WILLIAM HEATH & CO AND SKELLY & CORSELLIS

I cannot recommend Justin Sidnick from William Heath & co, particularly for leasehold transactions. My experience resulted in a collapsed purchase, significant frustration for all parties involved, and what I consider to be an entirely unnecessary loss of time and money. He came as a recommendation from work, but when frustrations came about, talking to people who used him, it seems he has a pattern of behavior.

The issues were:

excessive and irrelevant inquiries - he raised over 90 inquiries, many of which were pedantic to the point of being obstructive. This has been confirmed by a number of people who dealt with him. The solution is to tell him that you accept responsibility and you move on, but the sheer number of inquiries quickly sours a relationship with the seller, as it did in our case. Out of those 90+ inquiries, only a handful turned out to be important, and even the the most important ones were presented as no-go, without any advice how this plays out in the real world. Zero pragmatism.

lack of guidance - at no point did Justing explain the importance or priority of these 90+ questions. Instead of acting as an advisor, he blindly presented them as must-haves. This box-ticking approach alienated the seller and their legal team. What I found most frustrating is that I relied mostly on gemini to explain what each inquiry is about, and not the person I paid in the end to do that job.

tried to inflate the bill - nearing the end of the process, that failed, as you can imagine given my bitter review, he insisted that the entire file of leases / deeds of variation be surrendered and a new lease granted in a modern format...AND then attempted to charge me for the extra labour that he created out of thin air. This very much felt like an opportunistic way to inflate the bill for a task that added absolutely zero value to the actual transaction, and slow down the whole process. This is how I realised in the end that he did not prioritise me as a client.

anti-leasehold bias - it became clear throughout the process (also an experience mirrored by colleagues who have used him recently, and in the past) that he holds a heavy bias against leasehold properties. There are no flats without leaseholds in this country. This is unavoidable, and having a solicitor who is biased against them just makes everything more difficult.

If you want a solicitor who communicates effectively and works toward an exchange of contracts, look elsewhere. I blame Justin's severe lack of pragmatism and failure to inform me of the realities of these risks for the eventual breakdown of my purchase, and of course myself for trusting him for my first (failed) purchase. I would not recommend Justin, especially if this is your first purchase and if you're buying a leasehold.

Have had frequent dealings with Justin Sidnick over the years past 20 years, and he has been unfailingly clear and thorough throughout. I notice many of the negative reviews come from people who never dealt with him personally, and were on the other side of transactions. I’ll just say, he always prioritises his clients, which is his job.

I am an investor in residential property and have had wide experience over many years of using solicitors’ services. I can say without hesitation that Justin Sidnick is the most attentive and capable solicitor I have ever come across. He is also highly approachable. I have recommended his services many times.

I've been using William Heath & Co for more than 25 years, specifically dealing with Justin Sidnick who has always been marvellous. He is diligent and exceptionally thorough. His wise words have saved me from some disastrous ventures while his calmness has helped preserve my sanity through about 20 stressful transactions. I've recommended him to countless friends and family members who have all been equally impressed. He's a gem.

As has been referenced in multiple reviews, Justin Sidnick is untrustworthy and doesn’t seem to have any idea of the turmoil he puts his clients through. Our sale almost collapsed because of his inactivity and inability to advise his client correctly.

Justin sat on documents for 3 months, confirmed all is OK and agreed an exchange date, then 2 weeks out from exchange he raised 97 enquiries on a simple leasehold flat sale. He wouldn’t accept answers for majority of our enquiries and delayed his clients purchase for months

He put both my family and his clients family through months of anxiety and uncertainty. He didn’t correspond with the estate agent at all throughout the process and only spoke to the sellers solicitor when he wanted something for his own gain.

Awful service from an egoistical solicitor - avoid like the plague.