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.

 

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please tell the lawyer who has been dealing with your case why you are unhappy. They will review what has happened and try to agree with you how matters can be put right. In most cases this resolves the problem, but if it does not you need to make a formal request in writing (which includes email) explaining what has gone wrong and asking us to investigate your complaint formally.

 

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of our receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of our complaints procedure.
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
  3. The Client Care Partner will either:

(a) send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 20 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter; or

(b) invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

  1. Within five working days of any meeting, the Client Care Partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
  2. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner to review the decision.
  3. We will write to you within 10 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  4. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
  5. If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Ombudsman’s address is PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, telephone 0300 555 0333. Please note that you must refer your complaint to the Ombudsman within six years from when the problem you are complaining about happened or (if you did not realise you could make a complaint at the time) within three years of when you should have reasonably known you had cause for complaint.
  6. If your complaint is about the way a solicitor has behaved, rather than the work they have done for you, you can complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Their address is The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN, telephone 0370 606 2555.