Karis Jones, Assistant Solicitor in the Family Law department of our Cardiff office went back to school to talk to year 11 students studying the BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Law and Legal Work in the city’s Willows High School.

The presentation focused on Parental Responsibility and Public Law Children Matters. During the session Karis helped the students understand the legal definitions and implications regarding these areas of law and provided examples of cases she has worked on. More...

We are pleased to announce that we have strengthened the teams in our Newport and Cardiff offices. 

Karis Jones, an Assistant Solicitor specialising in private and public law children matters has joined the Matrimonial and Family department in the Howells Solicitors Cardiff office.

Joanna Ingles has returned to the practice as a Licensed Conveyancer in our expanding conveyancing team in the Newport office, and Catherine Jones a Legal Assistant again in the Newport office.

Originally from Monmouth, Swansea University graduate Karis Jones gained a distinction for her LPC and completed her training at Graham Evans & Partners in Swansea. Karis will be joining the Family Law and Matrimonial Team providing her expertise for legal matters concerning children for both private and public law cases.

Licensed Conveyancer Joanna Ingles has returned to Howells Solicitors to strengthen the expanding residential conveyancing team in the Newport office. Having previously worked for Howells for seven years before moving to a competitor, the Newport born, Swansea University graduate kept in touch with the Howells team.

Joanna explained, “I enjoyed seven years with Howells earlier in my career and but felt I needed a change, I enjoyed and benefitted from my time working at another practice, but when Howells got in touch to invite me back, I was keen to accept their offer.”

Catherine Jones has been appointed as a Legal Assistant to provide administrative support in the Newport office.

Mark Hobbs, Managing Partner of Howells Solicitors is pleased to welcome the new appointments. He said, “The practice is continuing to grow and we need to make sure that we are able to maintain our high standards by recruiting the right calibre of candidate. Karis, Joanna and Catherine all have the expertise and experience  to enable us to continue to deliver these.”

by Tristan Lewis

You may be aware that since April 1st 2013, the Law surrounding Personal Injury has changed. Not only has it changed the way that firms can get clients, it also has implications for you as the client.

The Jackson Reforms mean firms can no longer pay referral fees for client details and so the way clients come to the firm has changed. Thankfully, we at Howells have never heavily relied on referral fees or claims management companies to get clients through the door. We pride ourselves on being a friendly, efficient firm and find that clients choose Howells following recommendations from previous clients as well as word of mouth. Clients also benefit from us being a local practise and the knowledge that we are always available to help at any stage during the case. In order to help clients through what can be a difficult time financially, we are offering a £500.00 advance on your damages once liability has been admitted. This means that when liability has been admitted by the other side, we will send you a cheque for £500.00 which will then be deducted from your final settlement figure on conclusion of your claim. More...

We have launched three online divorce packages to provide alternative, affordable legal solutions. 

The online packages are thought to be a first of their kind to be developed and introduced by a Welsh law firm. Drafted and prepared by Hannah Magee, an associate solicitor specialising in Family Law and using bespoke software, the new services will enable cases to be processed quickly, efficiently and most importantly without compromising the quality of work.

The entry level package costs just £35 + VAT and is applicable for uncontested, simple divorces where both parties agree to the divorce and there are no children or financial issues. The second package also includes the drafting of a divorce petition by Howells Solicitors and can include a Statement of Arrangements for children. Finally the third package, ‘Managed Divorce’ provides the client with a fixed fee fully managed divorce including representation from Howells Solicitors throughout the divorce process.

The family law market that is set to change quite dramatically this year. At the beginning of April, legal aid will no longer be available for most divorce, financial and private law cases. Unless individuals can afford to pay privately they may have to represent themselves in person before the family law court. 

Approximately 250,000 people a year in Wales and England receive family advice and representation using Legal Aid. Some sources predict that this will drop to as few as 40,000 after the cuts to this funding in April.

Richard Scott, partner and senior solicitor in our Family Law team said, “It is a well known fact that more and more people are using online resources to source professional services that used to be only available on the ‘high street’. In the legal industry, 2012 saw the arrival of Alternative Business Structure (ABS) and more white label legal services being offered by large organisations and of course more online providers. Traditional legal practices need to modernise and adapt their services to compete.”

He continued, “We recognised the opportunity to couple the skills and experience of our large matrimonial team with the software we have developed to provide an online service that will be delivered by qualified solicitors. This will differentiate us from the majority of our competitors in the online market and also enable us to provide cost effective divorce services for those that might previously have relied on Legal Aid.” 

The online packages are already available via our website here.

by Hannah Magee

Here at Howells Solicitors, we are delighted to report that our conveyancing department has experienced a 47% rise in the number of inquiries and completed transactions when compared to the same period last year.

The figures for the transactions completed and inquiries received by our conveyancing offices during November to December 2012 show an unexpected surge given the precarious state of the economy.

The growth experienced by our five offices across South Wales correlates with national figures released in December by the Financial Services Authority and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which indicates that banks and building societies are becoming more willing to lend to prospective homebuyers.

Mark Hobbs, managing partner, was quoted in the Western Mail, saying: “There is a plethora of different opinions regarding the current state of the housing market and what might happen in 2013. The Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme is starting to have a positive impact on the housing sector in Wales. 

“Using our own data we have noticed that the number of first-time buyers entering the market is up on the same period last year. We have also seen a significant rise in the number of clients purchasing new builds.”

Over the past couple of weeks, both the Monmouthshire Building Society and the Principality Building Society have launched the lowest rate mortgage deals in the UK for first-time buyers. We believe this will further strengthen the recovery and encourage buyers in South Wales to start shopping around for properties. 

It is particularly encouraging to see the growth we have experienced replicated across the country and throughout the UK. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for 2013.