Rix & Kay Solicitors

Rix & Kay Solicitors Profile

Rix & Kay aims to help clients live for today, while planning for tomorrow. It’s a philosophy that underpins all its many services - and helped it become one of the largest and most respected firms of solicitors in Sussex

Solicitors John Rix and Donald Kay first went into business together in Uckfield in the early 1950s. Half a century on, the firm that still bears their names has seen some big changes – but the basic philosophy remains the same.
“Even though we’re now one of the leading medium-sized law practices in Sussex, we’ve never forgotten our roots as a traditional family firm,” says managing partner Bruce Hayter. “So, while we’ve opened new offices, introduced new partners, increased our staff and expanded into new areas of business, we still aim to form long-term relationships with our clients because ultimately, they want to deal with people, not a firm. Very often it begins with their first house purchase, then goes on into making a will and planning for their family’s future.”
It used to be that, like a doctor or dentist, people only saw their solicitor when something was wrong. Now, attitudes are changing – and a good thing too, according to Bruce. ”Increasingly, people see their solicitor as someone who’s there to make positive events happen, not just help clear up when things don’t work out,” he says. “We’re there for our clients in the things they want to do, like buying a house or making financial provision for their children, not just those they have to do, like dealing with probate or litigation.”

CHANGING

Although it may not always look like to it to those of us on the outside, the law is a fast-moving and ever-changing business. Rix & Kay has changed with it, adding new offices, departments, staff and technology to meet the demands of its private and business clients. The firm has long since expanded from its original base in Uckfield, opening offices in Heathfield in 1955, and Seaford in 1980. The number of partners has also grown, to 13, and the firm now has over 80 paralegal, secretarial and other support staff.
“One of our most important – and satisfying – landmarks as a firm has been achieving Investors in People status, which we completed in 2003,” says Bruce. “We invest heavily in training and developing all our staff, which means clients can be confident they’ll receive the same high service standards whichever of our offices they come to.”
Bruce believes this commitment to service is crucial in a period of radical change for the legal profession. “Gone are the days when people chose a solicitor – very often the same one their parents used – and stuck with them forever. We’re in an increasingly crowded and highly competitive market, where people are prepared to shop around to find a solicitor with the right ‘fit’ for them,” he says. “We’ve been very successful in winning and retaining clients because we deliver timely solutions to their specific needs – in other words, the services they really need, when they really need them.”


NEEDS

For most clients, the most important of these needs is actually nothing to do with the law at all. “There’s nothing more frustrating for clients than not knowing who they’re dealing with, or what stage has been reached in the process,” says Bruce. “If people talk to someone different every time they call – or, worse, don’t get to speak to anyone at all – it’s easy for them to feel they’re just being passed around, and no one’s taking a real, serious interest in them and their business. Similarly, if they can’t get a straight answer on what’s happened so far, and what happens next, it can make them feel powerless, and that whatever they’re going through might just go on forever. But these are avoidable problems – as we’ve proved with the way we work with our clients!”
Rix & Kay’s approach reflects its family-firm origins. From the outset, a client is assigned to a named solicitor, so they always know exactly who is handling their case. Clients are kept fully informed of how their business is proceeding and, most important of all, they know their calls will be returned. “It sounds very simple - and it is - but for an amazing number of clients, it’s a new and refreshing experience,” says Bruce. “As a firm, we’ve grown big enough to offer a complete range of services and be a serious regional player, but we always treat our clients as individuals. We always remember that while we’ve handled conveyances, litigation, probate or whatever many, many times before, most people who come to us haven’t, and need to feel confident and reassured. We believe our combination of knowledge and experience with a genuinely personal approach achieves this, and is one of the main reasons people who come to us tend to stay with us.”

EXPERTISE

The other big reason, of course, is the firm’s legal expertise. Rix & Kay offers a complete range of services to both private and business clients, through specialist teams and departments at each of its three offices.
“We have 13 partners, all specialising in different areas,” says Bruce, whose own area of expertise is commercial law. “Some of us have been in this business for many years: Richard Parsons, who heads up the residential conveyancing team at Seaford, qualified in 1986; and Ian Smith who specialises in wills, trusts and probate, joined the firm in 1979, opened the Seaford office in 1980, and is still based there now!”
Complementing this depth of experience, Rix & Kay has brought in more recent entrants to the profession. “As a firm, we have to look to the future, and keep moving forward,” says Bruce. “We’ve been very lucky in securing some highly talented young solicitors as partners, and they’ve brought a real dynamism to the teams they’re now leading at our various offices.”
Rix & Kay can also boast acknowledged experts with reputations extending beyond Sussex and the South East. Partner Martin Terrell, who specialises in wills and trusts, has written two books, and contributed to many more, which are standard references for solicitors throughout England and Wales.

