Longmire House, 36-38 London Road, AL1 1NG 01727 833134 Mon to Fri 09:00 to 17:00 SRA 568127
Photiades Solicitors and Witts Moloney · St Albans · since 1974 Call the office 01727 833134
St Albans, Hertfordshire · since 1974 · two offices, one telephone

A Hertfordshire practice on London Road, since 1974.

52 years of continuous practice in St Albans, opened in 1974 by John Photiades and held since 2003 from Longmire House at 36-38 London Road, a Victorian post-office building inscribed in stone with the name of the builder who restored the Cathedral. The firm merged with Witts Moloney of Hemel Hempstead and today runs two Hertfordshire offices under three directors. David Shiebert has held the same desk inside this building since 1986.

Call the office · 01727 833134 What we do
Since 1974 52 years on London Road
Two offices St Albans and Hemel Hempstead
SRA 568127 Recognised body since July 2012
Resolution Accredited family mediator on site
The west front of St Albans Cathedral in afternoon light, four minutes on foot from the Photiades office at Longmire House on London Road.
Longmire House · 36-38 London Road · AL1 1NG Four minutes on foot from the Cathedral. Fifteen minutes from St Albans City Station.
52 years on London Road
2 offices: Longmire House (St Albans) and Marlowes Court (Hemel Hempstead)
40 years David Shiebert has held a desk in this building
SRA Recognised body 568127, since July 2012
What we do

Four lines of work, kept inside one office and one telephone number.

A general high-street practice with a commercial-property arm bolted on through the Hemel merger. Property and probate are the spine; family law (with an in-house Resolution-accredited mediator) and business and employment law run alongside them, supervised by the directors you meet when you walk through the door at Longmire House.

Property and conveyancing

Residential freehold and leasehold purchase, residential sale, remortgage, transfer of equity, commercial property acquisition and disposal. Will Harvey heads the department with twenty years on the Hertfordshire conveyancing belt; Stuart Wilkins (Licensed Conveyancer) and Abigail Mann support. The fee scale is quoted in writing on day one and reconciled on completion. Searches and ID checks, Land Registry, CHAPS, indemnity insurance: all itemised in advance, no surprises on the final bill.

Wills, trusts and probate

Will drafting, lasting powers of attorney, probate, full estate administration, tax planning around inheritance and the family home. Jonathan Cox (consultant) and the wider private-client team handle the day-to-day; same firm holding the file across the decade for the families that ask for it. Continuity of relationship is the part of this work that most generalist directories miss.

Family, mediation and dispute resolution

Divorce, financial settlements, child arrangements, separation, family-home matters. David Shiebert is the Resolution-accredited mediator and a collaborative lawyer, and runs both commercial and family mediations from the St Albans office. Fixed-price advice is offered where the matter is bounded; hourly with a written estimate where the matter is genuinely variable. The cost is in writing either way before the chargeable work begins.

Commercial, employment and litigation

Acquisition and disposal of businesses and commercial property, commercial leases, employment law for employers, commercial dispute resolution, personal-injury claims. Will Harvey and David Shiebert split the supervision between them; Linda Witts at the Hemel office adds forty years of commercial knowledge of the Marlowes Court corridor that no St Albans-only firm holds.

52 years on London Road

1974, John Photiades opens the practice.

The practice opened in 1974 to serve individuals and small businesses in St Albans and the surrounding Hertfordshire towns. The doorplate has read Photiades through every change of decade, every Prime Minister, every recession and every property cycle since. David Shiebert arrived in 1986 with a Cambridge Master of Arts in Law and has held a desk inside Longmire House every working day since.

The building itself is older than the firm. Longmire House at 36-38 London Road was put up as St Albans' first proper post office by the Victorian builder William Longmire (1812 to 1887), whose firm of builders carried out all the restoration work on St Albans Cathedral right up to 1893. The cornerstone is still inscribed "Longmire House" in stone today. The firm took the long lease and made it the practice's home.

In 2012 the practice incorporated as Photiades Solicitors Limited, with Will Harvey, David Shiebert and Jonathan Cox as founding directors. In 2023 the firm merged with Witts Moloney of Hemel Hempstead; the combined practice now operates from two offices, Longmire House and Marlowes Court, under the same SRA recognised-body number. In May 2026 Rhea Uppal was appointed to the board, the first new board appointment since incorporation.

