Anyone who has instructed a law firm listed on Review A Solicitor, or who dealt with that firm while deciding whether to instruct them, can leave a review about the service they received.
We publish positive and negative reviews. We do not remove a review because a law firm dislikes it, and law firms cannot pay us to hide feedback, change a rating or improve their position in search results.
We do not allow fake reviews, reviews written by anyone connected to the firm, or reviews given in exchange for payment or a benefit that is not disclosed. We check reviews before and after publication and remove any that break the rules on this page.
Why this policy exists
People choosing a solicitor are usually making an important and unfamiliar decision, often at a difficult point in their lives. Reviews only help with that decision if they come from real clients describing real experiences.
This policy sets out who can leave a review, what we allow, how we check what is submitted, and what law firms can do if they believe a review is wrong.
It also explains the steps we take to meet our obligations under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which requires anyone publishing consumer reviews to take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent fake and misleading reviews from appearing.
Who can leave a review
You can leave a review if you are a client or a prospective client of the law firm.
A client is someone who instructed the firm on a legal matter, whether that matter is ongoing, completed, or was ended early.
A prospective client is someone who dealt with the firm while deciding whether to instruct them, and so experienced part of its service. An initial consultation, a quote, a call with an intake team or an exchange of emails about your case all count.
If you only visited the firm’s website or saw an advert, you are not a prospective client and should not leave a review.
You can review on behalf of someone else if you were involved in the matter and are entitled to speak about it. Examples include an executor instructing a firm on an estate, a parent instructing a firm for a child, or an attorney acting under a lasting power of attorney. Tell us this in your review so readers understand your position.
Who cannot leave a review
The following people are not permitted to review a firm, even if what they write is accurate and even if they are also a genuine client:
- Anyone who works for the firm, or has worked for it, including solicitors, paralegals, support staff, consultants and contractors
- Owners, partners, members, directors and shareholders of the firm
- Family members, friends and household members of anyone in the two groups above
- Anyone working for a competing law firm or legal services provider
- Anyone working for a marketing, reputation or SEO agency acting for the firm, whether or not they were asked to leave the review
- Anyone who has been paid or otherwise rewarded to write the review, unless the reward is disclosed and permitted under the section below
Incentives, rewards and requests for reviews
Law firms are allowed to ask clients to leave a review. That request must be neutral. A firm cannot ask only its happiest clients, offer anything in return for a positive review, or tell a client what to write.
We do not accept reviews given in exchange for money, discounts, free or reduced-cost legal work, gift cards, prize draw entries or any other benefit, unless that benefit is clearly disclosed in the review itself. Concealing an incentive is a breach of consumer law as well as this policy.
If we find evidence that a firm has offered incentives without disclosure, suppressed negative feedback, or arranged for reviews to be written by people who were not clients, we will remove the affected reviews, place a notice on the firm’s profile and may suspend the firm’s ability to collect reviews through this site.
What makes a useful review
The reviews people find most helpful describe the service rather than the outcome alone. Losing a case does not always mean the firm handled it badly, and winning does not always mean it handled it well.
Where you can, tell readers what area of law your matter involved, how well the firm communicated, whether costs were explained clearly at the outset, whether the work was done in the timescale you were given, and whether you would use the firm again.
Please review each firm once. If you have instructed the same firm several times, say so in your review rather than posting separately for each matter, as repeated reviews distort the firm’s rating.
Content we do not allow
We remove reviews containing any of the following:
- Content that is false, fabricated or describes an experience the reviewer did not have
- Content copied from another review, website or source
- Advertising, promotion of another business, or referral links
- Abuse, threats, harassment, or discriminatory language about any person or group
- Allegations of criminal conduct or professional misconduct presented as established fact
- Personal data about other people, including opponents, witnesses, children or other clients
- Confidential or privileged information, or details of an ongoing matter that should not be public
- Content that appears intended to pressure a firm during a live dispute over fees or service
- Content that is unrelated to the legal service received
Naming the individual who handled your matter is allowed, and often makes a review more useful. Attacking that person’s character rather than describing their work is not.
