• March 28, 2024
 Hear From The ‘National & Northern Solicitor Firm Of The Year’

Hear From The ‘National & Northern Solicitor Firm Of The Year’

Congratulations to Hugh Jones Solicitors who achieved double success after winning ‘Solicitor Firm of the Year’ in the national region category and ‘Solicitor Firm of the Year’ in the northern region at the second prestigious British Wills and Probate Awards on 17th October 2019 at the esteemed Belfry Resort and Hotel.

With the increased number of submissions in categories for the awards this year, the judging panel were spoilt for choice as they fervently went through the entries to find three outstanding finalists for the national category, namely Irwin Mitchell, Mackrell Turner Garrett and of course Hugh Jones Solicitors. Eventually, judge’s decision was final, and Hugh Jones Solicitors was crowned as cream of the crop in this category.

The judges commented on the winner saying, “A committed specialist. Great to see a smaller firm with such a focus on an important area, with the customer at its centre.”

For the north category, the judges decided on three worthy finalists, namely Touch Solicitors, BSG Solicitors and again, Hugh Jones Solicitors. Hugh Jones Solicitors shone out to the judging panel who decided to present them with ‘Solicitor Firm of the Year’ award for the north region.

The judges commented on the winner saying, “The ethos of this firm ensures that the client is at the heart of everything they do. They continually look to technological innovation to improve services and reduce costs.”

Congratulations on winning ‘Solicitor Firm of the Year’ in both the national and north categories, tell us about your wills and probate team and services you provide. 

Our Wills and probate services are handled by the firm’s 5-strong private client department. The team supports clients with Will writing and assistance with future planning, including advice on the use of trusts.

As a boutique firm specialising in mental capacity work – 95% of our work is for vulnerable clients and their families – our Wills and probate team provides particular support around protection of assets or wishes for individuals who may be disabled or unable to manage their own affairs.

We assist personal representatives and executors in the administration of estates and have built an impressive reputation for our sympathetic approach to clients in difficult circumstances. We work tirelessly to ensure that the administration process is as easy for clients as possible. The firm always demonstrates a strong commitment to public service and is willing to take on the most difficult cases that others have either abandoned or found impossible to handle, sometimes pro bono.

How has your team developed and progressed within the last 12 months? 

Over the last 12 months, we have grown to 50 members of staff and reached the milestone of 250 deputyship clients.

The last year has seen our work recognised nationally with the achievement of several high profile awards. Our fee income has increased as a result of much valued referrals and work levels have increased by 20%. It’s been a fantastic year and signals a very bright 2020!

What new systems and processes have you implemented which operates in the best interests of clients and the profession itself? 

We continue to act for clients who lack capacity who have run out of money and take on worthy cases entirely pro bono. This includes private client support for a family bereaved in the Manchester Arena bombing and fundraising. In another ongoing effort to support the lives of vulnerable members of society, several members of the firm have also supported numerous legal advice clinics for dementia law.

Hugh Jones Solicitors is the only Manchester city centre panel firm and we take every case that is referred to us by the Office for the Public Guardian or the court regardless of location or difficulty. The firm has bespoke Vulnerable Client and Safeguarding Policies on which staff are trained so that potential issues and safeguarding concerns can be spotted and reported to the appropriate authorities in the course of our work. In addition to this, all employees undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check as a condition of their employment by the firm because of the vulnerable nature of our clients, although this is not a requirement of any regulator.

A key development this year was appointing a compliance solicitor, who undertakes ongoing reviews of policies, internal audits, file reviews and ensures that the firm’s policies and procedures are kept up-to-date and delivers training to everyone in the firm.

As legal firms have become top targets for cyber criminals, what IT security and cyber crime prevention measures have you put in place? 

Hugh Jones Solicitors invests time and resources into ensuring that all data held is secured and protected. The first line of defence (our staff) are adept at recognising threats from phishing emails to social engineering and alerting the relevant people when they believe there is a credible threat, as a result of regularly reinforced training and awareness sessions.

We use industry leading anti-virus and firewall technologies and implement strict policies such as password complexity, restrictions on the use of external media and devices, encrypted and tracked portable devices. The synergy of education and technology helps to keep the firm protected.

The firm is compliant with the Cyber Essentials protocol and the data security and cybercrime prevention policies in Lexcel. Everyone in the firm also receives regular training in-house including updates on GDPR, data security and cybercrime prevention.

Furthermore, we have drafted a suite of bespoke GDPR data privacy policies and Privacy Notices for all support workers employed to look after our Court of Protection clients at their home; including undertaking a review of data security of support worker personal data held at the home of vulnerable clients, putting data processing agreements in place with families, case managers and other third parties if necessary.

Why is the British Wills and Probate Awards event, which recognises excellence and highlights achievement in the sector, so important to the industry? 

Wills and probate experts support individuals during what tend to be some of the most emotionally taxing and stressful times of their lives. Firms provide an essential service and the British Wills and Probate Awards bring together the country’s very best. It’s wonderful to celebrate achievements among peers.

Join The British Wills and Probate Awards mailing list if you are interested in either entering or sponsoring the awards in 2020.

Toni Ryder-McMullin

Toni is the Media Officer for Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Wills & Probate and Today's Family Lawyer. I worked for a law firm for 16 years, during my time at the firm I worked as a company commercial legal secretary for 7 years but changed careers and moved into marketing for the remaining 9 years – where I covered all aspects of marketing. While in the marketing role, I achieved a CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing and CAM Diploma in Digital Marketing.