Referral Fees by Bruce Scobie

£20 pound notes

Referral fees are a hot topic amongst Property Lawyers. They are sums of money paid by  solicitors to an estate agents for the introduction of conveyancing work.   Chubb Bulleid never have and will never make such payments.  They are not illegal and carefully regulated.  Nevertheless we believe that if an estate agent or anybody else recommends a solicitor for a piece of work, that recommendation should be based on the skill and expertise of that solicitor, untainted by whether money passes hands.  Perhaps this is old fashioned, but it does result in firms like mine who do not pay referral fees are in a Darwinian fight for work.  We have to be faster, more thorough, more reactive and better than others to get it.  We cannot depend on handing over money to get clients.  I would guess that perhaps a half of the firms in mid-Somerset take referral fees.  We are proud not to and to remain stubbornly independent in representing our clients best interests and no one elses.

BRUCE SCOBIE
SOLICITOR DIRECTOR