Harper James Reviews 198

Great lawfirm, fantastic for us as an SME. We've been blessed to have found Harper James and are a happy client for over 5 years now and counting.

We've used their legal services in relation to company law, regulatory law, HR.

Extensive service, experienced staff with an affordable business model for start-ups and SMEs. Harper James take a Business Partnership approach to supporting young businesses to grow. They have been our legal team for nearly 10 years.

As a business we have used Harper James since we started in 2019. From incorporation and business setup support through to utilising their HR, commercial and dispute teams as we have grown. Their support as our business has scaled has been second to none and regularly recommend to other business owners looking for a dynamic and service led law firm.

Harper James have advised us on a number of issues and have always given top class advice at a reasonable cost

Harper James are always a pleasure to do business with. John is one of our key contacts and we use him extensively for all matters from contracts to commercial legal questions. He has a fantastic no nonsense approach and is always very refreshing with thinking through the problems in a commercial way that works both for our customers and us as a business. He's excellent at helping our team with no internal legal counsel navigate the areas to concentrate on versus areas that just need to be done!

We've used Harper James for a number of different legal issues and needs in the past 3 years. Everything from completely rewriting our Terms and Conditions, to reviewing commercial terms on supplier contracts and even bespoke pricing addendums to complex enterprise sales.

We have retained the services of Harper James for the past few years, and the service has been nothing short of fantastic. More often than not, we deal with John Pauley and his approachable and professional style is refreshing and gives you confidence that you are dealing with the right person. John is very knowledgeable and very thorough and an excellent communicator. In addition to this, he is a very likable person!! I would definitely have no hesitation in highly recommending both John Pauley and Harper James!!!

I’ve been using Harper James for many years across multiple businesses and couldn’t speak highly enough of Toby and the rest of the HJ team. They cover a range of specialities, allowing me to access specific talent depending on our business needs at any point in time. They have been with us at business launches, dealing with operational elements and also as part of business sales processes. They really do cover the whole spectrum, while keeping the fees reasonable and affordable.

HarperJames has acted for many of our portfolio companies, providing them with excellent legal advice and services. All the practitioners have a wealth of knowledge and real world legal and commercial experience, between them they can offer the right advice at affordable prices.

I have used Harper James for about 10 years now and have always received good quality, no nonsense advice from them. Their model enables you to get top quality advice, but not at sky high prices.

I've relied on Harper James with multiple businesses for over 10 years. They are are excellent. Fast, know their stuff and are much lower cost than other law firms I've used.

I apparently have a letter from this firm sent to me in the most unprofessional way possible. I have contacted them multiple times by email and left three voice messages for someone in charge to call me in regards to this letter. The letter is in that much of a shambles that I’m actually uncertain if it’s genuine or if someone is trying to impersonate a solicitor but for some reason they can’t discuss this with me because I’m not a client. What?! I don’t understand why I can’t be told if a letter is genuine or not, especially a letter about me and has a lot of personal information on it. Then again they would also need to explain why they are sending such information of mine to just anyone not knowing if it’s me who is receiving it. They actually sent this letter to an old email of mine which I was in the middle of closing down but they also said it was recorded delivery to somewhere else but I’m guessing no address of mine. They told me to contact legal ombudsman or go to my own solicitor. Really?! Why such a lengthy process for this?! Is it top secret if this letter is a genuine letter or not?! Have had to report this company to the legal ombudsman and the solicitors regulation authority. UPDATE finally someone from this company answered the question I asked. Still told me to complain to an ombudsman though about anything else.

On 13 JAN 2022, I approached Harper James (hereafter, “HJ”) for an evaluation of a UK contract dispute and to understand my rights under UK law. The following day, someone named Evan Tilley contacted me on behalf of HJ, but never identified himself as not a solicitor or ever explained what his exact role was within HJ. After going back and forth for a few days, we eventually spoke on 19 JAN, in which I outlined the details of my dispute. Once again, Tilley never identified his role as a non-lawyer within HJ or offered any opinion on the merits of my case—only telling me to submit my dispute documentation and that I would be charged upfront at the rate of 1250 GBP for 5 hours of unspecified review, with no explanation for how fees were arrived at (and in contradiction to its website, which offers services at !25 GBP per hour and not the 250 GBP pushed here). At the conclusion of the call, I fully expected additional documentation would be sent that would explain in detail the services offered (SRA 8.6), the basis of the fees charged (SRA 8.7), my rights in the event of a dispute (SRA 8.3 and 8.11), or what personal information would be required for identification (SRA 8.1) as well as how it would be protected. None of that happened.
On 26 JAN, I reminded Tilley that I never received the documentation expected. Instead of sending materials that would provide the informed consent required (SRA 6.4, 8.3, 8.6 et al), Tilley merely sent me a vague email the following day that the HJ "approach" was to demand “5 hours on account” at a rate of 250 GBP per hour upfront plus VAT, and then I would have to wait for an accounting of my funds only “on completion.” This email was inadequate under SRA guidelines to provide the information required for consent as to services offered, the basis of the fee expected upfront, the dispute resolution process, or what personal information would be requested, as well as how that information would be protected under UK GDPR.
On 03 February, I learned on my own that Tilley was not a professional solicitor, but only a business manager hired by HJ to solicit business. When this was pointed out to Tilley, it was not until 07 FEB that he began signing his emails with the title of “Business Development Executive” and thus someone not qualified to evaluate my case, or competent to perform any review other than to demand money upfront before any services were performed (SRA 3.2).
On 09 JUN, I not only sent Tilley 91 pages of the dispute documentation (asked for by him as early as 27 JAN), but also an outline of the legal issues in dispute. At that time, I specifically asked “how long it will take for these docs to be reviewed for a cause of action”? Five days elapsed before I received any response at all, but when I did it was the same cut-and-paste vague nonsense about upfront fees from 27 JAN, sent in two (2) separate emails 9 minutes apart. In neither email did Tilley remember I was not subject to VAT, which I reminded him about again on 14 JUN before asking “when will I receive an invoice for payment along with a timeframe to review”?
Instead of responding in any meaningful way, Tilley then advised me for the very first time that HJ had some vague “onboarding procedure” that I was never informed about in advance. HJ adopted a truculent “our way or the highway” attitude, replying only on 21 JUN that “We run KYC/AML checks on all new clients, regardless of the instruction,” and without explaining the lawful reason behind those universal checks. In return, I insisted on the same right to run checks on the lawyer who would be handling my case, proof that the request fell under AML regulations, and information how my confidential data would be safeguarded under GDPR. When no informative response was forthcoming from Tilley, I asked on 22 JUN for the head of HJ so that my concerns could be escalated.
On 23 JUN, the alleged head of HJ (Toby Harper) sent me two (2) identical vague emails some 15 minutes apart claiming that HJ was “required by law to collect your I.D”. At no time was the specific law in question identified, but that I should somehow “rest assured” that such a law existed. Rather than providing sufficient information necessary to obtain informed consent, Harper just brushed my concerns off and wished me well, which was unsatisfactory.
On 01 JUL, I contacted HJ one last time, requesting information per SRA 8.2-8.5 “regarding your firm's official complaint procedure and my right to escalate my concerns to the Legal Ombudsman.” HJ refused to reply or provide such information and I never heard from them again. There are better law firms out there, so I advise all to avoid this one entirely.

The reply from Toby is gibberish and should be ignored as he does not address anything. One-star law firm run by one-star hacks.