Hill & Company has been part of Altrincham’s landscape for over 160 years – and Irene Seaman has been Senior Partner for 20 of them.
Here she offers a passionate defence of the high street law firm at the heart of the community.
We are very lucky that we are based in a building which is steeped in history, located on the corner of market street in the centre of Altrincham. Originally our base was the home for Altrincham Post Office so in a funny way the building itself has always been used as a hub to support the local community.
This is something that I am very proud of, the strong links we have forged with our local community over the years is reflected in our firm’s ethos, procedures and values. Our clients are literally at the centre of everything we do, and we pride ourselves in offering a first class service at a price that although affordable reflects the expertise of our individual solicitors.
The firm has had a very long history in Altrincham and we have served the community and surrounding areas for over 160 years.
I took over ownership of the firm nearly 20 years ago and became the first female owner of the business in the history of the firm.
I have been very proud of this and have tried to continue to adhere to the values that were passed on to me by the former owner who worked/owned the firm for nearly 40 years prior to me.
I have tried to retain the principles of a traditional High Street practice which the firm has always been. We provide services to our community and encourage clients to come into the practice to enable us to provide a personal service which is commensurate with that of a traditional High Street practice.
In my 20 years of owning the business I have been repeatedly told by other practices, business entities and the law society that the high street is dead and there is no future for it.
I have never believed this.
I have lived long enough to have seen the small retail food shops on the high street closing and being replaced by massive supermarkets 30 years ago, and then over the last 10 years the high street being re-populated by small retail shops but this time often run by the massive supermarkets.
The firm has a loyal clientele that returns to us for work they require repeatedly as we provide a quality service and the clients are all aware of this.
We cover a wide range of work including family law, residential conveyancing, elderly client, wills, lasting powers of attorney, court of protection work, litigation, personal injury and debt. This is a wide scope of work which covers the needs of the community and represents a traditional high street practice.
Our firm does require the support of new and younger generations going forward to enable our historical and traditional high street practice to continue and not to be lost to large legal businesses. None of us know the future, but hanging on to parts of the past that have worked well is a good thing.
I would not give up on supporting our community and going forward my staff are like-minded.
We very much encourage our local community to support our business to ensure it can still be in existence for the next 20 years at least.
Our services
Family law
Includes financial settlements, divorce, children matters, prenuptial agreements, separation agreements, injunctions and all other aspects of family law. Dan Knox is our lead Family law solicitor and is happy to speak to any clients enquiring regarding family law.
Residential conveyancing
Includes buying and selling properties but also all other aspects of conveyancing such as first registrations, equity release, deed of variation, buy to let, auctions and many other aspects of conveyancing. If you are not sure if we are covering the aspect of conveyancing that you are engaged in please do contact us. Our head of department and expert conveyancer Richard Higham is always happy to chat to clients and talk them through procedures.
Elderly client work
We also carry out a great deal of elderly client work and have many clients where we deal with all aspects of their lives including the financial side but also health and welfare. We are attorneys and deputies for many clients and can also advise and set up attorneyships and deputyships for others for their loved ones or friends and neighbours. We also do a great deal of work with the court of protection. We have enormous expertise in elderly client work. Our expert client liaison solicitor Josephine Brook is always happy to talk clients through information for future planning.
We also deal with wills, powers of attorney, trust deeds, financial planning and all aspects of future planning for clients. Again we have an enormous amount of expertise in this area. Again solicitors Josephine Brook, Matthew Vernon or Cass Edoo are all happy to talk to clients on the phone or in person for advice or representation.
Probate and intestacy
We also deal with probate and intestacy and can advise on all aspects of this area of law. We deal with estates from very small to multi-millions of pounds and for small estates we have fixed fees. We have a number of solicitors working exclusively within this area of law within the firm and we can proudly say we have over 100 years of experience in this area of law. Again, solicitors Josephine Brook, Matthew Vernon or Cass Edoo are all happy to talk to clients on the phone or in person for advice or representation.
