WasbruceArvostelua 

No Good For Fathers. Separation, child abduction or Parental Alienation Cases - Look Elsewhere.

Selina MacKay, Helen Gibb and crew.

From the off - no face to face meetings...other than to take £750 up front retainer - even then when I asked to see Selina (apparently a Family Law Specialist Solicitor) I was told by Cameron she was working from home, but just as my card was swiped in reception - who should walk out of the office but Selina herself. The first lie then - should have trusted my gut there and then. Did have an initial telephone discussion with Selina - this was fine - she said all the right things and that filled me with confidence, to get me on board. However, it became evident that Selina only becomes a name/signatory on the paperwork pantomime of the back and forth between her and her fellow solicitor pal in Perth representing my other half. On the initial phone discussion with Selina - she advised that she and Duncan MacKinnon of McCash and Hunter both sit side by side on a charity, (Relationships Scotland - a charity that is meant to be improving and promoting child contact - ha!) and when I directly asked her if that was a problem for her to go head to head with the other solicitor - she said no but I realised about a few weeks in that I was getting played - the back and forth being a pantomime production of us asking A,B,C and only getting answers (or half answers) to A. Completely strung out in a bid to extend your bill. The mothers side calls the shots. This is extremely concerning as BOTH these solicitors are meant to have the child's welfare at heart (both sit on the family panel or whatever they called it at the court) but actually are following the age old line - if the mother is clearly telling her side of the story then that is what they go with. The dad doesn't stand a chance but will get drained of their wages. In summary - two months in, a £1150 bill and nothing to show for it. No parental agreement (for the child), no further forward with selling the house or buying my partner out the property, four hours contact (dictated by the mother) with my child in nearly 3 months now. That is not in the child's best interests or welfare. Other areas of concern - you think you are signing up to Selina - I spoke to her once - all emails come from underlings with mis-spellings, bad grammar etc. Not what you expect at a huge hourly rate. Also sign you up to a £250 a month standing order but then refuse to proceed with your case unless you give them interim payments (£500) over and above. Felt like just a number on their books. Perhaps taking too many clients on or too many holidays - or both. Good at mis-spelling my name, as well as rushed Friday 4.30pm calls about the Saturday/next day contact from yet another underling who I have never dealt with - Darci this time. Sounded like an intern/young apprentice as yet again - the person I should have been dealing with was on holiday/not in the office. Walked away from this firm as don't mind spending money and seeing progress - but for this large sum of money achieved absolutely zero. Am compiling my complaint to put to the ombudsman / Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. I am not putting this review on here for a response from W&AS Bruce - but rather to make aware other Fathers to not use this solicitor. It is not good value for money, you will achieve nothing here other than stress and wage drain.

Requested a copy of my mother's will for my lawyer response was although I am named in will due to not being an executor they are not able to provide, asked if my lawyer can request and was told "that's up to your lawyer" so no clear answer, the lawyer that I had a meeting with stopped the meeting after I said I was contesting and was extremely rude. Would never use this firm for any legal advise they are so rude and expect you to know your rights

Phoned up to make a booking for a will and made an appointment, on the day called up to confirm as had no emails or confirmation and was told no appointment was made. 2 weeks wasted and back to square one. Lady on phone never asked if I wanted another appointment or apologised. Lost any confidence I had. Really poor and unhelpful.

The whole sell-and-buy process was extremely stressful, especially due to repeated issues and delays caused by the other buyer’s solicitor. Throughout all of this, Julie Wilson Barbour was absolutely outstanding. Her knowledge and experience were clear at every stage, and she remained calm, organised, and proactive even when things became complicated. She kept everything on track, explained things clearly, responded quickly to queries, and genuinely went above and beyond to help. Her support made a very difficult process far more manageable. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.

Raegan looked after our house purchase extremely well, kept us informed and was great at answering our questions or concerns.

W A Bruce. Screwed me over very badly. Complete lack.of knowledge, communication was awful . Delay. Delay Delay. Ended up loosing the sale of my house thru there complete lack of action, would never ever recommend this firm .
But I went to them.as they had dealt with me buying the house in the first place ..but very very disappointing lack.of service . And I felt very patronised and talked down to .

Attended an initial meeting with Andrew Grieve in Kirkcaldy to seek legal advice. The meeting started late, with no apology or explanation, and he came across as rude, arrogant, hostile, contemptuous and confrontational from the outset. He seemed to take great offence at my not being equipped with the necessary legal knowledge and expertise to answer his questions, to the extent that I wondered if there had been some kind of mix-up and that he actually thought he had come to the meeting to seek legal advice from me, rather than vice versa. About 5 minutes into the meeting, he asked me, for no apparent reason, if I was secretly recording the conversation, which felt quite surreal. When I asked him to clarify and reiterate his legal advice (which had been rattled off in about 30 seconds), he refused to do so, and advised me to seek another solicitor, who could provide with me with clearer advice. That was the only good advice he gave, and I will be happy to follow up on it, as there is no shortage of alternative legal firms in Fife. However, having had previous dealings with W&AS Bruce, having been wholly satisfied with them on that basis, and having, for that reason, decided to use them again on this occasion, I found Andrew Grieve's conduct and manners (or lack of them) very disappointing.