Who are you?

Leah Lewis, invested partner and  Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (FILEX). I’m Gloucester born and bred, a mother and a wife.

I went to Denmark Road school and then went onto to complete 2 years of a 3 year law degree, I took a year out and never went back because I was working at the Chelsea Building Society in the legal department and they supported moving my university credits into an ILEX course at Worcester College on day release. I would then go onto work for a developer, two other local law firms and then Dee & Griffin Solicitors.

Where are you?

I am based at the Quedgeley office and we cover south Gloucestershire.

What do you do?

Residential conveyancing.

Why should anyone use you?

I’m good at it. I started back at a building society when they just did mortgages. The company paid or my training so I did it as it fit in well with other areas of study. I didn’t enjoy litigation and the contested areas. I liked the fact that conveyancing is black and white. Also someone’s house is the most important thing they will buy in their lifetime. I f you lose sight of that they need to get out of the game.

Local knowledge, sense of humour. I don’t take myself too seriously. I’m approachable and I like speaking to clients so I always pick up the phone. Conveyancing is a process, it is like baking a cake, if you follow the recipe it’s a good cake. If you follow the conveyancing process and get all the partners on the same page then you get a good transaction.

I know that some solicitors refuse to speak to estate agents but we all want the same outcome and have a mutual interest with them. I’ve worked with some south Gloucestershire agents over 10 years, I have even bought their own houses for them and you cant get any higher praise than that.

Our team at Quedgeley are the best! They are all local and all lived in Gloucester all their lives. Jo has always worked in the legal industry since leaving school at 16 and Zoe is the same. Jo is a qualified licensed conveyancer and Zoe is qualified in life! They are really knowledgeable and are supported by our young up and comers Mollie and Izzy who we are passing our knowledge onto. We know the local areas and you learn the difficult neighbourhoods, the schools. I would advise on schools in the area as I am always seeking to support my client. We know that the Forest of Dean has coalmines but solicitors from outside the area do miss these things.

Stroud has Radon but I can advise on that and it is rarely ever and issue but it can be scary stuff if the levels are too high. There can also be issues around decking in a back garden because as a structure they should technically meet building regulations but Stroud District Council have never taken enforcement action. Also I have never known for a Section 38 on roads and highways to be enforced when a developer has gone bust resulting in unfinished roads. The perception could be that residents are at risk but they are not. The risk is that an uninformed solicitor out of the area or only operating online would take an absolute age securing the various agreements adding weeks to the process and it is all unnecessary.

You can contact Leah in our Quedgeley office by calling 01452 724343 or by email at info@deeandgriffin.co.uk .