Sarah Edmunds Legal

Sarah Edmunds on what sets her apart from other legal firms

Sussex Business Times grills Sarah on her career so far and what exactly makes the difference when it comes to legal practice in Sussex.

“I qualified as a solicitor in 2004 at the age of 26, after far too many years studying in London, and have specialised in property work since that time.” Having kicked off her career at a prestigious firm in Islington, London, Sarah’s training continued at a medium sized, predominantly private client practice in Brighton, from which she moved on to a larger, more commercial practice in Uckfield and was quickly promoted to head up the firm’s Residential Property Team across its three branches.

In 2008, this experience became the foundation on which Sarah Edmunds Legal was built, and Sarah quickly diversified to provide Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney as well as Property law.

Sarah and her team now operate out of beautiful and historic offices in the heart of Lewes, with a second branch in Uckfield.

 

“Along the way, I have developed a small but brilliant team, of all of whom I am very proud. They all hold similar values and work in a similar way to me and are completely committed to providing the highest quality legal services in the most effective fashion. Ultimately, we love what we do and this allows us to provide a service which is second to none.”

Sarah has a customer service-centred approach to business, which she believes is what sets her apart from other providers of legal services. “I have always believed that if you instruct someone professional, you expect them to have all appropriate qualifications and experience in that field. You expect us to know enough about the law to give you the correct advice,” she explains. “What you do NOT necessarily expect from a lawyer is excellent service. We spend much of our time improving our levels of service, whilst – of course – keeping our own legal knowledge and skills up-to-date by continuous training.

“When I was establishing my own business, I set out with the goals of providing the experience my clients wanted from their solicitors. Research has revealed that our clients would like a solicitor who is trustworthy, approachable and friendly; flexible, pro-active and efficient; easy to communicate with; affordable and clear on costs. You can quickly see how far these desires go beyond simply knowing the law.

“As my response to this, we have adopted a number of key service standards which have seen our client base grow exponentially in a short period of time. We now act for private clients and small businesses all over the world, who appreciate our slightly different way of working.

“We understand that our clients are busy working, running businesses, looking after children and spending time with family, so to help our clients, we are able to visit our clients at home or at their office free of charge. We are available to talk and meet with our clients outside of office hours, and we guarantee we’ll be easy to get in touch with, promising firmly to deal with all correspondence on the same day we receive it, and to return all missed calls within four working hours.

Sarah believes it is the small-business approach which makes her team so successful. “I have no desire to grow Sarah Edmunds Legal in to a large firm – I believe it is better to have a small, committed team with smaller overheads, keeping the cost of the services we provide as low as possible and, certainly, very competitive.

“It has always been important for us to add value to the service we provide so, in addition to the above, we also work with a network of trusted colleagues who are able to provide services such as mortgage brokers, surveyors, accountants, tax advisors and financial planners. We would never recommend someone we would not or have not used ourselves.”