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.

If you are dissatisfied with the service you are being given or any aspect of your bill, you should contact the fee-earner responsible immediately and advise him/her of the nature of your dissatisfaction.

If you are not satisfied after discussion with the fee-earner, you should detail in writing your complaints to our Client Care Partner, Carl Bate.

What will happen next?

1. He will contact you and will either invite you to a meeting to discuss the complaint and attempt to resolve it or will provide a written report. You will be contacted within 7 days of receiving your complaint to give you time scales within which the complaint will be dealt with. A complaint file will be opened, and details of the complaint recorded on the firm’s complaint management form.

2. He will then investigate your complaint by meeting with the fee-earner who had conduct of your matter to discuss the situation and asking them to provide further details. A review of your matter file will also be undertaken.

3. We aim to get back to you within 21 days of an investigation having been carried out.

4. If a meeting is held with you, he will then write to you within 7 days of the meeting, confirming the discussions that took place and any solutions that have been agreed.

5. The letter will contain details of what you should do if you are still unhappy with the outcome. If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you will be asked to write a secondary letter explaining why.

The firm will then arrange for a review of the Client Care Partner’s decision by the Firm’s Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP).

6. The COLP will then write to the complainant within five working days of the conclusion of the review, detailing the outcome of the review, and what the firm’s final position is with regards to the complaint.

This letter will contain details of the Legal Ombudsman, who should be contacted if the complainant is still not satisfied. These details are: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ. Telephone No. 0300 555 0333. E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Should you wish to obtain a copy of the Solicitors Handbook, you can do so by going on line at www.sra.org.uk/handbook/

Please note that you must make your Complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the date of our final response to you.

If you do complain to the Legal Ombudsman and your complaint is not upheld, we reserve the right to bill you for any cost the Legal Ombudsman has charged us for the investigation.

7. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.