Am I being over cautious?

btcp

user1977 said:

I don't think the OP is concerned about the solicitors being scammers but about somebody else intercepting their information.

it is up to OP to clarify what exactly they are concerned about The phrase "need to send my financial details in an email to people I’ve not met, and this gets me nervous because of all the online scammers out there" made me thinking they are concerned about solicitors ended up being scammers as they never met them. General online scam is everywhere these days, no one is fully protected. Best thing a user can do is not clicking on a dodgy links or download dodgy programs, and keep long secure passwords for your email. 

LAD917

user1977 said:
Generally to be avoided - especially if by "your" EA you mean the other party's EA! It means your solicitor is more interested in the ongoing relationship between them and the EA than in representing your interests.

Seconding this, and adding that it's an even worse idea to use any solicitor (whether recommended by an EA or not) who only gets paid if the transaction completes.

I just sold a property to someone who used one of these firms, recommended by an EA.  I was shocked at how few inquiries they raised, a couple of points that they seem to have completely missed, and a couple of others they accepted without much question/discussion. 

Honestly, the best thing the EA did for me (the vendor) was to recommend this solicitor to the buyer!  I do not feel the buyer was well represented, but not my concern....