What the Senior Partner thinks

Solicitor Jacqueline Emmerson got off to a flying start in her new office at Gosforth. She has over twenty years of experience dealing with Family law, Wills and Probate and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Jacqueline used to undertake a lot of work under the Legal Aid Scheme however; she has now set up a private fee paying department at the Gosforth branch of Emmersons Solicitors.

“It has become very frustrating dealing with legal aid. I don’t feel that clients using that scheme can be dealt with as thoroughly or as fast as they can if they are privately paying. The Legal Aid process is slow and cumbersome. Legal Aid clients are often waiting weeks for decisions to be made about their funding.

In our Gosforth office we do not offer legal aid for family law. I therefore feel that I now have time to spend with clients discussing their cases instead of their funding issues.   

 I have always enjoyed dealing with complicated matrimonial matters. Often involving businesses or investment properties. As a business owner myself I have an understanding of business accounts and can often spot issues that some other solicitors would miss. Recently I spotted an anomaly in a client’s accounts. When she pointed this out to her accountant it transpired that her accounts had been badly drafted and needed to be redone. This has lead to her receiving a tax refund.

I also encourage clients to carry out as much work on their case as they are comfortable with.  Some people want me to obtain all of their financial information for them because they are too busy to do this themselves. Others prepare a lot of their own paperwork in order to keep their costs to a minimum. I go to a lot of trouble to explain to clients the steps they can take to minimize their costs. I am always shocked when I hear of some of the bigger firms regularly charging clients over £20,000 for what are in effect fairly routine cases for someone with my level of experience.

I also offer value added advice which comes from the knowledge that I have built up over the years. As I deal with wills and probate I am able to offer long term estate planning. This becomes ever more complicated as people marry for the second time especially when they have children from their first relationship.  Having dealt with a number of contested probate estates over the years I have an appreciation of which family members a client should provide for in order to avoid a costly challenge to their estate. I also keep permanent notes in case anyone does try to challenge a will. Often the provision of detailed notes to a disappointed beneficiary is enough to prevent a legal challenge in the first place”.