We value your business and we are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. It is therefore important to raise any concerns you may have with us immediately when something goes wrong. This will help us to improve our standards.
What constitutes a complaint?
Any expression of dissatisfaction in any form from a client is identified as a possible complaint. All members of staff are trained to deal with any expressions of dissatisfaction and it is their job to take a view about whether a matter should be recorded as a formal complaint. All formal complaints are dealt with in accordance with our complaints procedure.
Instances of formal complaints could include:
- Anyone notifying us, either verbally or in writing, that a complaint is being made;
- Any dissatisfaction expressed concerning the way a matter is being or has been dealt with;
- Issues concerning bills and payments; should your query relate to a bill you must inform us within one month of receipt.
- A member of staff judging the matter to be sufficiently serious to warrant recording as a formal complaint;
- The client bypassing a member of staff taking the complaint directly to a partner or the Client Care & Compliance Manager responsible for dealing with complaints.
Please note that disputes concerning bills may also be dealt with by applying to the Court for assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.Where all or any part of the account remains unpaid, interest may be charged by us on the unpaid amount of the account. Further details are provided on the reverse of every bill.
Our Complaints Procedure
If you are dissatisfied with the service or wish to discuss or challenge a bill you have received, in the first instance, please raise your concerns with the member of staff who is dealing with your matter. If you are still dissatisfied, please address your concerns with Stephen Fox, Partner.
Upon receipt of your complaint – what will happen next?
Within 5 working days we will:
- Send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint.
- Record your complaint in our central register
- Ask you to provide confirmation and explain any detail which is unclear
Our Investigation into your complaint
Stephen Fox, Partner, will start to investigate your complaint with the file holder involved and;
- May ask the file holder who acted for you to review and comment on your matter within five working days.
- Within 10 working days of receiving your complaint, we will write to you responding directly to the concerns/complaints raised.
- We may invite you to meet Stephen Fox, or another Partner, to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. Within 7 working days of the meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.
- If we change any of the time scales mentioned above, we will let you know and explain why. We will always aim to resolve your complaint within eight weeks from when your complaint was made.
- If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your complaint, you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
Please note that any referral to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within 6 months from receiving our written response to your complaint made. The Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have made an application for assessment to the Court. Alternative complaints bodies such as Ombudsman Services exist who are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. We do not agree to use these alternative schemes.
Firms and individuals working within them are regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority. Concerns with regard to the conduct of a firm or regulated individual can be raised with the SRA at any time via their website sra.org.uk or by writing to Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.