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Alastair Cook opens law firm’s new advice centre

England cricket captain Alastair Cook was guest of honour at the launch of a new drop-in legal advice centre in Manchester.

The record-breaking batsman visited the city to officially open law firm Slater and Gordon’s latest venture at its flagship UK office.

It means prospective clients can now call in without an appointment and speak to trained advisors.

Some services, such as wills, can even be drawn up while clients wait in as little as half an hour.

Alastair, who has led his country to two Ashes victories and was awarded the MBE for his services to the sport, said: “In court, as in cricket, you always want your team to be better than the other side so choosing the right lawyer is vital.

“If it’s the first time you’ve sought legal advice it can be difficult to know where to go and what to ask, so this is the perfect place where people can just walk in.”

The sportsman, who recently delivered England’s longest ever innings, batting for almost 14 hours in the first test against Pakistan, cut the ribbon in front of an audience of local business leaders and their families.

Children from cricket clubs in the area were also invited along to meet their hero who happily posed with them for pictures and signed autographs.

Since its launch in September, the centre – which is open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday – has averaged around 100 visitors per day.

Serious or urgent cases are immediately referred to a specialist lawyer at the firm, where possible with a face-to-face meeting organised there and then.

There will also be regular surgeries staffed by experts from the different departments such as clinical negligence, road traffic collisions, employment and family law.

Neil Kinsella, head of general law at Slater and Gordon, said: “We have many clients who are happy to contact us online or over the telephone, but for some there’s no substitute for the personal touch.

“Not only is it quick and convenient, but the informal setting and face-to-face contact make the whole process of speaking to a lawyer a lot less daunting.

“The feedback we’ve received from clients so far has been overwhelmingly positive and to secure a visit from one of the greatest sportsmen our country has ever produced was the icing on the cake.”

The centre, on the ground floor of the Mosley Street office, underwent an innovative makeover before being opened to the public.

It includes private meeting rooms, a seating area where people can read legal literature at their leisure and an activity corner for kids.

Mr Kinsella added: “There are few firms that can offer the same breadth of legal services in such a prime, city centre location.

“This further significant investment in a walk-in centre simply underlines our commitment to making world class legal services easily accessible to everyone.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Susan Carr .