Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards. On request we can provide a copy of this policy translated into your language.
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. As you were informed in a letter you received at the start of your case, you should seek first to resolve any complaint with the member of the firm responsible for your case. If we are unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, you should take the matter up with the Complaints Partner. If the person dealing with your case is the Complaints Partner, then another partner in the firm will deal with your complaint.
What will happen next?
1. If you decide to take the matter up with the Complaints Partner, we will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. The Complaints Partner will then investigate your complaint: they will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. The Complaints Partner will write to you with the outcome of this investigation, within a maximum of eight weeks of receiving your complaint.
2. Remedial action will be taken promptly; any appropriate redress will be considered. Defects in the firm’s procedures will be corrected. Criticisms of staff that are substantiated will be followed up by action to ensure that errors or shortcomings are corrected and do not recur. You will not be charged for the handling of your complaint, and we will cease corresponding with you about the complaint if we are satisfied that we have dealt with it fully.
3. We are permitted a period of eight weeks to consider the complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. You are free to refer any complaint about our work, fees, or level of service but there are some conditions and time limits. Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of you having received a final written response from us about your complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission which you are complaining about occurring, or from when you should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.
For further information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted in writing at PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
4. Please note that we cannot deal with complaints made more than 6 years after we finished work on your case.
5. If you think a solicitor might be dishonest or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, you have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are no time limits for making a report but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. Please note that the SRA is not able to deal with issues of poor service (complaints of this nature should instead be referred to the Legal Ombudsman). For further information about the SRA’s role, please contact the SRA or visit: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page#report