What is the common practice for UK immigration lawyers?

[c1mth0g]

Hi,

I have a somewhat obscure immigration question/issue, and I was trying to find a lawyer who could help me. Because of the nature of the query, I want to make sure the lawyer actually knows something before I pay him/her.

Do people know what the normal practice is? Is it reasonable to expect the lawyer to answer some basic questions about your case without actually paying first?

I found a lawyer that had a good ranking using chambersandpartners.co.uk. But in a couple of brief emails with him, I realized that I know more about the law in my case than he did, and he keeps saying he needs to be "formally instructed" first.

To be fair to him, I know my situation is somewhat obscure and the lawyer may not know the specific intricacies offhand. I just wanted to know what is common practice in the UK - I am somewhat reluctant to pay £300 an hour just to spend the first hour educating him on what I have already found out during my own research into the law.

Would be interested in other's experiences; thanks.

[UK_BR5]

when i was looking for an immigration lawyer for my case , i made a database of all the lawyers in my town that i could go and see , then i sent all of them emails asking them about my situation. replies ranged between "sorry,we don't do email responses,you need to come to office and pay for consultation" and others - surprisingly - replying with the FULL solution to what needs to be done and their quotation if i needed them to proceed.

unfortunately though, for my case - which was pretty straightforward- i didn't find a SINGLE lawyer who had a clue and ALL of them except 2 gave wrong advice. i had to rely on myself and the Home office website + guidance in order to lodge the application and it was successful without paying lawyers anything (specially for wrong advice!)

do your best to sort it out first on your own , if you find a difficulty , contact as much lawyers as you can first in order to know their opinions first.

best of luck

[Peroni]

I totally agree UK BR5. I went to an Immigration place and was totally advised wrong and this can make you waste your money and your most valuable time! It is best to do the research yourself and possibly listen to what people have to say but I believe the best thing to be is to be knowledgeable about it on your own. If it is related to Immigration Laws it will be best to check out your local library and do your own reading up on law texts that these places may use. I wish you all the best