Sweeney Miller Law Reviews 

My partner and I just completed a house purchase with them, and they were great! Always responded quickly to enquiries, kept us up to date, we had absolutely no issues and are very grateful to the team, especially Kierra, for all of their help 😁

I had high expectations for Sweeney Miller Law based on their promise of being "friendly, approachable, and transparent," but my experience has been deeply disappointing.

After just three days of involvement in my flat sale, during which I mostly populated the required templates myself, the sale unfortunately fell through very quickly. Despite this, I was still charged an "abortive fee" amounting to 14.5% of the agreed quote. This fee was presented as being "based on the amount of work already done," but I struggle to see how such a high charge is justified for forwarding a few documents to the buyer's solicitor. Despite requesting a detailed breakdown of the work performed, none was provided, which only reinforces how little was actually done by Sweeney Miller.

There were also high additional costs which I was not warned about prior to engaging with Sweeney Miller. I was left to handle payments to the management companies myself without any prior warning of the additional costs I would face. This lack of communication and support was frustrating, to say the least.

I expected to be treated as a valued client rather than just another case to profit from. The entire experience has left me feeling exploited and questioning the fairness of this system.

I would urge potential clients to proceed with caution and ensure they fully understand the terms of engagement before committing. Unfortunately, my experience with Sweeney Miller fell far short of the professionalism and integrity I anticipated.

Update after response:

Thank you for your reply. While I appreciate your willingness to respond, I strongly disagree with several points raised in your response, and I feel it necessary to clarify my concerns.

1. The Abortive Fee
While I understand the concept of an abortive fee, the amount charged in my case was disproportionate to the work completed. The primary task you undertook was forwarding the templates I had already populated (TA6, TA10, TA7) to the buyer's solicitor. Beyond that, minimal “unique work” was done. Charging 14.5% of the agreed quote for this is, in my view, excessive and difficult to justify.

I also take issue with your claim that you "agreed to charge significantly less than your terms allow." Even with this supposed reduction, the fee remains extortionate given the limited progress made on my case. My frustration stems not from the existence of the fee but from the lack of proportionality between the fee and the actual work done. As I mentioned in my communications to your firm, I was happy to pay for unique costs incurred.

2. Speed of Work
I recognise that you opened my matter promptly, which I appreciated and have only positive feedback regarding.

3. Advance Payment Proposal
I offered to pay in advance for the unique work performed, provided costs that could be duplicated on re-instruction were excluded. This would have been a fairer approach for both parties. Your assertion that accepting this would leave you “losing out” suggests a refusal to acknowledge that the majority of work done is reusable for the next buyer. This further highlights my view that the abortive fee primarily represents profit, not compensation for lost labour. I appreciate receiving copies of documentation, however I also requested a detailed breakdown of work performed including timesheet information which I was not provided.

4. Management Pack Costs
I appreciate that leasehold sales incur costs for management packs, which are out of your control. However, my frustration lay in the lack of upfront clarity regarding these costs. While your quote referenced the need for such packs, no specific cost estimate or range was provided. I also specifically asked multiple times prior to instruction whether there would be any additional costs to the quote provided and was informed there would be none (or minimal amounts).

5. My Previous Comments
I did indeed state that I was satisfied with the service provided at the time. This satisfaction was based on your responsiveness, which I praised in good faith. However, my stance on the abortive fee has not changed. The review I left was not a reflection of your overall service quality (which I reiterate, only lasted 3 days) but rather a cautionary statement to future clients about the significant abortive costs they may face.

My review was not an attack on your professionalism but an honest account of my experience. I believe it is important for prospective clients to understand the risks of high abortive fees in cases where little work has been completed.

Please open a formal complaint if you feel it worthwhile to discuss further.

Avoid at all costs. They have no accountability, and will argue despite being in the wrong with evidence stacked against them. I was dealing with Sweeney Miller for my Remortgage.

Sweeney Miller made multiple mistakes when submitting forms necessary for my remortgage. These mistakes cost weeks to resolve. The total process took 6 months, when it should have taken 90 days at most!

They asked me for details I had already provided them months before, their ability to keep on top of admin needs improving.

