Following the government’s announcement on the evening of Monday 23 March, we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily close our offices in Ponteland with immediate effect. Our doors will reopen as soon as possible.

In the meantime, rest assured that we will continue to provide a full service to all our clients, both longstanding and new.

Please note that:

  • Our business hours remain unchanged: 8.30am – 5.30pm Monday– Friday.
  • All but three of our staff will be working remotely during this period. The three exceptions will be Client Manager Helen Charlton, Court and Legal Paralegal Jenny McKinney, and Finance Manager Claire Sowerby. They will all be working in isolation from each other as we are lucky enough to operate out of three separate offices, at numbers 12, 10a and 10b West Road, Ponteland.
  • Our reception will be manned by Helen. You will be able to reach her via our main office number (01661 824582) in the usual way and she will arrange for the relevant solicitor to get in touch with you.
  • To reach Claire Sowerby, please call 01661 303 187. And for Jenny McKinney ring 01661 303 181.
  • Conferences will take place over the telephone, or via Zoom and PowWowNow which allow us to create virtual meeting rooms.
  • We will continue to offer remote private meetings. These can also take place over the telephone, or by using Zoom and PowWowNow. We will arrange all this for you.
  • We have fully reviewed the guidance recently issued by the Ministry of Justice on remote court hearings and have already successfully conducted a number of these for clients, all of whom were impressed with their speed and efficiency. It’s business as usual in the courts: there’s just no need to physically attend for the time being. Please call us to discuss your case if you have any concerns about a court hearing listed. Our Court Paralegal, Jenny, will be able to assist: feel free to call her directly (01661 303 181).
  • Papers that you would normally have sent to the office by DX or post should now be sent via email if possible. Please contact Jenny on her direct line (01661 303 181) to discuss the various options. She’ll let you know if and when any alternative arrangements are needed, such as couriering papers to your home address. Of course, we will continue to process DX and post on a regular basis.
  • Invoices will be sent out via email. Please make payment by BACS if possible but otherwise please call the office: payments can be taken in the usual way over the phone.

We will do everything we can over the coming days and weeks to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on our clients and staff. Please let us know just what we can do to assist you in these difficult and unprecedented times.

Sincerely

Joanne Major

Managing Director

 

Image by Karolina Kabat via Flickr (Creative Commons)