Roland Taylor Solicitors

Welcome we are solicitors who pride ourselves in providing a professional and personal service to all our clients as our principal solicitor Roland Taylor has done for the past 30 years.

I am based in a small village approximately 5 miles from Braintree. You are welcome to visit our home office here or we can provide advice via the telephone, online Zoom meetings or home visits may be an option if travelling is difficult.

All first interviews are free with no commitment and from start to finish your matter will be dealt with by a solicitor of 30 years experience and in no circumstances will your work be delegated to a lesser qualified or non qualified fee earner.

You will have easy contact with this office whether it be by landline, telephone, mobile number, e-mail or fax.

With low overheads we are confident that we can provide a proficient personal service at competitive rates that will provide you with good value.

NOTICE OF RETIREMENT AND CLOSURE OF PRACTICE EFFECTIVE LAST DAY 31ST OCTOBER 2023

Please note that I will be retiring as a Solicitor as at 31st October 2023, albeit continuing to work as a Legal Advisor/Consultant, hopefully for most of you, beyond that date. 

Each of you, in due course, will receive individual letters/emails, but I thought it best to get this generic notice out to all of you to give you as much notice as possible. 

I had intended to extend my retirement date for another year, but there are various reasons why that has not been possible.  I am not at liberty to give a full explanation now, but I will be able to do so once I am free of the shackles of The Solicitors Regulation Authority who are hindering me from working effectively. 

For most of you I will be able to continue working with some adjustments post 31st October 2023.  I will still be free to deal with Will making, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Probate Applications and Administration save that the Probate Applications will be in the name of the individual Applicant rather than in my firm’s name. 

Likewise, with other types of work I will be able to continue as an individual advisor and consultant save that any Proceedings and Court papers would be filed in the individual’s name rather than under my name, but I would not be able to represent anyone at Court save with the dispensation of the Court, which would be more readily available for ongoing cases. 

The main impact will be upon conveyancing as I will not be allowed to hold clients money save for disbursements and for my costs, but even then I will be able to act as consultant to colleague firms of mine and effectively do the work in that firm’s name. 

With regards to any clients who have conveyance transactions in progress; they are all on target to be completed by 31st October 2023, and that is one reason while I will hence forth have difficulty accepting new instructions unless it was a straightforward cash transaction with no mortgages involved and no large chains.  A Leasehold transaction would be virtually impossible because of the time involved. 

There are very few of you in respect of whom I hold client money and any such monies will be accounted for by 31st October 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. 

There are some of you  who have ongoing Land Registry Applications and I am liaising with the Land Registry to try and expedite all those Applications prior to the 31st October 2023.   

Moving forward for those who are going to continue to be represented by me, but not officially as a solicitor post 31st October 2023 I will no longer have Professional Indemnity Insurance in place, but what I can tell you is that since 1999 when I first opened the practice I have not had one single claim registered against me, and so I would be confident that you would have nothing to fear in that respect, but of course, it is your individual choice. 

If you wish to change solicitor, then you are entitled to your files back although in most cases there would be limited paperwork as most correspondence and documents are computerized e.g. emails, and so the computer files can be sent onto you or any new representative.  I would hope that most of you would wish to stay with me to see matters to a conclusion, and that I will be able to do so unfettered by my change of status and without any prejudice to you. 

The only request I would make is that before collection or transfer of papers, unpaid costs are paid up, but this will be applicable in very few instances. 

Regarding closed files my intention would be to keep them in storage until 2030 when such files would be destroyed, but if you think I am holding closed files of your own and you wish to collect then please contact me direct and arrangements can be made. For most of you there will nothing of any great significance in the closed files as I never retain original documents such as Wills, Powers of Attorney or conveyancing documents. 

Between now and 31st October 2023 I will be continuing to work as normal and as you all know I am very easy to contact and will be readily available to discuss any concerns you may have.  It may well be that you call me at a time when I am otherwise engaged in which case we will simply arrange a fixed time and day to have any discussion that is needed, but as I say I am expecting that most of you will not be impacted upon in any significant way. 

The only days I am away between now and 31st October is a long weekend break from 13th to 17th October inclusive, but even then, I will be contactable by email. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any enquiries and I thank you all for the support and confidence you have shown in me over the years. 

Kindest regards 
Yours sincerely 

Roland Taylor 
Roland Taylor & Co Solicitors 

General and Civil Litigation

Over 30 years we have acquired considerable experience of dealing with high value, High Court litigation involving hundreds of thousands of pounds to much smaller disputes in the County Court.

Neighbour Disputes

Neighbour disputes can be stressful. We advise on matters such as boundary disputes, party walls, noise, damage and repiars and shared amenities.

Personal Injury Claims

We can advise you as to whether your injuries are likely to give rise to a claim and, if so, the merits and possible value of that claim.

Wills & Probate

We offer a very personal service for the making of Wills, these include home visits if required at a time suitable to you. We can guide you through the probate process as well as inheritance tax advice.

 

 

 

Powers of Attorney

We can assist and guide you in connection with the right powers to be delegated and completion of the correct form and assist you with Registration at The Office of the Public Guardian.

Employment Matters including Compromise and Settlement Agreements

We specialise in employment-related issues and can advise on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues, including those relating to all forms of employment related litigation and contract negotiations.

Residential and Commercial Conveyance

We can help to guide you through the sometimes confusing procedures involved if you are buying or selling a house or commercial property.

Family Matters

We offer services in divorce, civil partnerships, separation agreements and cohabitation agreements.