Abv Solicitors Limited

It is hard to write a solicitor review about such an inherently difficult and painful legal process that we faced as a family, but we have nothing but praise for Claire Anderson�s support and advice to our son and us over a nine month period. In short, our teenage son was subject to a police investigation triggered by another pupil reporting rumours of a sexual assault at a teenage party and we instructed Claire to guide and represent our son, who was destroyed mentally by the allegations and impact on his education just ahead of GCSEs. From the outset when we did not know whether the reported allegation would even progress, Claire was clear and professional in her initial advice about the likely route and next steps, showing great kindness and compassion for our son�s situation. As it became clear that our son was to be investigated, we selected Claire to represent our son and from then on her work was thorough, detailed and designed to establish the facts and a record. We did not find the long delays easy to bear as the wheels of the police investigation turned slowly but she collected all the information to prepare a voluntary statement, attended the voluntary interview with our son and worked hard on his behalf to find out what she could by way of essential disclosure and information from the police. There were periods of inactivity but Claire had a real knack of applying her full attention to the case when it needed it, and her focus and mastery of the events was impressive. She was easy to work with, honest and frank in her advice, but always kept our son centre-stage in the investigation, and she was very collaborative and easy to approach with questions or queries on the statements/evidence so we were left very happy with the written responses provided. We are sure that her liaison with the police was strengthened by her people skills and warm style. Claire is kind, compassionate and our son valued her broader guidance around his mental health which was deeply impacted. Just giving him her mobile number and telling him that he could call her anytime was hugely empowering and supportive. She empathized with his situation and understand the wider impact on us as his parents but never wallowed in it, and kept us focused on next steps and was 100% professional, responsive and practical. We felt fortunate with the outcome that the police decided to take no further action after nine months of investigation and waiting for mobile phone evidence and Claire�s support guided us through the closing stages very kindly indeed. We would thoroughly endorse Claire as a solicitor and recommend her for cases of this nature.

I have had a long and stressful trial period these couple of years and I have finally been found not guilty at Soutwark Crown Court.

I would like to thank ABV Solicitors especially, Mr Fergus Harrington who has really been by my side throughout and has gone out of his way to look out for my best interests, this means he was always available even after hours for me and never made me feel like a burden even with his heavy workload.

Mr Harrington directed me to the best possible barrister to meet my specific needs in court and with a group effort we have been able to get the results we have gained.

I would most definitely recommend this Law firm to any of my loved ones and people I care about.

Thanks Fergus, you didn’t just see me as another case on your desk, but a real person and it’s so obvious you care about your clients.

This review is for a different branch.

I would absolutely recommend this firm to anyone

This review is for a different branch.

I was charged with a criminal offence. I was able to get bail soon after thanks to Somsul Hoque. However i was required to live very far away from home and had lost my livelihood. However, over time Somsul managed to get me back home and due to his persistence the prosecution offered no evidence and as result the case was discontinued. I have my life back all thanks to Somsul. During the process Somsul was always available and provided me with a first class service. I would highly recommend Somsul.

This review is for a different branch.

My life had changed when i was charged. Thankfully my lawyer got me bail however i was required to live far away from home. Eventually they managed to get be back to my home and due to their persistence the prosecution later offered no evidence. Thanks to the lawyers i have my life back!

This review is for a different branch.

The below is a brief touch of the extremely unpleasant experience I have had with ABV, multiple times I have had to pay for second opinions from other law firms to get ABV to even respond. In fact I was not even shown my own evidence until a week before my trial by another law firm.

Quotes from two other law firms;
“ we should not be the ones showing you this for the first time”
“We are sorry you backed the wrong horse”

I leave below my original review which I was forced to read remove by Aneeta Borwick who threatened to remove my PAID representation a couple days before my final hearing. She forced me to write an email under duress stating otherwise, of an already known vulnerable client. The below is not intended for no purposes other than stating my experience of the firm and are not meant for defamation purposes

I could write a lot more but below are the lowlights of my experience with this firm.

I am a private paying client, and unfortunately my experience with ABV solicitors has been a very unpleasant one.

From my first consultation with Aneeta Borwick, who was quite hostile and threatened to charge me for phone call when I was trying to find out the level of service I would be provided for my money, to being constantly ignored and having to chase this firm at every stage and step of my legal proceedings.

I was given a solicitor who had leave scheduled for a week before my trial, I did not speak to my solicitor until 7pm on the night before my trial, at which point I was pressured into a guilty plea.

Of course I was charged with a full trial preparation, although I very much doubt any trial preparation took place.

Up to this day, I have still not spoke to any solicitor during working hours. I have been last on this list of priorities of this firm, which has been very strange as one would expect as a private paying client one would expect a service proportional to the level of fees payed.

I am a vulnerable client and this firm has done all they can to cause me further distress, it has honestly felt like talking to the prosecution. I have now been made aware by an out of office email my solicitor has gone on leave 3 days before my sentencing. No one has informed me of this before and I have now been left in the dark. The firm of course has requested further fees for this, I would recommend no one touch this firm unless you are getting legal aid.

It has been the worst experience of my life and the dealings with this firm honestly exacerbated my situation and mental health extremely

I am currently in the midst of a formal complaint against this firm and would advise any paying clients to rethink you decision

This review is for a different branch.

We had the pleasure of having Tom Blackburn to represent us and he was an incredible solicitor. We couldn't have got through a truly stressful experience without him. He was always available and goes above and beyond.

This review is for a different branch.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Claire Hewitt and the ABV Solicitors team. Claire handled my case with utter care and professionalism from the beginning to the end. She has tremendous patience to listen to her client. I can only recommend ABV Solicitors and Claire Hewitt.

This review is for a different branch.

We were thoroughly pleased with the professionalism displayed Abv Solicitors especially Ashley. Wishing a special commendation to the articulate trainee solicitor and organised barrister who reassured us and performed exceptionally throughout the trial. Achieving a not guilty verdict through the half-time submission wouldn't have been possible without such an outstanding team. Always providing prompt updates and replies to our questions or worries, they handled the case very exceptionally. Should the need for solicitors arise in the future, we enthusiastically recommend Abv solicitors services to our friends and family.