"It was clear from our initial discussions that we share a common culture and focus. Whilst others have been drawn to the bright lights and attractions of the London market, both of our firms have championed the needs of local people, something we are committed to continue." Linda Witts, Senior Partner, on the Photiades and Witts Moloney merger
1974 John Photiades opens the practice on London Road, St Albans, to serve individuals and small businesses in Hertfordshire. The firm later takes a long lease on Longmire House at 36-38 London Road, a Victorian post-office building inscribed in stone with its builder's name.
1986 David Shiebert, Cambridge MA (Law), joins the practice. He has held a desk on London Road every working day since.
2003 Will Harvey arrives as a property solicitor; he later heads the department and is appointed Managing Partner.
2012 The practice incorporates as Photiades Solicitors Limited on 20 March 2012 at Companies House number 07997685. Founding directors: Will Harvey, David Shiebert, Jonathan Cox. The Solicitors Regulation Authority recognises the body on 11 July 2012 under SRA number 568127.
2023 Photiades merges with the Hemel Hempstead practice Witts Moloney. Linda Witts joins as Senior Partner, then Consultant; the firm now operates from two offices in Hertfordshire, Longmire House and Marlowes Court.
2025 Jonathan Cox steps down from the board after 13 years and continues with the firm as a consultant. The directors are Will Harvey and David Shiebert.
2026 Rhea Uppal is appointed to the board on 14 May 2026, the first new board appointment since incorporation. 52 years on London Road. Three directors, two offices, one telephone number.
The directors

Three directors, named in writing on every file you instruct.

Photiades Solicitors Limited is run by three directors, each holding their own SRA number. Continuity of relationship is the deliberate house style: the person who took your call is the person who reads your file across the years and across the matters.

Will Harvey, Managing Partner and Director at Photiades Solicitors, Longmire House, St Albans.

William John Harvey

Managing Partner and Director SRA 147466

Heads the Property department. Twenty years in residential and commercial conveyancing across Hertfordshire and the Hemel corridor. Acquisitions and disposals of commercial property and businesses, freehold and leasehold residential transactions, development work. The director who picks up the call about a chain that has stalled at exchange.

David Shiebert, Director and Solicitor at Photiades Solicitors, Longmire House, St Albans.

David Anthony Shiebert

Director and Solicitor SRA 133351

A Cambridge Master of Arts in Law who first walked into the practice in 1986 and never moved firm. Heads Dispute Resolution, Family, Employment and Personal Injury. Resolution accredited mediator, collaborative lawyer, has run both commercial and family mediations from the same desk. Hosts the firm garden party every July.

Rhea Uppal

Director and Associate Solicitor SRA 7018702

Appointed to the board on 14 May 2026. The youngest director in the firm and the first new board appointment since incorporation. Continues to hold an associate solicitor caseload in private client and conveyancing, supervised alongside Will Harvey.

Consultants

Three additional senior solicitors at the firm.

Linda Witts

Consultant, Commercial and Property

Forty-plus years in Hertfordshire commercial law. Joined Photiades as Senior Partner from Witts Moloney on the merger; based today at the Marlowes Court office in Hemel Hempstead.

Jonathan Cox

Consultant Solicitor, Conveyancing and Wills

A founding director of the limited company (2012 to 2025); now continues with the firm as a consultant on selected conveyancing and private-client matters.

Abigail Mann

Consultant Solicitor, Property

Buying and selling, freehold and leasehold residential transactions; supports the Property department under Will Harvey.

Longmire House · the building

The Victorian builder who restored the Abbey put up the building we work from.

When the railway came to St Albans in the 1860s the town outgrew its old post office on Holywell Hill. The contract for the new building on London Road went to William Longmire, the Victorian master builder whose firm was simultaneously carrying out the restoration work on the Norman Abbey at the top of the hill. He put up 36-38 London Road as St Albans' first proper post office, inscribed the cornerstone "Longmire House", and the inscription has not been touched since.

The building outlived its purpose as a post office, took a long lease to Photiades Solicitors in the 2000s, and has been the firm's address ever since. The technical specifics most local-business directories miss: this is not a converted shopfront with a solicitor's name pasted on, and not a serviced office on the upper floor of a chain. It is a 19th-century purpose-built professional building in continuous use as a place of work for 150 years, kept by a 50-year solicitor's practice for the last quarter of that.

  • The same address since 2003. The lease was renegotiated once, in 2017, on the same terms. The street number has not changed.
  • Two minutes from the conveyancing search registers. The local Land Charges register at St Albans Council, the District Land Registry at Stevenage, and HMRC's Hatfield office are all inside the M25's quiet northwest quadrant.
  • Four minutes from the Cathedral. The same Cathedral Longmire restored. Use the back-lane shortcut up Sopwell Lane; reception will draw you a map.
The Norman crossing tower of St Albans Cathedral, built by Robert the Mason c. 1077-1093 and restored by William Longmire's firm in the 1880s. Longmire later built the post office that became Longmire House on London Road, the building Photiades Solicitors occupies today.
The Norman crossing tower · restored by William Longmire's firm The only 11th-century crossing tower still standing in England, built using Roman bricks quarried from the ruins of Verulamium one mile west.
St Albans · the city around the office

Hertfordshire's oldest town, four minutes from the door.

