Do solicitors offer free 30 minute consultations?

[Crunchymum]

I still see it bandied about here.

I know there is an element of truth in it - my barrister friend had to do a certain amount of pro bono work when she was a pupil, but people bono is for people on a low income. The average MN'er couldn't have benefited front this?

So is it a bit of a misguided myth or complete bullshit?

People bono = pro bono

Bullshit - your average high street solicitor will nod, listen to your problem, tell you the terms and conditions - they certainly don't give you free advice in that half hour or do any actual work. No such thing as a free lunch.

Some do, as a sort of loss- leader. It's not compulsory.
Pro bono work is often for a high profile or interesting/ significant case or client. I can't imagine that many smaller firms would be able to afford to do free work - profit margins are quite tight. And larger firms would have expertise in more commercial matters, rather than the sort of problem that used to get covered by Legal Aid/Green form.
You might find a legal advice centre to help, but there's fewer of those than there used to be, funding has been cut so much.

I've seen 3 solicitors who have given me a free 30 mins: each has given me good advice. Just make sure you are prepared with questions and info.

I am a solicitor: I will normally have a free initial call with the client to get some more info on their issue which helps me prepare a fee quote. But there is certainly no requirement to do so and it will depend on the individual solicitor. It’s not really appropriate to offer advice that can be relied upon by a client without having a proper engagement in place.

@Simonfromharlow

Blimey, you must be blacklisted from you local solicitors

@Deanetta

Thanks for the info, and yes this supports what I suspect - you can't just walk into a solicitors and expect them to give you free advice about your particular situation!!

@Crunchymum nah I've just made good use of the time! Haha

Got to earn a living. Would you yourself work for no salary? Expect a shop to give you free items? Rather distasteful to crow about getting free advice. Pro bono should really be for those in genuine need if those quite able to pay blag it it will be less available for those who really need it.

Should only be given to If we gave away free advice to the man

Ignore last sentence

I'm a solicitor. I'll spend longer than that with a new client but it is expected in our line of work. It's more a sales pitch really than anything else though and virtually everyone instructs me so I make the money back. It's a bit like tradespeople visiting and doing "free" estimates I guess.

My divorce solicitor did. I was clueless. Took divorce papers and said I was concerned signing them meant I was signing over the house. She completed the paperwork to get the ball rolling and told me exactly why his proposal was ridiculous. I did use her in the end but could’ve walked away.

I know a couple that give free time usually in an advice call, but this is usually to entice the person to use the firm.

It’s usually obvious when a person is trying to gleam all the required information for their case from that phone call, to self represent and we would never release that information without formal instruction.

So no hard and fast rule, but always worth making the enquiry.