Harrison
This review was submitted by a verified client of TV Edwards LLP.
Hopes Dashed
The staff were polite ,office was airy clean . Initial interview was gruelling 😣 as you have to relive the trauma but we got through that proving your eligible for legal aid (worse than it’s ever been ) Simon was polite if but clinical without any real compassion for the housing situation I was in . LA possession order “ Second interview was worse this time he brought the computer in with him which unnerved me as he kept glancing at the screen which I could not see but I played along with the ? Again reliving the trauma ..clinical ? At no stage did I feel Simon felt any empathy I had already explained that I had unconditional discharge from Psychiatric hospital which means any diagnosis the local mental health team in St Albans who are linked up with the St Albans city District Council attempted to stitch me up with did not stand . & I was free of any connection to them . Simon wanted me to undergo a capacity examination of which I found highly irregular later discussed matters with another lawyer who advised me to de- instruct . I made the right decision .I would be careful of instructing this firm on housing as I left the office I felt an icy chill but relieved . Since the mid 1990s I have noticed a decline in quality of lawyers representing people on legal aid at one time it was pleasure to deal with lawyers who were on your side I did not feel this with this person .
Solicitors tagged in
this review
Aleena Salim
Dear [Ms] Harrison Thank you for your review. We’re sorry that you were not happy with the service provided. Unfortunately the legal aid rules mean that we must ask lots of questions about a client’s financial situation to allow us to check they are entitled to legal aid. We use our computers to make a note of our appointments to ensure we accurately record what has been said. We are sorry this made you feel uncomfortable. If you had raised this in the meeting or before the meeting we would have been happy to have reverted to paper and pen. We are sorry you had to relive trauma during your meetings – unfortunately as solicitors we must ask sometimes difficult questions about the history of a client’s case to enable us to give full and proper advice. As solicitors we must also be sure that clients have the mental capacity to give us instructions in their case. Where we have doubts about a person’s capacity we will ask them to agree to a medical assessment as part of their case. Where a client does not agree to this, we must then bring the case to an end as it is not possible for us to act for someone who we believe does not have capacity to instruct us. We are sorry that we were not able to help you with your matter. Kind Regards TV Edwards Team
