Dutton Gregory LLP

“We had a really positive experience with Dutton Gregory during the sale of our flat and purchase of our new home.

A special thank you to Kirsty Peto, who worked so hard throughout and always kept us updated. She was a real breath of fresh air and such a pleasure to deal with. We’re so grateful for everything she did to help get us over the finish line. Thank you Kirsty!

• Communication

“I instructed Dutton Gregory on my first commercial property purchase.

Whilst the transaction itself completed successfully, I was disappointed with the level of service and advice I received. During my own review of the completion statement, I identified several significant errors, including the omission of rent deposits for two commercial units, rent paid in advance not being accounted for, and an incorrect Stamp Duty Land Tax calculation. Had I not queried these figures myself, I would have overpaid by over £13,000. Whilst mistakes can happen, I would not have expected errors of this nature or magnitude on a completion statement prepared by a solicitor. I was also concerned that a charge document submitted to Companies House contained my signature and my witness's residential address, which became publicly available. I later discovered that this information could have been redacted before submission. My previous experience with a similar Companies House filing was that such information had been redacted as a matter of course, so I had no reason to believe this document would be treated differently. My concern is not that they failed to follow an instruction—I wasn't aware there was a decision to make. Rather, I would have expected a solicitor, particularly knowing this was my first commercial property transaction, to advise me that the document would be published in full and that redaction was an available option. Following a complaint, the firm maintained that advising on redaction was not part of its standard process unless specifically requested. Whilst I respect that this is their position, I remain disappointed by the outcome and feel that a little more proactive guidance, together with greater attention to detail throughout the transaction, would have avoided these issues entirely. For those reasons, I would be hesitant to use the firm again.

“Where to begin?

I think disastrous and expensive would be a good start, quickly followed by one of the worst legal experiences to date. Got "allocated" this outfit some time ago as the litigator for a lease extension. Began reasonably well in the hands of a Dispute Resolution Executive who subsequently disappeared into the vapour on maternity leave but without the courtesy of telling me. Impending absence only discovered from tiny type in the email signature strip. How very professional. To be replaced by a full-blown Senior Associate Solicitor at a much, much higher hourly rate. Her profile described her as a "Property Specialist" but clearly not specialist enough to be able to explain anything coherently, not to change her mind at the 11th hour and not to have any idea of where things were at any given time. From my particular experience I'd say her "specialities" were more an inability to communicate clearly and concisely - including that old chestnut answering a direct question - long, rambling contradictory emails with just a dash of inaccurate cut and paste thrown in to spice things up, racking up her very substantial fees with her indecision and stretching the matter out interminably due to an overarching terror of "the litigation risk". Discussion at later date with a different legal firm told me that whereas a litigation risk does exist in every case, all the adjournments were unnecessary in such a simple matter and, very unsurprisingly, even the Courts got sick of it all and threatened to dismiss. A request to speak to someone who could explain better was met with a wall of silence and repeated requests to keep costs down by handing the matter to another Legal Executive or junior got the same shocking inaction. The little in her favour was that - after a number of challenges - she made a few meagre attempts to reduce costs and shaved a bit off her bills. Her final shining triumph was, however, to tell me I must pay the other side's costs when she had negotiated to the contrary. So, definitely no recommendation for this lot, and especially not her. Just another long, rotten and ridiculously expensive drag. And before this firm rushes to tell me that it was all the fault of the non-cooperative Freeholder, it's true that he dragged his heels but that does not in anyway impact my view of the poor service dispensed by the so-called "specialist".

• Professionalism