Setfords Solicitors was founded by Guy Setford in 2006 and quickly developed a reputation for providing first class, straightforward and reasonably priced legal advice. Guy laid solid foundations and expanded the firm steadily over its first two years and by early 2009 Guy had brought on the firm's first consultant lawyer.
Chris Setford joined as a Partner in 2009 and together the cousins have rapidly grown the practice over the last two years. Setfords Solicitors now has over fifty lawyers, many working as consultants to the business, and a large support team, providing a comprehensive range of first class, straightforward and reasonably priced legal services to thousands of clients across large parts of the UK. With the welcome addition of David Rogers as a partner in July 2011, the firm is going from strength to strength and continuing to expand on all fronts.
How has this been achieved and why are Setfords Solicitors different?
Our philosophy
Understand what Clients want
Clients want to speak to and deal with an experienced lawyer, not a junior or paralegal. Clients want lawyers' fees to be reasonable, predictable and, like almost any other purchase whether it be a television, a hotel room or a meal out, clients want value for money. Clients want their lawyers to be accessible and available. The vast majority of clients do not want to have to take time off work to visit their lawyer, or to travel great distances or into congested towns and cities. Clients want to see their lawyers at a time and place which is convenient to them, possibly at their home or their office. Clients today often prefer to use modern forms of communication and to interact with their lawyers remotely if possible. Clients wish to be regularly informed about developments and progress on their matters. It's not rocket science.
Understand what lawyers want
Lawyers spend many years in education as well as post-graduate and on the job training to do their job. They spend years acquiring the knowledge and experience to give their clients the best advice possible. There is no question therefore that Lawyers should be paid well for the work they do. Most lawyers do not need or want partner pressure, billing targets or office politics. Lawyers want to be able to spend time with their clients, they want to provide a first-class level of service, but at the end of the working day they want to go home, see their family and live a normal life. Work-life balance is important for everybody, including lawyers. Lawyers want the flexibility and freedom to take time off when they want or need to, to go to their childrens sports day or parents evening, to go to the doctors or dentists without feeling bad or unduly pressured about asking for the time off to do so. Again, it's not rocket science.
At Setfords Solicitors we understand what clients want. We understand what lawyers want. We operate our business in such a way that both our clients and lawyers get exactly what they want, it's that simple.
How do we do business?
Whilst the firm's administration is dealt with by our head office in Guildford, Surrey, most of our lawyers work from their own satellite offices or from our clients' premises around the country. By using the best technology available our lawyers are able to choose their own working environments anywhere in the world, whilst remaining seamlessly integrated into the Setfords' team and in constant communication with clients. In addition to the benefits of a flexible working environment, our lawyers are not given billing targets to meet, and, thanks to the support provided by our administration department, do not have many of the usual day to day administrative duties which plague modern lawyers.
Our consultant lawyers are paid significantly more for the work they do. In some cases they earn two or even three times as much as they would in a traditional employed role in another law firm. Meanwhile, due to well thought out and honed procedures and efficiencies, as well as the use of the best technology, the firms overheads are greatly reduced. This means our clients pay less and our lawyers earn more.
Our business structure means that our lawyers are able to spend more time helping, advising and communicating with their clients. Whilst we do support our lawyers and employ legal executives, paralegals, legal assistants and legal secretaries to do so, it is our lawyers who do the legal work, It is our lawyers who have the relationships with their clients and It is our lawyers who spend their time assisting and communicating with their clients with on a day to day basis.
Whether you become a Setfords client or a Setfords lawyer, you will have made the right choice.
Welcome to Setfords Solicitors
