About Us
Providing legal services to clients across Tees Valley, North Yorkshire, and County Durham for over 30 years!
Our Company Mission is to “solve life’s legal problems!”
We’ve spent the last 30 years becoming a “Champion of the Community” because community is at the heart of everything we do.
“We’re passionate about everyone’s right to have a decent home life, good living standards and prospects, and to fight for justice for the local people; to ensure everyone, no matter their financial standing in life has access to the highest quality legal advice”
That’s why we have a reputation as the Region’s leading Legal Aid Specialists.
Changing people’s lives with integrity and trust
We specialise in “LEGAL AID” areas of law with particular emphasis on helping vulnerable clients in ;
- Criminal Defence
- Civil Claims and Complaints
- Housing Law
- Family Law
- Mental Health Law
We also have a specialist Conveyancing Department, although this is private work; commercially paid and not legal aided.
- Conveyancing
- Employment law
OUR AIM: is to be the leading law firm in the North East delivering “Justice for the people”. We provide legal support to people who are in receipt of a low income, benefits or are considered to be vulnerable. We do this by listening, understanding the personal impact on you and your family, and advising on the best outcomes for your legal problems. We really are changing lives through integrity and trust. To ensure we’re accessible to those in greatest need, you’ll find us on your local high street, not fancy industrial parks or office buildings, we have 9 local offices across Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Northallerton and Harrogate.
Our founder and Director Jimmy Watson is passionate about creating a positive Company Culture, which emphasises his dedication for Watson Woodhouse to serve our community;
“Each employee’s priority is to maximise EVERY interaction with EACH one of our clients; to always deliver a 5 star approach to customer service, with a view of asking of themselves for every client; “How can I help solve your problems today?”; to ensure in our clients darkest hour, they know they can talk to Watson Woodhouse to help solve life’s legal problems”
OUR VALUES: Represent our guiding principles, they’re intended to ensure we are “changing peoples lives through integrity and trust”; It’s what we stand for, what we truly care about, the real heart and soul of our people and their actions, our values impact every aspect of our company.
Under the pandemic, we’ve won even more prestigious Legal Aid Agency contracts, ensuring more vulnerable people have access to a free legal service. We’ve also made it easier, cheaper and less time-consuming for people to access our services with the introduction of VIRTUAL APPOINTMENTS by WhatsApp, Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Allowing people to talk through their current situation, or concerns, with our highly specialised legal team from the comfort of their own homes.
For all of Life’s legal problems, talk to Watson Woodhouse!
We are proud to support the most vulnerable members of society by holding drop-in law clinics in community centres and community groups such as The Moses Project, CGL, My Sisters Place and New Walk CIC. Alongside our outreach work, we also hold Free Community Law Clinics within our offices. After August 2021 we hope to relaunch these at our own offices:
- Wednesday 1:30pm – 5:30pm and Saturday 10:00am-2:00pm at the Stockton Office.
- Thursday 2:00pm – 6:00pm at the Berwick Hills Office.
Meanwhile, we are working behind the scenes with third party and support organisations to create a schedule to deliver more outreach in the community than ever before. We are currently carrying out free video consultations, for anyone who needs them, by WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
If your organisation could benefit from a free law clinic at one of it’s events, please contact us on 01642 247656 or email us at info@watsonwoodhouse.co.uk to discuss your group’s situation, activities, and legal needs.
Supporting Local Charities
Here at Watson Woodhouse we are incredibly proud of where we’re from and make great efforts to be part of the community around us, and this includes a firm commitment to contributing to the progress, development, and wellbeing of the North East’s businesses, organisations, and communities.
Not only through the legal advice and pro bono services we provide, but also by offering sponsorship, and financial donations, and by providing support for charitable events and campaigns. We also encourage the support of individual charitable efforts through our dedicated colleagues. We continue to support a number of local charities, through donations, sponsorship, and pro bono work. Alongside supporting local schools and sports teams, we have made a significant commitment to both the Daisy Chain Project and My Sisters Place; which both do exceptional work. Our preference is to support local charities that are inclusive to many families and individuals, rather than donations for individuals alone.
In 2021, we will do this by a democratic process, where our staff nominate and vote for our official Charities of the Year. We nominate our charities once a year at the end of April, and will ensure Miles for Men are considered at this time for our 2021/2022 charitable support.