When I requested a refund for their fee's they refused and argued that they have made no mistakes, and that they still acted in a timely manner. It was only a timely manner because I had to chase people every time they made a mistake. I spent hours on the phone chasing.

I have raised a complaint and am awaiting their response.

Having bought 16 houses over the last 25 years, I needed a local solicitor I could trust.
I found Sweeney Miller law by accident.
What a refreshing change to the others I have dealt with.
Easy to contact, no messing about, straight answers, and great advice

Brilliant team! Damien and his colleagues have handled two purchases and a sale for me.
All were extremely positive experiences responses were impressively fast and excellent advice given all the way … the attention to detail was excellent thankyou !

When I bought my house the purchase was complete in record time! First class service, highly recomend

I have had the pleasure of working with Damien Todd for over six years, during which he has consistently delivered exceptional service in handling my property transactions. His responsiveness and attention to detail stand out, ensuring that every step of the process is smooth and efficient.

Damien provides quality advice that I can trust, always breaking down complex legal matters into clear, actionable insights. His modern approach to legal work, including the ability to electronically sign documents, has been incredibly convenient and aligns perfectly with my busy schedule.

I highly recommend Damien Todd to anyone looking for a reliable, knowledgeable and forward-thinking property solicitor. His professionalism and dedication to his clients are truly commendable.

We have bought and sold a number of properties through Sweeney Miller and Damien has always delivered to a high standard. We were particularly impressed when we needed a purchase to go through really quickly and we weren’t disappointed. Currently using them again to sell two properties and buy another. Extremely impressed so far, Damien is keeping us up to date on each property and we’re looking to move soon, thank you

Damien has handled all my conveyancing needs over the years and has always been extremely helpful and professional. He made the whole selling/buying experience a lot less stressful and was always at hand to answer any query’s I had to a high standard. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a solicitor.

Sweeney Miller handled the recent conveyancing of my mixed-use residential/commercial property. From the outset their service was excellent. I was particularly impressed by the team's communications - all queries were responded to very quickly. They were completely 'on the ball' throughout the process, chasing up the other party as needed, thus concluding the sale expeditiously.
I was reassured at all times that my matters were in safe hands and I would, most certainly, use the firm again.

Sweeney miller have been appointed and recommended by the estate agents since August. I have never come across a most disorganised company and employees in my life and would recommend you give them a miss first given a trainee to handle our business who didn't have a clue misplaced documents failed to do basic enquiries etc. No longer works there ..? Lack of communication with ourselves about where we are with sale and purchase. Still waiting for a date to move 3 weeks before Xmas. No confidence in this company at all will be placing complaint with high managment

Short version:

Do you like banging your head against a wall? If so, choose Sweeney Miller.
We had to sanity check our ‘solicitors’ work throughout the process, highlighting error after error. One of which led to our mortgage offer being revoked during completion, due to their erroneous submissions.
The company appeared reputable but seemed to stumble through the process. Their workforce is very young and that becomes immediately apparent when issues arise. Experience is seriously lacking.

Full review:

When buying our first home, we sought a few quotes from different companies for the conveyancing.

We decided to go with Sweeney Miller, who were by far the most expensive but had initially portrayed themselves as very professional (as well as thinking “you get what you pay for” - right?). Wrong.

At the start, things appeared to be going well and progressing as they should (not that we would have really known any different being new to the process ourselves).

The issues arose mid-way through and lasted up until completion.
We were in a small chain of 3 properties and when problems arose (not caused by us) we had absolutely zero backing from Sweeney Miller when explaining our extremely important and generous final deadline. The firms soliciting for the other properties appeared to walk all over the people handling our file. We had to meet all their demands, but they would not entertain our timeline (end of tenancy in a rental property) until we threatened to pull out and find a new property. Miraculously everything got sorted overnight and we completed a couple of days later. The whole legal process took over 6 months, absurd.

We were sent multiple forms to check/sign containing erroneous details, leading me to meticulously check each form and discover error after error throughout – which I then had to point out to the individuals handling our file. One of these errors led to our mortgage offer being pulled by our provider days before completion due to conflicting numbers across various documents, triggering a ‘red flag’.

