High Legal Services Ltd

⭐️☆☆☆☆ Appalling Conduct: Vulnerable Clients Abandoned Mid-Litigation

I urge the public—especially families with vulnerable relatives—to exercise extreme caution before instructing High Legal Services Ltd (Accrington). This small consumer practice took on a complex utility infrastructure dispute that they lacked the specialist competence to handle, and their conduct deteriorated entirely once we demanded data transparency:

* **Evasion of Statutory Audits:** When we served this firm with a formal Subject Access Request (SAR) to audit their file handling and billing, they weaponised a purported mental capacity claim to evade it. Instead of complying with data protection laws, their non-solicitor Practice Manager sent a defensive email unilaterally declaring that my vulnerable father "lacked capacity" to obstruct the statutory audit.

* **Mid-Proceedings Abandonment:** After making this unverified capacity claim, the firm immediately stated they were coming off the court record and abandoning active claims. They walked away with zero structured handover, leaving an elderly client completely exposed to missed court deadlines.

* **Conflicting Financial Motivations:** While dropping my father’s private court claims under the guise of "capacity," the firm simultaneously attempted to keep our wider South West Water file active under a lucrative £100,000 Direct Line insurance expenses. A firm cannot legally claim a client lacks capacity to instruct them on private files while continuing to act on an insurance-backed file solely to protect their billing stream.

* **Failure to Pursue Critical Remedies:** Because the firm operates largely as a consumer generalist practice, they missed the primary root cause of our legal losses. They completely failed to launch a critical Wasted Costs Application (Form N244) against our previous negligent solicitors, forcing us as lay clients to forensically investigate and file the court applications independently to mitigate a £130,000+ loss.
This firm relies on intimidation and corporate "zero-tolerance" buzzwords to silence clients who demand basic accountability. Their actions have been formally reported to both the **Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)** for severe breaches of integrity and professional standards, and to **Direct Line Group** for an urgent insurance compliance review. Do not trust them with your family’s assets.

No stars if I could, a reflection of the appalling service throughout moving house. A long story cut short(ish)...
Removal men waiting all day due to no contact from solicitor, actually went to EA office and told there had been a change but no notification sent.
Too late to get a storage unit so had to ask family and friends last minute to help.
Almost a week later still no verification, meanwhile sofa surfing with young child.
Eventually given key to house paid for months beforehand and more costs for removal.
Still no contact with solicitor dealing with the case and also asking for itemisation for a bill that was far more than calculated.
Months later, after being ignored it came, indeed with recognition of over payment.
No apology, very abrupt and and completely dismissive of accepting any responsibility for extra costs involved due to their negligence.
Only politely asked for reimbursement of the extra removal costs, some people would have gone further for compensation for the trauma, inconvenience for a single working Mum and young child and the obvious reason they couldn't move into the house a deposit had been for, mortgage payments and bills coming out of.
It seems, allegedly, the reason was the solicitor dealing with the process was leaving and there was clearly no takeover.
So, after months of desperately trying to recover the miscalculation, which was relied upon for COL, to be bluntly told, yes you have this owing (a quarter of the amount expected and having no breakdown of costs at the time it was due) and then salt in wounds, no we won't be paying your extra removal costs due to our mistake.

Unbelievably unprofessional, insensitive and financially drained. Currently seeking legal advice and hoping it's from a better organisation than this one.

I used High Legal Solicitors for my conveyancing matter and the service was outstanding from start to finish. The team were highly professional, kept me informed at every stage, and explained everything in clear and simple terms. Communication was excellent, responses were timely, and any issues in the process were handled proactively without causing me any stress. I genuinely felt supported throughout, and the whole transaction was completed smoothly and efficiently. I’m very pleased with the outcome and would confidently recommend HLS to anyone looking for reliable and competent conveyancing solicitors.

Be cautious! They were very attentive at first but as soon as they sent the request for a deposit payment, everything went silent - After writing this review I've had a reply to say my contact was unexpectedly on leave. Unfortunately even with someone out of work, I shouldn't be waiting over a month for a reply, and only get one after I write a review! I'm just glad I didn't pay the deposit otherwise I'm not sure I'd get anything back.

HLS have just completed a sale for me and they were very professional and reasonably priced. The buyer’s solicitor was very slack and needed constant chasing from my solicitor. Jane and Shabeena also provided me with weekly updates and perseverance paid off eventually when we completed last week.

No hesitation in recommending HLS