In late 2012 Norton Peskett Solicitors took on a new look and feel.
Their business has been re‑branded Quality Solicitors Norton Peskett.
Their website has taken on a new look, colour scheme, fonts, and logo.
So what's with this? Is this a new Norton Peskett? Well, no, not at all.
Just the same old law firm dressed up in new clothes.
What is Quality Solicitors?
Quality Solicitors is not a law firm! Quality Solicitors is a marketing
firm. They provide a uniform marketing strategy and trademark for a
large number of much smaller local law firms. They project the image of
being a very large law firm with a national presence. But in reality
there is no pooling of resources or expertise between the individual
firms that trade under the Quality Solicitors label. Any law firm
trading as Quality Solicitors has only the same resources, personnel,
and expertise as it did prior to joining the franchise. No law firm has
ever gotten more effective or more capable at solving your legal
problems by joining Quality Solicitors. What they do gain when they join
Quality Solicitors is a much stronger marketing presence, which
translates into more business for them, boosting their profits.
Are Quality Solicitors bad for the customer?
Since Quality Solicitors is merely a marketing alliance of many law
firms, the degree of competence and customer care that you can expect
is likely to be identical to that provided by the constituent law
firm immediately before it joined Quality Solicitors. The only common
attribute that these firms share is their desire to grow their firm
quickly. In the case of Norton Peskett the firm has an established track
record of taking on way more customers than they are able to serve,
sacrificing quality for revenue growth. I have no data as yet as to
whether other firms that join Quality Solicitors share this behavioural
patten.
What is a solicitor?
Many clients have a distorted view of what a firm of solicitors really
is: It is first and foremost a business whose goal is to make money. It
is a paid service provider whose business model is no different from
that of the plumber that you call to unblock your toilet. These people
are in no way elite members of society, they are merchants like any
other high street merchant. If your image of solicitors is of officers
of the court, honest and reliable, highly educated and intelligent,
above crass materialistic profit motives, then you will surely be in for
a very unpleasant education when you have the misfortune to use their
services. There is nothing clever about the job a solicitor does; for
the most part it is only about knowing which form to fill in, or which
law is relevant. They know the procedures and you don't. So it will cost
you an exorbitant amount of money for them to do quite mundane work for
you. Are there any good solicitors out there? Yes there are, but sadly
they are very much in the minority. If you find one, hang onto them,
they are a very scarce resource. Above all, bigger is not best.