commercial contracts for farming businesses
- Employment of farm workers
- Equestrian property
- Farm partnerships and corporate structures
- Farming disputes
- Veterinary negligence
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Banking
- Banking
-
Charities
- Charities
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Commercial Property
- Commercial Leases
- Commercial mortgages
- Developer disputes
- Development plot sales
- Environmental policy law
- Finance
- Investment purchases and Buy to Let
- Landlord and tenant
- Planning law
- Purchase and Sale Of Commercial Property
- Purchase of development land
- Rights of way issues
- Sales or purchases of shops, factories, warehouses, offices and licensed premises
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Company & Commercial
- Agency agreements
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Asset Tracing
- Business structures and joint ventures
- Commercial Law
- Commercial Litigation Matters
- Competition law
- Contractual Disputes
- Corporate Law
- Corporate finance
- Credit Control
- Data Protection
- Debt Recovery
- Employment - business
- Franchising
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property
- Management buyouts
- Merchandising and sponsorship
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Mis-sold Interest Rate Swap Agreements
- Partnership and LLP law
- Sales and Purchases
- Setting up a business
- Share option schemes
- Shareholder Agreements
- Shareholder and Partnership Disputes
- Small businesses
- Statutory Demands
- Summary Judgment
- Tax
- Unfair Loan Charges
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Construction
- Building contracts and professional appointments
- Construction
- Construction and engineering dispute resolution
- Contracts for the supply, installation and maintenance of specialist mechanical and electrical plant
- Crane oversailing and scaffolding licences
- Development agreements
- Development loan facilities
- Due diligence audits for banks and other financial institutions
- Engineering contracts
- Facility maintenance agreements
- Framework agreements
- Guarantees and bonds
- In-house training
- Warranties, third party rights and reliance letters
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Dispute Resolution
- Mediation
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Energy & Transport
- Aviation
- Maritime and Shipping
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IT & Intellectual Property
- Advertising and Marketing Compliance
- Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy
- Confidential Information, Know-How and Trade Secrets
- Copyright
- Dealing with intellectual property infringements
- Design rights and product designs
- Domain Names
- Intellectual Property Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Patents
- Personality and Image Rights
- Trade Marks and Designs
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Regulations
- Environment
- Health and Safety
- Licensing