Wiselaw is used by people who are seeking information regarding divorce and family law and who wish to research the best family law solicitors in their area.
For many people, the route to finding a family solicitor starts with an online search. Searching online is convenient and discreet, but it also offers endless unfiltered results which can make the experience overwhelming and confusing. Our visitors use Wiselaw to help them more easily make an informed decision about which family solicitor is right for them. They can use Wiselaw to search their local area for solicitors, read about each solicitor’s skills and experience, and if they wish, select one or several of those solicitors to send an enquiry to. There is no cost to our visitors to use Wiselaw and solicitors pay no fee to receive enquiries.
Here we answer questions about Wiselaw and how Wiselaw works.
What is the criteria for listing a solicitor on Wiselaw?
Wiselaw independently researches and lists the most experienced and talented family law solicitors in the UK. The criteria Wiselaw uses for listing a solicitor is based on factors that matter most to prospective clients. These include the level of experience of the solicitor, the extent and nature of specialism they have in family law, their profile with past clients, and the profile of the firm as a whole. This research is typically conducted without input from the solicitor in order for the process to remain independent. To maintain the best possible choice of solicitors for each town or city across the UK, Wiselaw researches and lists solicitors at no cost to the firm or to our visitors.
How does Wiselaw make money?
Solicitors who meet our criteria for being listed on Wiselaw and who therefore have been listed for free, can then choose to enhance their listings in two ways. Both methods of enhancement are offered at a fee to the solicitor, and both are entirely optional (when a solicitor first meets our criteria for being listed, they will be listed no matter whether they choose to enhance their listing or not).
The first type of enhancement involves placing the solicitor’s listing higher up the listings page. This higher listing can be in a fixed position at the top of the page or it can be in a ‘floating’ position near the top of the page, with the exact position on the page changing randomly every 1-4 days. The second type of listing enhancement is to have a more prominent listing on the listings page, such as a Team Listing, which displays team members beneath the ‘lead’ solicitor’s listing. In some cases, a Team Listing can also be displayed on non-listings pages, such as the Wiselaw article pages.
In all cases, the fees paid to Wiselaw are fixed, solicitors do not pay per enquiry or pay per any other metric such as ‘views’ or ‘clicks’.
What does the ‘Popular’ badge mean on some listings?
The Popular badge is displayed on the most popular solicitor’s listing on each listings page. ‘Popular’ in this instance is defined by the solicitor’s listing on the listings page that achieves a combination of: the most views, the most interactions, and, over time, the most enquiries received. If a law firm is described as ‘the most popular firm’ on the listings page, this will be referring to the law firm that employs the solicitor who has a listing that is displaying the Popular badge. The Popular badge is a feature of enhanced solicitor listings only, it is not available on free listings.
Do solicitors pay Wiselaw a fee for each enquiry they receive?
No. Solicitors do not pay Wiselaw a fee based on them receiving enquiries and they do not pay any referral fees for enquiries that become paying clients of that solicitor.
What order on the listings pages are solicitors listed in?
Aside from solicitors with enhanced listings, the order of the listings is based on the proximity of the solicitor’s office to the listings page’s location. On average, the nearer the solicitor’s office is to the page’s location, the higher up the page the solicitor is listed. The exact order of these listings randomly adjusts every 1-4 days. If all or most of the solicitors listed on the listings page have offices that are close to the listings page’s location, their order may instead be manually fixed and periodically manually changed/rotated.
Can Wiselaw remove or replace a solicitor’s listing?
Wiselaw reserves the right to remove or replace solicitor listings. Removals/replacements regularly occur as a means of allowing a fair rotation of solicitor listings for any given listings page, or, in rarer cases, removals/replacements are a necessity, such as due to a solicitor retiring or leaving a firm, or them no longer meeting the Wiselaw criteria for inclusion.
Why are some solicitors listed who are based further outside of the location shown for a listings page?
The vast majority of listed solicitors have an office that is close to the listings page’s location. However, in some cases, a solicitor with an enhanced listing who is based in an office that is further away from the listings page’s location can be listed if they can demonstrate to Wiselaw that they are able to serve clients who live in the listings page’s location. This can include evidence that the solicitor regularly visits the location for client meetings, and/or that they can successfully serve clients in the location via video calls.
Are all enquiries sent to the solicitors?
Except for rare situations, all enquiries submitted via Wiselaw are sent to solicitors. In some cases, our systems may flag an enquiry or an enquirer as potentially not meeting our criteria for acceptable enquiries, these criteria include:
- The enquirer has sent more than the limit of 4 enquiries.
- The enquiry content includes information that is inappropriate or spam related (such as it being promotional, or relating to recruitment), or it is not relevant to the selected solicitor (such as the enquiry not relating to legal services that the solicitor offers).
In instances such as these, Wiselaw reserves the right to not send the enquiry to the solicitor.
Can solicitors listed on Wiselaw advise me if I don’t live in the UK or I’m not a British citizen?
Wiselaw lists solicitors who are based in the UK, we do not list lawyers or attorneys who are based outside of the UK. Solicitors in England or Wales are typically able to provide legal advice to individuals who are either British nationals living in the UK or abroad, or non-British nationals who have been a resident in the UK for the last 12 months. For individuals who have not been living in the UK for the last 12 months and are not British nationals, they would usually need to seek legal advice from a law firm that is based in their country of residence (i.e. the country the individual has most recently lived in for at least 12 months), or from a law firm that is based in the country of which the individual is a recognised citizen/national.
The information on this website is to be considered a guide and is therefore not legal advice. You use this information with the understanding that Wiselaw does not accept liability for any direct or indirect losses as a result of anyone relying on or acting upon the information on this website. Whilst we endeavour to provide accurate information, Wiselaw does not accept liability for any errors or omissions on this website.