Business Profile – Evans Harvey Solicitors

Standing proudly at the top of Crownhill village is a solicitor’s firm which has served its community for almost 40 years. The team at Evans Harvey is like one big, happy family, headed by Stephen Hall, and the warm, friendly atmosphere they create is the reason behind their ongoing success. 

This is a firm which focuses on the needs of the local people rather than on big, commercial clients, offering a full range of services including property and conveyancing, wills, tax and probate, family and matrimonial law, personal injury, company and commercial, employment, litigation and inheritance claims.

The team’s combined experience well exceeds 100 years, and Stephen works closely with them having become a Director in 2008 after joining the practice the previous year as a solicitor.

He tells us, “We offer a very personal service for clients and if they come to us with a problem, we try to offer a simple, no-nonsense approach to it, in straight-forward language so that they understand.”

Often, although the relationship starts off formal, after a few meetings they’re very much on a first-name basis with their clients, and the team regularly go beyond the call of duty. Stephen explains how they will never ask a client in for a meeting if they’re unwell – they will visit them instead. Rarely are any fees charged for this service. Whether the client must be visited in hospital or in a nursing home, it’s all part of the job at Evans Harvey.

To ensure that their customer service is the best that it can be, clients are asked for feedback once their matter has been dealt with, and for every feedback form filled in the firm will donate money to St Luke’s Hospice. Stephen is proud to tell to us that the feedback is generally very positive, but if they spot an opportunity to improve on their performance, then they will do so.

“We have an open-door policy to all clients. Of course life is much easier if appointments are booked, but we will always see our clients and never turn anyone away. It is what I qualified for, I qualified to help people.”

Evans Harvey hold free drop-in clinics during the week. On a Tuesday 10am-12pm they deal with Wills, Trusts, LPAs and Probate, and on a Wednesday 10am-12pm they will deal with family law matters. To take pressure off the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, they also offer a clinic on a Tuesday 5pm-6pm which covers general matters.

To further assist the community, Evans Harvey is one of very few law firms to offer appointments on a Saturday morning for clients who work during the week. Everything that’s put in place here has the needs of the community in mind.

The firm is also experienced in dealing with more complex cases. Stephen explains, “We’re quite a small firm and you usually find that complicated Chancery matters are dealt with by specialised firms, but I’ve been dealing with them for decades and I’m well respected in that field of law.”

It’s not just the community Stephen serves; he also puts a lot of time and focus into looking after his team.

“The staff we have here are brilliant, and it couldn’t work without them. All the people who work here make Evans Harvey, I’m just a tiny cog. I’m no more important than anyone else and we all have equally important roles to play.”

Stephen is also keen to help young people into the industry – a law student has been based with the firm recently to complete her training contract and gain vital experience, and Stephen has sponsored her final year of studying before she hopefully goes back to them as a newly-qualified solicitor. Once this has happened, he’s looking forward to taking on another youngster and helping them through the process too.

This work ethic and proactive approach to the industry means that Stephen is looking to expand the business to enable him to deal with a growing, loyal client base.

“We’re looking for the Practice to continue for decades and decades to come. It will be a law firm that’s the pride of Plymouth and the pride of the people who work here.”

Stephen believes that the reason behind Evans Harvey’s success is clear – “It’s a very happy team and we work extremely hard. Everybody has the client’s interest at heart. I’m very proud of Evans Harvey, and it’s all down to the staff and their dedication.”

Call – 01752 785715
Visit – www.evansharveylaw.co.uk
Find us – 37 & 39 Morshead Road, Crownhill, PL6 5AD