Complaints Procedure:

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have provided then you should inform us immediately by telephone or in writing, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

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 below:

We will treat your complaint as confidential although we may discuss it with other solicitors or officials from the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Sole Practitioners Group. We will not reveal your name to others unless we appoint an independent person to investigate a complaint or set up mediation.

Complaints by telephone

You may make a complaint by telephone and we will endeavour to resolve the issue with you on the telephone.

Complaints in writing

If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone, we will request that you to write to us about it within the following 14 days so that it can be investigated formally. 

Procedure

We may deal with your complaint by telephone, in writing, at a meeting between us or by the appointment of an independent person.

If we decide to appoint an independent person to investigate the complaint eg: another solicitor we both would need to agree who to appoint. 

Upon receipt of a written complaint we will:

1) Send you a letter, normally within two working days, to acknowledge your complaint. We may request further information at this point.

2)  We will then investigate your complaint and respond fully to your complaint within fourteen working days. If it is appropriate we will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint.

3) Within three working days of the meeting we will write to you to confirm the outcome of that meeting. 

4) If it is not possible to hold a meeting then we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint within twenty one working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. 

5) If you are still not satisfied with the outcome then with your consent we can arrange for another solicitor or for an alternative complaints body such as ProMediate who deal with complaints about legal services to review your complaint.

We will maintain confidentiality at all times and discuss your complaint only as necessary for its resolution and to comply with requests for information from the SRA. If any of the timings above have to be changed we will let you know and explain the reason.

We will retain all correspondence and other documents generated in the course of your complaint for a period of six years and we will review complaints at least once a year to ensure that we maintain good standards of service.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

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 take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

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

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

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.