A 50-year solicitor's practice does not have a "case-study portfolio" the way an architect does. What it has is a context. These are the streets the work happens inside, three scenes from the few hundred metres around Longmire House.

London Road shopfronts in St Albans, looking towards the Cathedral, a few doors up from Longmire House.
London Road Looking up the hill towards the Cathedral from a few doors below the office.
The remains of the Roman London Gate in Verulamium Park, where Watling Street entered the Roman city in the 3rd century AD.
Verulamium Park The Roman London Gate, AD 270, ten minutes' walk west of the office.
The remains of the Roman wall of Verulamium in Verulamium Park, St Albans, built between AD 265 and 270.
The Roman wall Built AD 265 to 270, traceable for most of its two-mile circuit.
Make an enquiry · one working day

Tell us what you need. We will respond within one working day.

A short enquiry form for an initial response by telephone or email. Once we understand the matter we can quote a fixed fee where the work supports it, or hourly with an estimated total where it does not. We say so in writing either way before any chargeable work begins.

  • Initial response within one working day from receipt
  • Written engagement letter before any chargeable work begins
  • Visit Longmire House, Mon to Fri 09:00 to 17:00
  • Hemel Hempstead office available by appointment on the same number

Send an enquiry

We reply within one working day on weekdays. Alternatively, telephone the office on 01727 833134 or email enquiries@photiades.com directly.

Visit us · two offices

Longmire House on London Road. Marlowes Court in Hemel Hempstead.

The St Albans office occupies Longmire House at the lower end of London Road, four minutes on foot from the Cathedral and fifteen from the City Station. The Hemel Hempstead office at Marlowes Court is on the same telephone number and is reached by appointment.

Longmire House, St Albans

Longmire House
36-38 London Road
St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 1NG

  • Telephone01727 833134
  • Emailenquiries@photiades.com
  • HoursMon to Fri, 09:00 to 17:00. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
  • NearestSt Albans City Station, 15 minutes on foot.
  • ParkingDrovers Way and Russell Street car parks, 5 minutes on foot.
Longmire House, 36-38 London Road, AL1 1NG. Four minutes from the Cathedral, fifteen from St Albans City Station. Open in Google Maps ↗

Marlowes Court, Hemel Hempstead

Marlowes Court
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

  • Telephone01727 833134
  • HoursBy appointment, booked on the St Albans number.
  • Office leadLinda Witts, Consultant (formerly Witts Moloney).
  • CatchmentHemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and the western Herts corridor.
Frequently asked

Five questions we hear most at reception.

Are Photiades and Witts Moloney the same firm now?

Yes. Photiades Solicitors merged with Witts Moloney, the Hemel Hempstead practice, and now operates from two offices in Hertfordshire: Longmire House at 36-38 London Road in St Albans, and Marlowes Court in Hemel Hempstead. Both offices share the same telephone number, the same SRA recognised-body number (568127), the same client-account framework, and the same three directors. Linda Witts, who joined as Senior Partner on the merger, continues with the firm as Consultant and is most often found at the Marlowes Court desk.

Who will actually be handling my conveyancing?

A named solicitor or licensed conveyancer, written into the engagement letter before any chargeable work begins. Will Harvey heads the Property department and supervises every file. The day-to-day conveyancer on a residential matter is typically Stuart Wilkins (Licensed Conveyancer) or Abigail Mann (Consultant Solicitor), with Will Harvey signing off on completion. Commercial property and development work goes directly through Will Harvey. The name on the engagement letter is the person who handles your call when you ring the office.

Do you publish a conveyancing fee scale?

We quote in writing on day one and reconcile on completion. Legal fees are scaled by transaction size and type (freehold, leasehold, remortgage, transfer of equity); disbursements (searches, Land Registry, CHAPS, indemnity insurance, ID checks) are itemised separately in writing before instruction is accepted. The number on the engagement letter is the number on the completion statement. Where the matter is genuinely too variable for a fixed quote (a development site with an outstanding ransom-strip negotiation, for example) we say so and explain why in writing.

How long has Photiades been on London Road?

Since 1974, when John Photiades opened the practice. The firm took Longmire House at 36-38 London Road as its long-term home; the building itself was put up by the Victorian builder William Longmire (1812 to 1887), the same firm of builders responsible for the restoration of St Albans Cathedral. The cornerstone is still inscribed "Longmire House" in stone today. David Shiebert has held a desk inside that building every working day since 1986. The address has not moved in 52 years.

Where do I park near Longmire House?

On-street pay-and-display along the lower end of London Road, then a one-minute walk uphill to the door. The closer paid car parks are Drovers Way and Russell Street, both five minutes on foot; St Albans City Station is fifteen minutes on foot or four minutes by taxi. The reception desk holds a small printed map for visitors arriving by train, available on request when you book the appointment.