INFORMATION ABOUT OUR COMPLAINTS PROCESS, RAISING CONCERNS TO THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN AND TO THE SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY

We want to give you the best possible service and are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients . However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided, then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem by working with you as this will help us to improve our standards.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns, and we will do our best to resolve any issues.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure full complaints procedure here. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within five working days of us receiving your complaint.
  2. We will open a separate file and record your complaint. We will do this within one working day of receiving your complaint.
  3. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:
    • We will pass your complaint to a partner, within three working days.
    • The partner will ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply/comment on your complaint within five working days.
    • The partner will then examine their reply and the information in your file and, if necessary, the partner may also speak to them.  This will take up to five working days from receiving their reply and the file.
  4. The partner will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. If the partner does this, this will be done within a further five working days.
  5. Within five working days of the meeting, the partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions that have been agreed with you.
    • If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, you must put this in writing to the partner, who will then send you a detailed reply to your complaint.  This will include suggestions for resolving the matter.  This will be done within five working days of completing the investigation.
  6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you should contact us again. We will then arrange to review our decision. This will happen in one of the following ways:
    • Another partner of the firm will review the decision within ten working days.
    • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation within ten working days. We will let you know how long this process will take depending on the circumstances.
  7. We will let you know the result of the review within five working days of the end of the review. At this time, we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If, in the unlikely event, we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.  This will predominantly be to accommodate yourself and in accordance with our own operational demands at the time.

WHAT TO DO IF WE CANNOT RESOLVE YOUR COMPLAINT

If you are still not satisfied, The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must make and take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, which must be made within the below limitation periods:

  • Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint; and
  • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

For more information contact The Legal Ombudsman on:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 0EH

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Relay UK: 18001 0300 555 0333
Overseas: +441212453050

If you would like more information from the Legal Ombudsman, then please contact them.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY WITH OUR BEHAVIOUR

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.