Is UnMuddy a law firm?

 

In short, no. UnMuddy’s legal consultants are qualified solicitors with many years of experience working as solicitors in law firms and within businesses. However, we are not acting as solicitors when providing services to UnMuddy’s clients. We’re not sure that you would notice the difference though.

 

What does being a client of UnMuddy mean for me and my business?

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The type and quality of service our clients receive appears very similar to what a practicing solicitor would provide. Some of the key differences between UnMuddy and a law firm are described below. UnMuddy’s clients get high quality legal advice and support but delivered in a cost effective and flexible way. In particular, our consultants have all had experience working within businesses (as the “company lawyer”) which gives us invaluable insight into solving business critical issues pragmatically and tackling potential hurdles before you reach them.

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Due to the nature of our services UnMuddy is not regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA). However:

 

• We have professional indemnity insurance cover up to £1m per claim;

• We will act honestly and with integrity whether we are bound by the SRA rules or not - it is in our interests to do this to maintain client trust and repeat business;

• If you are not happy with the level of service we provide, we would ask that you raise the issue with us directly and we will do our best to resolve it;

 

By contrast, clients of regulated law firms can expect:

 

• A mandatory minimum level of professional indemnity insurance cover of £3m per claim;

• The firm’s solicitors to be subject to the SRA rules around business conduct. These are currently under review but mainly cover ethics and ensuring client’s best interests are maintained;

• To be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman if unhappy with the service provided by that solicitor or firm;

• In certain circumstances (for example, when litigation is likely to commence), communications between client and solicitor to be protected from disclosure in court by “privilege” rules - the protection from disclosure in court proceedings of confidential advice given by solicitor to a client. Privilege issues only usually arise in contentious matters, which we do not undertake. However, if we can foresee a problem with needing to protect communications from disclosure, we will discuss it with you and may refer you to a practicing solicitor to handle the matter.

 

If UnMuddy provides legal type services, why is it not regulated by the SRA?

 

Put simply, UnMuddy’s legal consultants are not acting as solicitors when they provide services to UnMuddy’s clients. Our legal consultants are qualified solicitors with several years of experience but, when providing services, they are not authorised or regulated by the SRA. The SRA is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. UnMuddy is not a law firm.

 

UnMuddy does not carry out any “reserved activities” for its clients. These include things like conducting litigation, conveyancing, carrying out advocacy and probate matters (all of which are “reserved” to practicing solicitors). The legal work our consultants carry out is predominantly non-contentious commercial, corporate and employment work.

 

Given that UnMuddy does not carry out any “reserved” activities, we felt there was no need to be regulated by the SRA. Being regulated mandates annual payments to the regulatory body and increases insurance costs significantly. As a startup, we wanted to keep things lean and ensure that we could pass costs savings onto our clients so we chose not to go down the SRA authorisation route.

 

If you’d like to find out more, please do drop us a line - we’re always happy to chat and will be open and honest about whether we think we are the right partner for you.