Harper James Reviews 

Very professional and fast service, helped us finalised a settlement quickly. Special thanks to Tiffany

From beginning to end handling my matter, I found the firm responsive, helpful, and communicative. The value for cost is exceptional.

I worked with Harper James during a sensitive exit process and found them to be professional, clear and commercially pragmatic throughout.

Samantha Wragg handled my matter and was excellent - measured, strategic and calm under pressure. She struck the right balance between being firm where necessary and keeping discussions constructive. I always felt she was focused not just on the legal position, but on achieving a practical outcome.

Helen was also extremely helpful from an expert employment perspective.

What stood out most was their ability to combine technical legal expertise with commercial judgement. They didn’t escalate unnecessarily, and they were clear about risk, options and likely outcomes at each stage.

I would not hesitate to recommend Harper James to founders or senior executives needing steady, experienced support during complex situations.

We worked with Harper James Solicitors during the sale of our business and the associated due diligence process, and the service was excellent throughout.

Claire and Jenni were professional, responsive, and pragmatic, providing clear advice and a flexible, solutions focused approach in what was a fast moving and complex transaction. Their support made a real difference, and we would happily recommend Harper James to other business owners.

AVOID!!! Absolutely disgraceful solicitors… I enquired at this company regarding an issue I had regarding a pension/shares issue that I had that has been going on for over 8 years.
When I first enquired, I spoke with a business development executive & he mentioned to me that it was time barred, but I would have to onboard for a solicitor to review it. This cost me £1072 & still not sure why I should have paid to onboard if my case was clearly time barred.
I first spoke with a solicitor , after sending him my paperwork which clearly showed dates of 2016/2017. He never mentioned anything about it being time barred & as this wasn’t anything he could deal with I was passed over to another solicitor .
I was charged for a handover call between the 2 solicitors & when I questioned this, I was given a free call with to discuss my potential case.
He was happy to take my case on, even though he advised me it was time barred on numerous occasions & not once did he decline to take it on or cease acting for me at any point to date. He even sent letters of claim stating that I, as his client had the right to start legal proceedings. This was on an already time barred case!!!
This went on for 6 months, until he finally sent me an email saying it was fruitless. It was obviously fruitless from the start, as had it have gone to court it would have been thrown out straightaway.
I sent a complaint in & of course it was rejected, as it seemed clear by the response from the Quality and Compliance Director & Commercial Partner that all they were really worried about was getting their payments.
I even asked her separately after receiving the outcome, if she could confirm what area of law my solicitor took my case down. She repeated numerous time “Limitation act 1980” & when I asked what section she replied
“HE confirms my statement yesterday that the relevant limitation periods are set out in the Limitation Act 1980, which is what HE would have considered when providing his advice. He tells me that the case was not taken on, nor a letter sent under, a particular section of law (and HE didn’t specifically refer to any such section as he tends to avoid ‘technical legal jargon’ where possible).

As is normal practice, he provided general advice regarding his view and knowledge of limitation.”

Technical legal jargon… As a legal professional, why would you not use technical legal jargon? Is that not what he was being paid for??

So, along with many others that I have seen in the reviews, I have now reported this to the legal ombudsman & SRA, as I have cited many different breaches by this solicitor/company.

It’s been a complete waste of time & money. You’re better off going somewhere else!!!

Great support from Emilia!

Harper James were excellent throughout our recent commercial lease negotiation. Abdi was clear, responsive and really on top of the detail, which made the whole process feel straightforward and well managed. We felt well represented at every stage and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.

We have been a client of Harper James for several years now and have always been very satisfied with the service we receive. Their varied skill sets have meant we only need to retain one legal firm, they have always been able to handle our issues whether they be related to employment, dispute, property or financial matters. Samantha Paxton, Howard Cornes and Sally Gwilliam are all experts in their fields and a pleasure to work with.

We have been using Harper James' services for two years.

We highly recommend Harper James. From the outset, their professionalism and efficiency are outstanding. Whenever we use the service, the team keep us informed at every stage, and the communication is always crystal clear.