DIVERSITY

The range of departments within Rix & Kay reflects the diversity of the law, and modern life. On the private client side, there are teams dealing with residential property, family law and wills, trusts and probate, while a dedicated commercial law department serves the needs of business clients. The firm also works closely with Platinum Portfolios, a respected local firm of independent financial advisers, to provide investments and other financial services.
“Many people think the law is just long words, obscure technicalities and heaps of dusty documents - completely divorced from real life as they know it,” says Bruce. “But the law exists to keep the wheels of society turning. We take a very practical view, using the law to help clients achieve the things they want or have to do now, and those they’d like or will need to do in the future, whether for themselves or their families. It’s easy to see the law as making lots of things impossible: we prefer to look at what it makes possible and go from there.”
For most private clients, this includes buying and selling residential property, making a will, or resolving family and relationship issues. “We have dedicated teams looking after all these areas, and they can bring in colleagues from other departments on specialist technical matters,” Bruce explains. “Clients come to us with problems or questions, and it’s up to us to find solutions and answers. That’s where having so much expertise available within the firm is a real plus: everything we need to reach a resolution is right here.”
And he’s keen to highlight the lasting relationship that often develops between clients and the firm. “When we’re helping people make wills, plan to avoid inheritance tax, or provide for their children’s education, we’re dealing with the future, not just the present. That gives us an important role in our clients’ lives, and we take the responsibility very seriously,” he says. “A trust develops between solicitor and client, which is helpful when things are good – and absolutely essential when they’re not!”

FUNDAMENTAL

But if the law can seem a bit dry and remote to most of us, anyone in business will tell you it’s definitely not academic. “For our business clients, the law is a fundamental and increasingly dominant part of everyday life, from initial start up, through developing and protecting the business to eventual restructuring, sale or succession,” Bruce confirms. As a result, the firm’s Commercial Law department has seen significant growth in both its size – three new members joined the team in 2003 alone – and workload. “Employment law is currently the fastest-growing area of legislation, and these days is much more than just ‘hiring and firing’: it’s a long-term planning and competitiveness issue for all businesses,” he says. ”With unlimited claims possible in many cases, keeping up-to-date has never been more critical. That’s fine for companies with their own human resources (HR) departments, but it’s a real headache for small and medium-sized enterprises. We spend an increasing amount of time advising companies of all sizes, and helping to prevent problems before they arise.”
But Bruce believes it’s more than just legal expertise that’s fuelled the department’s growth. “All our team have worked in commerce and industry, often in senior positions. It gives clients confidence, knowing they’re talking to people with experience of business at the sharp end, not just from a purely legal point of view,” he says. “Plus, because we’re running a large and expanding business ourselves, we have first-hand knowledge and experience of the problems and challenges our clients are facing right now, which helps us find practical, workable solutions.”

LINKS

Occasionally, getting the best result for a client means bringing in experts from outside the firm. In these cases, Rix & Kay’s membership of LawNet, the Federation of Independent Law Firms, brings real benefits. “LawNet is the largest group of its kind in the country, with around 60 members. The group sets extremely high services standards: to be part of it, we have to be ISO9002 registered, and we gained our accreditation in January 1999,” Bruce explains. “Through LawNet, we have access to a wealth of expertise and experience, including help from leading London firms when we’re dealing with particularly complex or serious matters. We’re also involved with LawNet Europe, the British arm of Eurojuris International. This is one of the world’s largest law federations, comprising over 650 firms and more than 2000 lawyers, which helps firms and their clients deal with legal problems outside the UK. This is important for our business clients, many of whom operate across international borders, and private clients with property or other interests overseas.”

FUTURE

With the Seaford office celebrating its 25th anniversary next year, and the firm heading for its 60th birthday, where does Bruce see Rix & Kay going next? “We’re not going anywhere – we’re a local firm and proud of it!” he says. “For the people of Seaford, Heathfield and Uckfield, we’re part of the landscape, and we’ve every intention of serving clients here and throughout the area for at least another 50 years! I’ve no doubt that we’ll see the legal profession continue to evolve, and Rix & Kay will evolve with it, as we’ve always done. What won’t change, however, is our determination to help our clients live for today, and plan for tomorrow. It’s a philosophy that’s served us and our clients well, whatever happens in the law.”

To find out more about Rix & Kay, including full details of its services, and profiles of all the partners, please visit www.rixandkay.co.uk. Alternatively, call into one of the offices in Seaford, Heathfield or Uckfield: contact details and directions are on the website.

Specialist Legal Areas of Rix & Kay Solicitors:

• Children law
• Civil litigation
• Commercial litigation
• Commercial property
• Company law
• Conveyancing residential
• Employment law
• Family law
• Landlord and tenant residental
• Licensing law
• Neighbour disputes
• Personal injury
• Planning law
• Trust law
• Wills and probate

Panels that Rix & Kay Solicitors is a member of:

• Family Law Panel member

Address
The Courtyard, River Way
Uckfield
TN22 1SL

Tel - 01825 761555
Fax - 01825 764172

Websites and Email Contact
The website of Rix & Kay Solicitors is - http://www.rixandkay.co.uk

Number of Qualified Solicitors
The total number of solicitors practicing at this firm is 5+

Legal Aid
This practice does not offer legal aid

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