Rayden Solicitors Avis 

I wish I had read these terrible reviews before contacting this company. My solicitor was David Lister, who over the phone sounded very knowledgeable, making me feel like I was in capable hands. Sadly, in an initial meeting to follow, he charged me for his time, and then proceeded to give me the wrong advice (I found this out after our meeting), and subsequently found a much better solicitor elsewhere. In our face-to-face meeting, I found David quite condescending, that he was not at all interested in me as a person, and I found him to be quite machismo. I felt sorry for the young female solicitor (in training) who was sitting in on our meeting, as she was obviously wanting to help, but was powerless to do so. David kept talking over her, rudely interrupting her and I had a feeling from our meeting he was not the solicitor I needed. At a time when I was feeling quite vulnerable, the last thing I needed, was to be shafted by this firm. I have read Rayden's replies to these reviews in an attempt to vilify themselves. I'm sorry, however you try and excuse your solicitor's behaviour, you cannot vilify for my opinion on this.

I really cannot recommend this firm. I dealt with one of their people (Partner and Financial Arbitrator) on a family law case. From mid-April to July 2022, they charged me over £31,500. Not a high value case and no court appearances, though there was a read in fee (increased after leaving their offices) and arbitration directions hearing of a few hours. Every month, the invoice was way over what they had estimated (2-3 times higher). I instructed them to submit an offer to try and resolve things and the partner got so many details wrong in the draft letter (ownership of assets, our ages, my proposed distribution of assets etc.) I was left wondering if it was him who actually drafted it, even though I was clearly paying his rates. After the directions hearing I had to question him on his advice because he still had key dates wrong. His explanation was that he was dictating it without the necessary paperwork in front of him. So I have to pay +£300 an hour for a guy who gets this much wrong?! They wanted to spend a week working on the s25 statements, which I knew would be another £18,000+ before even getting to arbitration. I had to tell them to stop EVERYTHING just to get a hold on the charges and they still continued to try and do stuff and charge me for it. When I dismissed them in September 2022, a full lever arch file full of papers (correspondence etc.) which I brought with me at the time of instruction, had been disposed of without my consent. Complaint copied to the senior partner who carries the name of the company - no response. My honest advice would be don’t go there and if you are there and scratching your head about the rates, leave straight away. I am wondering if there are ex employees of this company who would have a few things to say. Update after posting: The response form Raydens is definitely telling….there is no doubt I complained very loudly about the charges, the mistakes and disposing of my physical file, with the most senior partner in copy. I am not sure if they only regard it as a complaint if the ombudsman gets involved.

I went to these solicitors to help with my upcoming divorce. They emailed a complete stranger all my personal details and my (ex)husbands details. Initially they tried to lightly dismiss the issue, but then the reality sunk in of this data breach. In a nutshell, these solicitors are exceptionally unprofessional. They are cheaper than other companies, however, you will pay for their stupidity in the long run. Don't do it!

All firms have good and bad. My experience was with the Hampstead branch and it was bad...very bad. Overcharged massively (ongoing dispute) , really poor advice that cost me dearly and a very arrogant approach taken when I complained. In the middle of a divorce the last thing I needed was an incompetent, untrustworthy solicitor. I believe some of the staff are of a good quality but my experience was simply awful. I have since found a much more effective expert solicitor...and she's significantly cheaper!