A review is an account of one person’s experience of a service. It is not a finding of misconduct. If you believe a solicitor has behaved dishonestly or breached professional rules, report it to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. If you are unhappy with the service and the firm has not resolved your complaint, you can take it to the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
Examples of reviews we remove
These examples are drawn from patterns we monitor for:
- A partner at a firm writes a five-star review describing themselves as a satisfied probate client
- A conveyancing client is offered £50 off their completion fee in return for leaving a review, and does not mention the offer
- A reviewer posts four separate negative reviews of the same firm over one week following a fee dispute
- A solicitor writes a one-star review of a rival firm in the same town
- Two firms agree to leave positive reviews on each other’s profiles
- A marketing agency creates several accounts and posts reviews for a client firm using details taken from its website
- A reviewer names the other party in their divorce and describes their conduct
- A family member of a firm’s owner reviews the firm without disclosing the relationship
How we check reviews
Every review passes through automated checks before publication. These look for duplicate text, submissions from the same device or network, patterns consistent with coordinated activity, prohibited content and signals that a review has been generated rather than written.
Reviews flagged by those checks are held for manual assessment before they appear. We may contact you and ask for evidence that you were a client, such as a client care letter, an invoice or correspondence with the firm. We only use that evidence to confirm your review and handle it in line with our privacy policy.
Checks continue after publication. We run periodic reviews of firm profiles that show unusual patterns, such as a sudden cluster of reviews or ratings that do not match the firm’s longer history.
Verified client status
A review shows as Verified when we have seen evidence connecting the reviewer to the firm, either because the review was collected through an invitation the firm sent to a client on its own records, or because the reviewer supplied documentation we were able to check.
Reviews without that badge are still published if they pass our checks. Verified status tells you how a review was confirmed, not whether we believe it is accurate.
Editing or removing your own review
You can edit or delete a review you have written at any time from your account, or by emailing us from the address you used to submit it.
We do not require a reason, and we do not ask the firm’s permission. If you delete a review, it stops counting towards the firm’s rating from that point.
How law firms can respond
Any firm listed on Review A Solicitor can reply publicly to a review, whether or not it has claimed its profile or pays for any service. Replies appear directly beneath the review.
Replies must follow the same content rules as reviews. Firms should be particularly careful not to disclose confidential information about the client or the matter when responding, and should bear in mind their own professional duties when doing so.
Challenging a review
If a firm believes a review breaks this policy, it can submit a challenge through its profile dashboard or by emailing us. We ask for the reason, and any information supporting it, such as confirmation that the person was never a client.
We acknowledge challenges within 5 working days and aim to reach a decision within 10 working days of receiving the information we need. We may contact the reviewer for their account before deciding.
While a challenge is being assessed the review usually stays online, unless it contains content that must be taken down immediately, such as personal data about a third party or material that is clearly abusive.
We tell both parties the outcome. Disagreeing with a review is not by itself a reason for removal.
| Outcome | What happens |
|---|---|
| Challenge upheld | The review is removed and no longer counts towards the firm’s rating |
| Partly upheld | The offending content is removed and the rest of the review stays online |
| Not upheld | The review stays online and the firm can reply publicly |
| Unable to verify | The review is removed where we cannot satisfy ourselves it came from a client or prospective client |
Reporting a review
Anyone can report a review, not just the firm it concerns. Use the report link beneath the review and tell us which part of this policy you think it breaks.
We assess every report. We do not tell the reviewer who reported them.
What happens when we remove a review
Removed reviews stop counting towards the firm’s star rating and review count, and the rating recalculates automatically.
Where we remove a group of reviews because of manipulation, we may display a notice on the firm’s profile explaining that action was taken. We do this so readers can interpret the remaining ratings fairly.
If you believe we removed your review in error, email us and we will look at it again.
How reviews affect ratings and rankings
A firm’s star rating is the average of the published reviews it has received. We show the total number of reviews alongside it so you can judge how much weight to give the average.
Search results are ordered by relevance to your query, the firm’s rating and the number of reviews behind it. Law firms cannot buy a higher position, and paying for a profile does not affect where a firm appears or how it is rated.
Firm details such as regulatory status, addresses and areas of law come from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and are not affected by reviews.
Reviews and ratings from other sources
Some profiles display ratings and reviews published on Google. Those are collected and moderated by Google under its own policies, not ours, and we cannot edit or remove them.
We label third party ratings clearly and keep them separate from reviews left on Review A Solicitor, so you can see where each rating came from. If you want a Google review removed, you need to report it to Google.
Complaints about this policy
If you are unhappy with a decision we have made about a review, or with how we handled a challenge or report, email info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk with the details.
We acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and aim to respond fully within 10 working days. Our full process is set out in our complaints policy.
Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least once a year and whenever our verification processes or legal obligations change. Material changes are noted by the updated date at the top of this page.
Contact us
Email info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk or write to Review A Solicitor, Windlehall, Crank Road, St Helens, Merseyside, WA11 7RG.