UK Check they are actually regulated
This takes two minutes and is the single most important check. Solicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority; in Scotland by the Law Society of Scotland; in Northern Ireland by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. Each maintains a public register you can search.
Not everyone offering help with divorce is a regulated solicitor. Unregulated advisers may be cheaper, but you lose the protections that come with regulation, including compulsory professional indemnity insurance and access to a complaints process.
Make sure they do your kind of work
Family law covers a lot of ground. A firm that is excellent at conveyancing may handle only the occasional divorce. If your case involves a business, a pension of any complexity, children living in different countries, or allegations of abuse, ask directly how often they deal with that specific issue.
Some solicitors hold accreditation in family law from their professional body, or are members of organisations such as Resolution, whose members commit to a non-confrontational approach. That is a reasonable signal, though not a guarantee.
Read reviews carefully
Ratings for legal services are noisier than for restaurants. Family law clients are often reviewing an outcome they did not want rather than the quality of the advice, and a firm that tells clients uncomfortable truths may score worse than one that tells them what they want to hear.
Read the substance rather than the score. Comments about communication, responsiveness and clarity about costs are far more predictive of your experience than the headline number. This directory shows each firm's full star distribution rather than just an average, because a 4.5 built from consistent fours is a different business from a 4.5 built from many fives and several ones.
What to bring to the first meeting
A rough timeline of the relationship, including marriage and separation dates. An outline of assets and debts, including property, savings, pensions and business interests. Details of income for both of you if you have them. And a written list of your questions, because people reliably forget them.
Be clear about what you actually want. 'I want it over quickly and I care most about the children's stability' leads to different advice than 'I want the maximum I am entitled to'. Both are legitimate; your solicitor cannot act on the one you did not say.
If something goes wrong
Firms must have a complaints procedure and should tell you about it at the outset. If you are not satisfied after complaining to the firm, you can take it further — to the Legal Ombudsman in England and Wales, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland.
Are you a solicitor?
This guide has not yet been reviewed by a practising solicitor. We say so plainly rather than leave you guessing — the same way every firm listing on this site states how far it has been verified.
If you are regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland, you can review this page. We check your details on your regulator's public register, and if it is published your name, firm and register entry appear at the top of the guide.