All I'm suggesting is that if you've got a solicitor who's been great with you in the past, stick with them. If not, get a recommendation from someone who has a basic understanding of what you're doing (somersoft forumites!). It's not something I'd leave to chance.
My personal experiences with solicitors has been quite good. The first guy was fine, but I didn't get the right feeling from him. For the second property we went on a referal from another solicitor and had a great result. We've stuck with him since.
Despite never having a really bad experience, I have seen clients who have and it has cost them in all sorts of ways (money, tears, extreme stress).