Talbots Law

Talbots Law, an independent employee-owned law firm in the Midlands

Talbots Law is a full-service law firm operating as an employee-owned trust. The firm presents itself as the largest employee-owned law firm in the UK and serves individuals, families and businesses across Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and the West Midlands. Its activity dates back to 1828, the year from which a Talbots office has existed in Kidderminster; the firm in its current form opened in 1991 focused exclusively on conveyancing and has since expanded its range of services. It has more than 600 personal and commercial legal specialists and states that it has been recognised by Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.

Services for businesses

The firm advises business clients on company and commercial law, employment, debt recovery, insolvency, litigation, commercial property, franchise law, real estate development and succession planning. The detail of its offering for businesses includes:

• Business sales and purchases, contracts and agreements, joint ventures and partnership agreements.
• Company formation, shareholders' agreements and shareholder disputes.
• Restructuring, insolvency, finance and management buy-outs.
• Debt recovery, mediation and resolution of contractual, real estate and lease disputes.
• Employment law: dismissals, employment tribunals, human resources, restructuring and redundancy, settlement agreements and business transfers.
• Immigration, commercial property, commercial lease extensions, real estate litigation and block management.
• Franchise services, with a dedicated case study on Doug Wright MBE.
• Tax and trusts planning, business succession and legal health check.

Services for individuals and families

For individual clients, the firm covers family law, wills and probate, contentious probate, residential conveyancing, new-build and shared ownership conveyancing, personal dispute resolution, personal injury and medical negligence. The website details, among others, the following areas:

• Family: divorce, arrangements for children, cohabiting couples, prenuptial agreements and 'Family First'.
• Property: buying at auction, buying a brand new home, buying to let, remortgaging, selling a property and transfer of title.
• Future planning: wills, powers of attorney, probate and estate administration, Court of Protection and inheritance and tax planning.
• Disputes: boundary disputes, contract disputes, property disputes, tenant disputes and will disputes, as well as subsidence issues.
• Criminal defence: arrests and prosecutions, motoring offences.
• Medical negligence: delayed diagnosis and dental negligence.
• Personal injury: accidents at work, dog attacks, emergency vehicle accidents, historical sexual abuse, public accidents and road traffic accidents.
• Personal insolvency and real estate litigation.

Agricultural and rural law

The firm has a specific line, Talbots Rural, aimed at the agricultural and rural sector. It includes buying and selling land, farmland, diversification, succession planning, dispute resolution, employment, immigration, personal injury and future planning.

Structure and ownership model

Talbots Law describes itself as an independent full-service law firm organised as an employee-owned trust. According to its presentation, this model means that teams work together to put clients' interests first. The firm states that 94% of its clients recommend its services to family and friends and that it ranks among the leading firms in the West Midlands on ReviewSolicitors. Its internal motto, 'For Law For Life', is presented as an expression of its commitment to supporting clients in the long term regardless of the legal service they need.

Geographic presence

The firm has offices in Cheshire (Sandbach), Shropshire (Market Drayton, Shrewsbury and Telford), Staffordshire (Cannock, Codsall, Hanley and Leek), the West Midlands (Birmingham, Brierley Hill, Coventry, Dudley, Halesowen, Stourbridge and Wolverhampton) and Worcestershire (Bewdley, Kidderminster and Worcester). The Stourbridge office is open from 9:00 to 14:00 for appointments, enquiries and client documentation, according to the notice published on the website, which refers to the Waterfront Business Park office in Brierley Hill as the nearest alternative.

Publications and outreach activity

The website maintains a news and legal analysis section with entries written by its lawyers. Topics covered include the meaning of 'good faith' in commercial contracts, sepsis and its relationship with medical negligence, and the consequences of dying without a will.