Looking for help from a solicitor isn’t something you do every day. Thanks for looking at us. You will find here short descriptions of the different ways we can help, how we charge and how to get in touch to start.
You can reduce risk and avoid future problems by getting legal advice early on.
Most people don’t think about using a lawyer until they are already in a stressful or difficult situation. But we aren’t just there in times of trouble. Our lawyers will give you peace of mind by making sure your transaction goes smoothly or by helping you plan for the future.
Whether you are buying or selling property, getting your business organised, starting out on a new life with someone or thinking about what happens at the end of life, we can help you get it right.
By coming to us, you won’t just get a document or contract, but a personal service tailored to your needs. Our specialist solicitors will discuss your requirements with you and advise you on the best way forward.
It needn’t cost the earth to put these things in place. We will make sure our service matches your budget and we will take into account how you feel about risk, whether you prefer cast iron guarantees or are prepared to manage a certain amount of uncertainty.
Taking a bit of time and effort now can help prevent more distressing, and costly, problems in the future. Whatever stage of life you are at, our experts can help.
You don’t always have to go through the courts to reach agreement.
Mediation is used for a wide range of disputes, including family, employment, housing and consumer. Our expert mediators help you find a negotiated settlement to your problem.
Mediation is probably the most well-known scheme for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). It is used for a wide range of disputes, including family, employment, housing and consumer. We have a number of expert mediators on hand to help you find a negotiated settlement to your problem.
Mediation is a completely voluntary and confidential process. It involves an independent and impartial person helping you and the other party find a solution acceptable to everyone.
Mediators do not make judgements and will not direct you towards a particular outcome or express a personal opinion, although they will ensure everyone involved is treated fairly.
A mediator will help you and the other person come to an agreement by asking questions and clarifying the options for resolving your dispute. If for any reason you don’t want to meet the other side, the mediator will act as a go between.
Some mediation agreements will be legally binding and you will not then be able to take your case to court, except to enforce any award. However, in family law disputes, agreements reached through mediation may not be legally binding, unless you both agree, and will rely on both you and the other person putting the agreement into effect.
In collaborative practice you and the other party are the decision makers and in control. You will have your solicitor with you throughout to give you advice and guidance.
Collaborative practice is another way of voluntarily resolving your dispute without going to court. In common with mediation, you and the other party are the decision makers and in control of the process, but you will have your lawyer with you throughout to give you advice and guidance.
Collaborative practice is a fairly new way of sorting out your differences, but it is already popular, particularly for family disputes. At the start of the process, both sides sign a participation agreement setting out the issue and agree not to go to court.
Crucially, in collaborative practice the lawyers involved are not allowed to continue representing you if the process breaks down and you do go to court. This ensures everyone is committed to agreeing a settlement.
Negotiation takes place at four-way meetings, where you, the other party and your lawyers can discuss all the issues. Keeping communication open in this way helps to avoid misunderstandings while allowing you to express your needs and concerns. You can also involve other professionals in your discussions, such as child development specialists and accountants.
We have a number of specially trained collaborative lawyers who can explain in more detail how it works and help you decide if your case is suitable for the process.
Arbitration is usually much faster and less expensive than going to court and the parties involved can choose their arbitrator, so you can pick someone with special skills and expertise.
Arbitration involves an impartial person makes a decision on a dispute. It has long been used in the commercial world, and is a fairly common way of dealing with employment disputes. You can also go to arbitration for consumer and family issues, (although not to decide parenting or care of children).
As with other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the process is voluntary, but in most cases the decision of the arbitrator is legally binding. This means you will not be able to take court action, other than to enforce an award.
Arbitration is usually much faster and less expensive than going to court and the parties involved can choose their arbitrator, so you can pick someone with special skills and expertise.
Unlike court, arbitration decisions are confidential, not public, and will be made based on written evidence, which your solicitor can help you present. Arbitrators can ask questions, but there is no cross examination by barristers as there is in court. In many cases you may not even meet the arbitrator.
Our experts will be able to advise you as to whether your case is suitable for arbitration and how to go about it.
Because our solicitors are experts in their field, they have an insight into what the court would be likely to order in your case and so can lead the negotiation robustly on your behalf.
Many people prefer the conventional approach to solving legal problems with individual lawyers leading negotiation on their behalf. This could simply be because they are unaware of the alternatives, or because they do not want face-to-face meetings.
