There was a self-contained local firm of solicitors in the marketplace in Saxmundham throughout most of the Twentieth Century. Known as “J Noel Cooper and Williamson”, this was under the proprietorship of the late Wilfred Williamson until his retirement in the 1970s. The firm then entered a 25 year marriage with Jackaman Smith and Mulley, the two-hundred-year-old Ipswich firm. Then, in 1999, the former branch in Saxmundham reverted to its independent status serving the local community, from an autonomous local office.

The reasons for these changes are not mysterious in any way. The quickening pace of legal changes in the 1970s, serving a much more demanding public meant that a small local office in a provincial market town could not survive and be really competent or competitive. The better back-up in legal materials and marketing resources of a bigger office were essential.

Of course that has all now changed. Our firm is one of the most electronically advanced in the region. Our legal resources come to us over the Internet from all the major legal publishing houses. Our production of documents and correspondence is virtually instantaneous. Our time recording and accounting were computerised in the mid 80’s. And marketing? Well doesn’t this web-site tell you where we stand on that?

We prefer communication by e-mail, which can be received by our staff anywhere and at any time, whether in the office or elsewhere.

We are confident that a small local office can now offer expertise in its chosen fields at a level that, say, ten years ago, might not have been possible or would only have been available at very great cost.