Our Philosophy

Central to the philosophy of Smith Law Partnership - formerly H. J. Smith & Co - is the notion of personal service delivered by specialists. In simple terms, this means we assign from our various departments the right person to deal with your individual case, we listen carefully to your views and provide advice and action tailored precisely to your requirements. Throughout any action we take on your behalf, we are careful to keep you fully up to date about what is happening. As your requirements are unique to you, your case will be handled by an individual with the requisite experience and knowledge who will be familiar with you and your case. Many of our clients express their appreciation for the practical, understanding and reassuring way in which we have dealt with their cases.

We believe that it is this personal approach that results in so many of our clients recommending our services to others. They also value our experience and the level of our knowledge of the locality in which we practise.

In addition to our legal qualifications and experience we have also been accorded the coveted Lexcel accreditation, a major quality standard developed specifically for solicitors. We also have the Investors in People award in recognition of our commitment to staff training and development. In addition, we endeavour to put our skills to good effect in the local community - with Smith Law Partnership people actively serving on the Chamber of Trade and Commerce, on school and college governing bodies, in the local enterprise agency network and assisting in the running of the local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Smith Law Partnership is the natural choice for people who want an up to date but personal service. Other than in criminal law, the firm offers a wide range of services, which can be tailor-made to your requirements, however complex they may appear at first sight. An initial short consultation is available for just a modest fee, and in all our dealings with you we will advise you of the likely cost and seek creatively to find the most cost-effective method to achieve the desired result.

In providing high quality cost-effective legal advice and practical solutions we are committed to the following standards of service:

Being available -
We recognise the importance of being available when you need us. Calls will be put through unless the person you want to speak to is genuinely unavailable. If, for good reasons, the person you want to speak to cannot take your call we will ensure the call is returned with the minimum possible delay. In urgent cases we will ensure that someone else who is able to help you speaks to you instead.

Making progress -
We will deal with your matter as quickly and effectively as we can and ensure that we do not cause any avoidable delays. We will give you realistic estimates of time needed to carry out the work you have asked us to do.

Keeping you informed -
We recognise the importance of ensuring that at all times you know what is happening and we will keep you fully informed.

Using plain English -
The law is full of jargon. We will explain things in simple language.

Taking a practical approach -
It is our job to consider not only the legal aspects, but also cost-effective and practical solutions.

Being flexible -
We appreciate that not all problems arise or can be solved during standard office hours. We will do our best to meet any special requirements you may have.