Stand at the Market Cross and the whole of Chichester's legal geography is within a few minutes' walk: the cathedral to the west, County Hall, where West Sussex County Council sits, to the north, the Combined Court Centre at Southgate to the south, and the offices of the city's law firms scattered through the Pallants and the four streets. Chichester is a small county town with a large hinterland. The harbour villages of Bosham, Itchenor and the Witterings, the fishing town of Selsey, the glasshouses of the coastal plain, Goodwood with its racing, motoring and Rolls-Royce factory, and the Downs towns of Midhurst and Petworth all look to it for their solicitors, and so does a population that has retired here in large numbers.
The courts
Chichester Combined Court Centre holds the Crown Court that serves the west of the county and the county court. Family hearings and magistrates' cases for the district go to the family court and the local magistrates' court that serve the area, which are not always in the city itself, and employment tribunal claims from West Sussex are listed by the tribunal's south-east region, often by video, so a Chichester solicitor is used to travelling. Serious cases from the coast and the Downs are tried in Chichester, which keeps a group of criminal defence firms in a city that would otherwise be too small for them.
What people here need
Retirement sets the tone. Wills, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, care-fee planning and probate are the largest part of many Chichester practices, and inheritance tax is a live question in a district where a harbourside house or a flint cottage in the Downs can be worth a great deal. Property work follows: conveyancing with flood and erosion searches on the Manhood Peninsula, second homes at West Wittering, listed buildings in the city centre, farms and horticultural land, and leasehold retirement flats with service charges to check. Employment and business law come from Rolls-Royce and the Goodwood estate, the nurseries and their seasonal workforces, the county council, St Richard's Hospital, the university and the Festival Theatre. Family and divorce work carries pensions, second marriages and prenuptial agreements for older couples, and criminal work is dominated by the A27 and the district's rural crime.
Fees and legal aid in Chichester
Fixed fees are standard for wills, powers of attorney, conveyancing and uncontested divorces, and most firms will quote hourly rates with an estimate for anything contested. Legal aid is limited to criminal defence, domestic abuse and care cases and a little housing work; few Chichester firms hold a contract, so ask straight away. Check home insurance for legal expenses cover and read whether legal help can be free before paying. Every firm listed is SRA-regulated, and featured firms have passed this site's verification.
Next steps
Each area of law has its own Chichester page below, with firms listed beneath the text. The Chichester search finds solicitors near any address from Selsey to Midhurst, the West Sussex search covers the county and the Hampshire search the villages over the border. The nearest large cities are served by Best Solicitors in Portsmouth and Best Solicitors in Brighton & Hove, and the legal insights section explains the law in plain English.
