Hugh Jones Solicitors

We are a Manchester-based, nationally recognised, independent firm specialising in mental capacity and vulnerable client work.  Our Court of Protection and Private Clients teams are widely recognised for their expertise - in 2025 we were shortlisted for local and national awards by STEP, Manchester Legal awards and the British Wills and Probate awards.

Our standing is based on the very wide range of work that the teams do:

Court of Protection We are specialists in Property and Affairs deputyship work (many with £multimillion to manage) and in addition, we are instructed on difficult/complex dispute work, contested deputyships, financial abuse investigations including of other solicitor deputies and are the trusted partner of nine Local Authorities.

Four of our senior lawyers are instructed by 30 law firms to undertake expert witness work in 180 major personal injury and clinical negligence cases annually, usually where £multimillion is at issue.

Our reputation, confirmed by client feedback, is for a caring and expert approach, our national practice being serviced from a Manchester base, with clients located geographically throughout the country.  Unique amongst other COP teams, even those in multidisciplinary firms, we provide a full suite of services for deputyship clients. Our teams providing these services specialise only in COP clients, making their work bespoke and cost effective - including:

• Residential conveyancing team dedicated to COP clients.
• Welfare benefits
• Employment and HR for care teams (we directly employ 240 in 64 teams for our clients)
• Employment and HR services now provided to Professional deputies at other law firms who lack this area of expertise.

Private client.  Our Private Client team has an outstanding year, with work increasing by one third and the addition of 3 solicitors (taking total to 9), including the appointment of Dale Shimwell, who joined us as a Director in 2024, having previously run a team at Wright and Lord Solicitors.

We are seeing an increasing number of complex and valuable estates of up to £20m. Estates are complex both due to the type of assets, including agricultural land, overseas investments, and multiple pre death gifts requiring thorough analysis, as well as complex family situations requiring a sensitive but firm handling of the case from the outset.

The team’s work also includes:

1. Advising on 70+ trusts.
2. Probate and Estate administration – largest estate £20m, cross border assets.
3. Estate planning and advice for disabled persons and their families.
4. Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Working alongside our Court of Protection team, our Private Client team has developed an expertise in elderly client and mental capacity work, including trusts for disabled family members.

The team delivers talks to and receives referrals from a wide range of community and voluntary organisations including:

• Chorlton and Whalley Range Dementia Action Group
• Age UK
• Bethel Apostolic Ark
• Caribbean African Health Network
• My Life

We deliver high standards of service and support to clients:

• well-trained, knowledgeable and empathetic team of practitioners - through a reputation as an excellent employer with high ethical standards.
• bespoke systems
• encourage clients to have as much control over their lives and finances as possible.
• low turnover of staff maintains long-term relationships, important for vulnerable clients and families.
• different combinations of caseworker and solicitor, matched to clients’ needs.
• manageable workloads, fee earners can give clients their full attention.
• meeting clients at home
• implemented CasparLaw (specialised digital platform to manage information about client finances) allowing quick response to client needs and providing information accurately, in real time.

Our philosophy is to adapt to what our clients need; we do not make our clients adapt to us!

Achieved Lexcel Gold standard November 2024, auditor’s report:

“The firm’s client-focused approach is apparent in the very high standards of scrutiny and self-review of its systems and processes, and the culture of looking after its staff.”