We were asked for the same personal documents repeatedly, displaying Sweeney Millers lack of diligence and record keeping.

I discovered we had been assigned a ‘Trainee Solicitor’ (which would explain most of the above) and when I queried why there was no reduction in price (we were being charged for a Solicitor), the answer was “because a trained solicitor will be overseeing their work”. IF that was true, I wouldn’t have had to point out the plethora of errors or received a panicked called from our mortgage broker informing us our offer had been revoked (of which Sweeney Miller were blissfully unaware, until I updated them).

The unfortunate truth is, the only interaction we had with a trained professional came during their attempt at damage control, whereby one of the partners of the firm called me to justify what had happened. He dismissed all my points and concerns as “human error” on their part.

Human error gets you off the hook once or twice, before it becomes a display of your complete ineptitude.

If you’re still unsure whether to go with this company, check their own website and see for yourself how many TRAINED solicitors they have on their books, split between all their different locations. Look at the average age of the employees and wonder how much experience they could possibly have at such a young age. Save your money and sanity and choose another firm.

*19/10/2024 UPDATE*

Comments below address Sweeney Millers response on 15/10/2024.

Firstly, my review is genuine. The sites I've posted it on would not have reinstated it (after you disputed each one) had I not provided evidence to each, that I was a genuine customer.

I have posted under an alias, as you were not interested in the slightest at resolving our concerns during and after our custom with you - as mentioned in my initial review.
Why I would seek to mediate through your 'client relations' at this stage is mind boggling. A poor attempt at saving face from Sweeney Miller. The horse has bolted and you're still prepared to argue who left the gate open, nevermind who closes it.

The latter part of your response clearly seeks to undermine the comments I've made but unfortunately you're confusing qualifications with experience.
I may not know the exact age of each individual member of staff, but I am able to make an educated deduction with regards to their level of experience. You may not list staff ages, but you do list their role within the company which can be easily be converted into 'time served' and my "ill informed judgement" can be further compounded by the personal experience we had when assigned a trainee solicitor - again, mentioned in my initial review.

You may not like the comments I've made; but they are genuine, honest and factual.

We've used Sweeney Miller on several occasions, including the sale and purchase of properties. They've served our interests well. Communications have been excellent, and we would like to thank Damien in particular for his help and advice.
We would have no hesitation is using their services again or recommending them to others.

Great experience with David, Khushi and the team. Although the conveyancing period was unexpectedly long due to the vendor, they were first class. Always staying in touch, and giving us the confidence we needed when buying our first home.
Thank you so much.

We were passed across to Sweeney Miller through our mortgage advisors while
in the process of buying our first house. We had a great experience using Sweeney Miller, their responses were quick and any questions we had they were happy to answer. I would definitely use this company again!

A no win no fee claim which was deemed for failure from the start. Couldn’t get basics right, like the spelling of my address, and misinterpreted information received. Dragged out for over a year leaving little time to go elsewhere due to time bound restrictions. Disappointing

Response to reply:
Upon informing you several times about the incorrect spelling of address, you then attempted to correct it but still misspelt it (even though I wrote it out for you) and it was still incorrect on the very last correspondence received. Though I agree this had no bearing on the outcome it does not look very professional and begs the question, is all information received handled so poorly ? Thank you for your response and best wishes for the future.

Cannot understand the negative reviews, I've used this company twice in the last couple of years for purchasing property and they have been nothing but exceptional. Special thanks goes to Bethany and Ellie and the Sunderland office, excellent service from start to finish, keeping us up to date with the purchase, making recommendations, providing help and advice, couldn't ask for more. House completion happened quickly and very efficiently, will be using again in the future and always recommend to anyone buying/selling a property. Thank you again😊

Very pleased with the fast service, and professionalism, within two months we got the keys to our new home,thanks to Damien Todd and his assistant Mona.
Highly recommended!

It the last day of our mortgage offer and the day of exchanging contracts it turns out that there is a third party involved and the seller can not sell the property. We lost a good amount and I do think that those searches should be made at early stage which is solicitors job. I do not recommend this company!