When you have a specific legal issue, it's helpful to have a solicitor with special experience and expertise in dealing with problems or issues like the one you're facing.
All solicitors are qualified to practise law in general and firms of solicitors are able to offer legal services covering a wide range of matters. However, individual solicitors within firms may specialise in only one or two areas of law. If the firm of solicitors you normally use is unable to assist you with a particular matter, it will refer you to a firm that is able to help you. Alternatively, the firm you normally use may seek advice on your behalf from a solicitor or barrister who has more specialised legal knowledge in the area you require help with.
Areas of practice
Solicitors provide information to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) about up to six areas of law in which they specialise. The information they provide is entered into our Find a solicitor database.
You can use the 'areas of law' drop down list in Find a solicitor to search for firms of solicitors based on the 'areas of law' of the individuals who work in them. Solicitors don't need to hold a specific accreditation or qualification in the areas of law they list as specialities on Find a solicitor.
Finding a specialist practitioner
A guaranteed way of identifying a specialist legal adviser is to search for members of an accreditation scheme.
The Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority run legal accreditation schemes which help to connect you with the specialist legal help you need. All accreditation scheme members have demonstrated expertise in a particular area of legal practice, such as family law, planning law or conveyancing. Accredited practitioners need to pass a range of stringent tests, and assessments to the satisfaction of either the Law Society or the SRA, and are proven and monitored regularly. To find out more about these schemes visit our accreditation scheme pages.
You can find an accredited solicitor on our accreditation scheme search site.
Finding a specialist practitioner on Find a Solicitor
You can use Find a solicitor to see whether a solicitor is an accreditation scheme member. Look for this sign - 
- next to the name of firms listed in the search results; it means that at least one solicitor in the firm belongs to an accreditation scheme.
When looking at the search results you can:
- Click on the firm's name to learn which scheme their solicitor(s) belong(s) to.
- Click on the scheme name to view the name of the solicitor(s).
You can also use Find a solicitor to search for members of some accreditation schemes:
- Go to Find a solicitor
- Select More search options
- Choose a scheme from the Accreditation scheme membership drop-down menu (eg Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme )
- To select more than one scheme click on it while pressing the Ctrl key on your keyboard
- Complete at least one of the mandatory search fields (eg Post code/location)
- If you wish, enter additional search criteria (eg Wheelchair access)
- Click the Search button at the bottom of the form
- Review the results of your search (Please note: search by Post code/location results are displayed in ascending distance order)
- Click on the name of any firm to see further information, including contact details
Notaries public
Notaries public work for private individuals, and for commercial firms engaged in international trade. Their services typically include:
- preparing and witnessing powers of attorney for use overseas
- dealing with purchase or sale of land and property abroad
- providing documents to deal with the administration of the estate of people who are abroad, or owning property abroad
- authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry or to work abroad
- authenticating company and business documents and transactions
Most notaries are solicitors.
To find a notary near you, visit the website of the Notaries Society and select Find a notary.