I used myerson for an employment settlement agreement, I had very little communication with them over the very short period of 6 working days to be exact - 4 phone calls and 6 emails to be precise.
For clarity, one call was 8 minutes, one was 3 minutes, one was 59 seconds, I only had one call of 84 minutes that was actually of value on teams to go through the settlement document. I make that a total of 96 minutes.
I was advised at the start of the process it would be around £500-£750 +VAT, which I was happy with as I was receiving a £500 + VAT contribution from my employer.
I did want to negotiate, which I did myself with my employer to save time & money at the solicitors suggestion, given I was being put out of work, I was already in a vulnerable position so I wanted to keep the cost down.
When I received a final bill of £875 for me to pay personally minus my employers contribution of £500+VAT, I was flabbergasted, given I did the negotiating myself and I had very little interaction with them at all over the 6 days.
I was charged by the minute for the calls & emails which was not very transparent from the start, exorbitant amounts and inflated, charged 6 minutes per email that took 30 seconds to read and 30 minutes for a call that took 8 minutes. I did try and dispute it, as I believe it was unreasonable to which I was just told it was all billable. My situation is pretty standard to these guys as solicitors, there was nothing complicated or excessive in terms of work load or interactions/questions. I personally feel this is just an abuse of over charging to someone who has just lost their job right before Christmas.
I don't have the means to get into to a financial dispute with a solicitor given I have just lost my job so I had to pay it out of my settlement, which I had to negotiate myself.
Not transparent from the start
Not clear about billing format
Over charged
No empathy as a business
I really wish I had more time to research and read the reviews on this firm as now I have seen similar comments, sharing this for anyone else in my position looking for a solicitor, so they don't end up with a big personal bill.