The team’s knowledge and sharp attention to detail give us complete confidence throughout the process.

A special mention to Ms Emilia Smith (Commercial Solicitor), whose advice was precise and delivered with impressive clarity. Her input helped us build a solid, transparent working relationship with an international business partner. Ms Smith made a complex situation feel manageable; her advice and guidance also helped us to enter a new market with ease.

Lastly, the retainer fees offered by Harper James are excellent value for money, with no hidden surprises. It is rare to find such a high-calibre professional service at such a reasonable cost. Thank you to the whole team for a job exceptionally well done.

We have been working with HJ in particular Samantha Paxton, for over 4 years now, and Sam has been amazing. All questions answered, a quick response time, great follow up, always keeping us in the loop. Sometimes, things can get stressful and busy, but we have always been confident to let Sam and her team do her thing, and guide us through.

James and Samantha at Harper James helped us with some problems we were facing with our commercial tenant who was refusing to engage with us. They were very tenancious and on-the-ball resulting in a resolution of our problem and a reimbursement of most of our costs. I would highly recommend this commercial law firm.

A genuinely excellent experience with Harper James. I have worked closely with Samantha & Adeena, Their depth of experience really showed, and their calm, confident approach gave me complete reassurance at what could have been a challenging time. Clear advice, practical guidance, and a real sense that you’re in safe hands.

Sam Paxton provided excellent legal advice, patient with ever changing instructions.

Samantha dealt with our commercial lease assignments. Throughout the process, which involved several parties, her legal advise was thorough and accessible. She was always available, approachable and professional. We would not hesitate to recommend her services.

We recently worked with Julia on drafting the Terms and Conditions for our business, and the experience was exceptional. Julia has a keen eye for detail and took the time to truly understand our specific operational needs rather than providing a generic template. She made complex legal jargon easy to understand and ensured we were fully protected. Professional, responsive, and highly knowledgeable—I would highly recommend Julia to any business looking for top-tier legal support.

Thanks to Samantha,adeena and Simon for dealing with the lease renewal in a professional,efficient and helpful manner - it certainly wasn’t the simplest transaction to deal with,so hats off for getting it over the line in the way you did.
Will use again and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend…

thank you for your services everything was fine

I agree with all the 1 star reviews. This is the worst solicotors firm. They breeched the SRA code of conduct
FAILURE TO ACT IN THE CLIENT’S BEST INTERESTS
and
SRA Principle 72. and FAILURE TO PROVIDE A PROPER STANDARD OF SERVICEFAILURE TO KEEP YOU INFORMED ABOUT COSTS

Please avoid unless you have money to throw away. Look at all the terrible google reviews! I have reported them to the SRA and the legal ombudsman they are the worst firm I have ever encountered. Chat gbt gives you better advice! Totally disagree with your reply you need to read your 1 star reviews and there are a lot on google . Don't worry they have all been sent to the SRA and the ombudsman.

No complaints from me. A professional firm with good communication and accurate timelines. My solicitor was very clear on what the realistic expectations are regarding my case.

Jenni Ferguson (Partner, Corporate) was brilliant. Very clear and extremely knowledgeable guidance through what to us was a relatively complex process, with a compact schedule and some important decisions to be made along the way. Jenni was super-efficient, responsive, and her expertise and patience made the necessary back and forth interaction very straightforward.
Jenni's CV was impressive, and she clearly had excellent experience dealing with our work, which included subdivision and redesignation of existing shares and the allotment of the B Shares in our family-run investment company. New documents to be structured, prepared and filed with CH included inter alia all-new Articles of Association and Shareholder Agreement, together with managing all the necessary subscriptions and approvals.
Our two Directors worked with Jenni Ferguson (HJ, Partner, Corporate) over the course of 3 weeks (after having been quoted, onboarded and introduced to Jenni by HJ Business Dev. Exec. Ollie Rennie, who was knowledgeable, responsive, helpful and efficient).