This process generally involves you having an initial meeting with your chosen solicitor and disclosing financial or any other relevant information with supporting documents. This enables your solicitor to negotiate with the solicitor of the other party either in writing or through discussion.
Because our solicitors are experts in their field, they have an insight into what the court would be likely to order in your case and so can lead the negotiation robustly on your behalf. You will be able to contact your solicitor at any time and you will make the final decision about accepting any agreement.
Negotiations will remain confidential, apart from any final agreement. Our solicitors are highly skilled at leading negotiations on behalf of their clients. However, if negotiation does break down, you will still be able to go to court and keep the same solicitor.
We’re successful negotiators because we are powerful litigators who will represent you in court if need be.
Many legal cases can be solved without going to court, which is just as well, because most people don’t relish the idea. Going to court is usually a last resort only to be used when the alternatives have failed. Others might relish their day in court. In either case, we can help you be prepared and fight your corner.
Taking a case to court can be stressful and expensive so it is important you get legal advice about your chances of success and whether there are alternatives. Unless your issue is urgent, such as being in danger of losing your home, your children or your job, the court will expect you to have tried to settle your dispute before taking legal action.
However straightforward your case might appear to you, unless you are taking it to the small claims court, you should get the advice and support of a lawyer. This is because there are strict time limits for bringing cases to court, as well as a number of rules and procedures you have to follow. Your case may not get off the ground or you may be penalised if you haven’t adhered to these properly.
We have solicitors who are experts in bringing cases to court where there is no alternative. These litigators will be able to advise you on the best course of action and the likely outcome and help you decide how to fund your case. They will vigorously fight your corner and, where suitable, will aim to settle your case before it comes to court. You can be sure you will be in safe hands.
We can provide you with a choice of video meetings to adapt to your circumstances. We operate across Microsoft Teams, LoopUp, Zoom and other platforms and will provide you with straightforward instructions to make the discussions as productive as if they were face-to-face. We can also offer shorter lead-in times, arranging meetings at short notice.
Many court hearings are now taking place remotely, either by video or audio recording. We have the necessary software to deal with this and typically use Skype, Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
For many enquiries, we do not require face-to-face meetings to initiate our services and it may not be necessary to meet with you at any point during the process. We are happy to arrange virtual meetings via Zoom or Skype for groups. Of course, this does depend on the enquiry, so please contact us on 020 7940 4060 or email mail@anthonygold.co.uk to discuss the process with a member of the team.
Feel free to contact us on 020 7940 4060 or email us at mail@anthonygold.co.uk to arrange an appointment.
We prefer to receive documents electronically but please let us know if this is not possible and you need to deliver hard copies to the office.
We are always clear and up front about costs, so you know what to expect and won’t get any nasty surprises.
Ask anyone about lawyers and their first comment is likely to be that they are too expensive. It doesn’t have to be that way. We are always clear and up front about costs, so you know what to expect and won’t get any nasty surprises.
Sometimes there is no alternative to using a lawyer, but fear about how much it will cost or whether it is even affordable puts many people off. Once our solicitors understand your case and what you want to achieve they will advise you of the best way to pay for it.
You may be able to get legal aid, or we can sometimes offer you a ‘no win-no fee’ agreement. If neither of these options is available we will always give you an up-front fee estimate and in some cases a fixed fee. We will ensure that you are always kept up to date with work on your case and informed and consulted immediately about any unexpected costs.
Because we care about getting the right outcome for you, we’ll always work to find an affordable solution, whatever your circumstances.
You can call, email or fill in an online contact form. It needn’t cost you anything to get in touch to find out how we can help you.
It’s not always easy to admit you need help, and even when you do, you might not know where to start. The first step is to get in touch, even if you’re not sure if we can help or not, we’ll soon let you know!
Before you contact us, try and get a few details to hand about your problem, such as key dates, addresses, people involved, and any physical, material or financial impact or loss. This will help us to advise you as quickly as possible whether we can help or not. You may also find it useful to read the information on this website.
You can phone, email, fill in a web form or write, whichever is best for you. Whichever you choose, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can and if we can’t help we’ll try and pass you on to someone who can.
If we do take on your case, you can be confident you have found the right people to represent you.