About Us

About Gaby Hardwicke Solicitors - a leading Sussex law firm

Gaby Hardwicke Solicitors is a leading Sussex law firm with offices in Eastbourne, Bexhill and Hastings. We provide a wide range of legal services for businesses and individuals.

Our History

Dr Frederick Goodwin founded the firm in Hastings in 1889 and was joined in practice by Ralph Gaby three years later. Goodwin retired from the partnership in 1894 and Gaby continued alone until Allen Hardwicke became a partner after the First World War and the firm’s title altered accordingly.

Gaby Hardwicke Solicitors today

Gaby Hardwicke has grown substantially since those early years but still retains the values of its 19th-century founders Frederick Goodwin and Ralph Gaby, who instilled the pursuit of excellence, a caring approach and the provision of fast, effective legal advice at the core of the firm’s philosophy. However we also pride ourselves on innovation and have stayed at the forefront of new legal developments. For example, Gaby Hardwicke made legal history as the first law firm to serve a court summons via Facebook, and we secured the first reported High Court injunction over the misuse of LinkedIn.

To read more of what our clients say about our service, take a look at some recent testimonials. If you’d like further details about any aspect of our service, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you would like to read about our commitment to ethics and the environment please see our Corporate Social Responsibility policy, or if you are unhappy with any aspect of our service please read our Complaints policy. If you would like to read about our charging structure for Probate, Employment Law, Debt Recovery and Residential Conveyancing work please see our Charging policy.

If you would like to read more about our firm’s diversity see our 2023 diversity and inclusion statistics.

Firm Facts

  • Founded in 1889
  • 65 solicitors and executives
  • 18 partners

Practice areas

  • Commercial dispute resolution
  • Commercial property
  • Company and commercial law
  • Corporate finance
  • Elderly affairs management
  • Employment law
  • Family law
  • Intellectual property
  • Lasting powers of attorney
  • Personal injury
  • Property law
  • Residential property
  • Wills, trusts and probate

Accreditations

  • Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
  • Headway – The Brain Injury Association
  • Resolution – First for Family Law
  • Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
  • Spinal Injuries Association (SIA)
  • The Law Society – Family Law Panel
  • The Law Society – Clinical Negligence Panel
  • The Law Society – Personal Injury Panel
  • The Law Society – Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Awards

  • The Law Society 2018 – Highly Commended in the Law Society’s 2018 Excellence Awards
  • CorpINTL  2018 – Regional SME Corporate Acquisitions Law Firm of the Year
  • 1066 Business Awards  2015 – Large Business of the Year
  • LFS Conveyancing Awards  2013 – Estate Agents Conveyancing Firm of the Year – Silver Award
  • Finance Monthly Law Awards  2011 – Regional Law Firm of the Year