Same firm of solicitors for buyer and seller: a good or bad idea?

_Andrew_

We are part-way through a house purchase.

Our solicitor has just written to inform us that they have now taken on the seller as their client; the seller has switched solicitors since accepting our offer.

Despite our solicitors assurances that there is no conflict of interest as they have enough staff to manage this independently, it still leaves me a bit uneasy as to whether they will fully act in our best interest with their colleagues working for the seller.

It would also seem harder to address any issues post-sale if the solicitors are all in the same firm.

This is our third house purchase and the first time this has happened.

My questions are:

• Am I over-reacting or whether it is reasonable to be concerned?
• Are firms of solicitors on a lenders panel usually prohibited from working for both sides?

MikeJXE

For me having the same solicitor would be a bad idea and I have bought and sold 9 times

user1977

Terrible idea, which is why it's prohibited in at least one neighbouring jurisdiction...

knightstyle

We used the same firm, just different solicitors and it went well. No waiting for papers to be sent from one address to another.

user1977

it went well

The difficulty is knowing whether it went well or not, particularly as a buyer (when you might not find out what your solicitor ought to have done until the time you sell or remortgage).

Herzlos

I don't see why post-sale issues would be harder to clear up. Communication should also be better because even with different solicitors in the same company it'll be easier to talk to each other.

Seperate staff and no conflict of interest should be fine. They should be professionals.

I ended up using the same solicitor (1-man shop) as my seller, because we'd both contracted with him indepentally before hand, and he was confident there was no conflict of interest. Everything went pretty smooth, and he presumably didn't waste too much time chasing himself for paperwork.

p00hsticks

IMHO,

Different solicitors in the same firm is fine, the same solicitor is not (and didn't think it was allowed).

saajan_12

Agree, same firm is fine as each solicitor individually will have obligations to work in the best interest of their client and chinese walls can be put into place. There's no conflict of interest if they put these information barriers in place as they don't get a larger fee depending on each party's negotiating position.

Same solicitor person is not okay as they may not ask a question for the buyer if they know from the seller's side it can't be answered and will have to make a decision who to side with.

Albermarle

Personally I would be more concerned about how good/responsive a solicitor was, as being poor in this area is a common complaint.

If the OP was happy with their performance so far, I would not object to the seller using the same firm. If they were unhappy, it would be a good excuse to jump ship.

theartfullodger

Never. Anyone NOT recommended by agent will be fine.

sheramber

I used the same firm , different solicitors with no problems.