Helen Starkie set up her own practice in Bath in 2010, having spent many years in a leading role in a Top One Hundred law firm. Whilst valuing her experience there, in latter years she also became frustrated by the increasing amount of time it became necessary to spend on ‘in house’ matters and the value larger firms now place on ‘commercial’ rather than personal service. She wanted to get back to basics delivering an old fashioned personal and entirely bespoke service to clients.
Helen believes that in law a truly personal service has become rarer and sees an analogy between her own field and what has happened in banking. Acting as a Power Of Attorney to the people of Bath, Bristol, Warminster & Frome has given Helen the opportunity to pursue a career that she loves and cares so much about. Centralisation has rendered high street banks impersonal, inflexible, and lacking in personal attention to their customers. Most customers, if given the choice, would abandon today’s ‘Call Centre’ culture and return to the days of the high street bank when a recognisable, accountable and accessible manager knew and understood his or her customers (and their circumstances) almost better than they did themselves.
And so it has been in recent years with law. The members of this firm’s team were hand-picked not only because of their ability in their chosen area but also because of their passion for understanding the individual. They instinctively always ‘go the extra mile’ in delivering law sensitively and in the context of the client’s personal, financial and family circumstances.
We are experts in the following services and as we said above, we cover Bath, Bristol, Warminster & Frome.
- Powers of Attorney
- Solicitor
- Lawyer
- Lasting Powers of Attorney
- Wills & Probate
- Court of Protection
- Protective Property Trusts
Helen is concerned that too many lawyers are generalists. We do not want to be ‘Jacks of all Trades’. We believe that it is important for our clients that we concentrate on having an in depth knowledge of the particular issues which concern them and their families, especially in their retirement years or during periods of illness or particular vulnerability.
We also believe that the delivery of law should be a true service. Each of us is available to our clients twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year in case of need. We are happy to see clients in their homes, at their offices or in our comfortable consulting rooms, according to their preference. We understand the importance of really getting to know and understand each client’s circumstances and of earning their trust.
The ethos of giving a truly bespoke and caring service is what drives us, and what our clients tell us makes us unique.
Experience listens.
Be heard…
The Team
Jo Wagstaff
Jo joined Helen in January 2013 after 10 years in the Private Client team of a top 100 law firm, where she initially worked in the investment management department. There, she dealt with the administration of clients’ investments and obtained the Investment Administration Qualification. Later she moved to the wills & probate department where she studied for a Legal Executive qualification and now works with clients to prepare wills and powers of attorney, and undertakes estate management. Jo also arranges talks and legal surgeries in clients’ workplaces to try to make legal advice as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible. Jo enjoys nothing more than to help the local people with the following: Will Writing, Probate, Court of Protection
Helen Starkie
Helen has been a ‘Private Client’ solicitor for over thirty years. She qualified and worked initially in the City of London before moving to the West Country where for many years she was a Partner, Head of Department and Member of the Board of Management of a Top One Hundred law firm. She is an elected member of the Law Society’s Private Client National Executive Committee and represents that body on the Court of Protection Users’ Group. Helen is also an elected member of the Court of Protection Panel of Professional Deputies and a member of Solicitors for the Elderly from whom she has received an award for her work in the field of elder client law. Helen is over the moon that she is able to help the people of Bath, Bristol, Frome and Westminster with their Solicitor and Lawyer needs.
