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Complaints Procedure

On receipt of your initial instructions, we will have written to you advising of the name and status of the person directly responsible for your matter, together with the name and status of the Client Partner who has been assigned for overall responsibility.

All clients are informed that if there is anything that they are not clear about, they should not hesitate to ask the person dealing with the matter for further information or clarification.

The person with the day-to-day conduct of your matter will make every effort to ensure that you are kept fully informed at all times.  However, if you consider that any problem has arisen with regard to the service provided, you should raise the matter either with the person dealing with your matter or directly with your Client Partner.

When a complaint is received by us, whether orally or in writing, or any form of grievance is expressed, it is immediately notified to our Quality Manager, Leigh Mollison.  Leigh keeps a record of all complaints and the manner in which they are dealt centrally.

  • You will receive within 48 hours a written acknowledgment of your complaint advising that it is being investigated. This acknowledgement will be from the person who will investigate your complaint and you will then be able to communicate directly with them.  This will normally be either Leigh Mollison, the relevant Head of Department or your Client Partner, depending upon the nature of your complaint.  The investigation will generally require a review of the case files and discussion with the people who have been involved in your matter.  We aim to provide you with a full written response within 21 working days of that acknowledgement including any proposals that we might make to remedy or rectify the problem.  If you agree that the suggested remedy will rectify the problem the appropriate action will be taken, you will be written to again, confirming that the action has been taken, expressing our apology as appropriate, and seeking your confirmation that you are satisfied as to the remedial action taken.
  • However, if you are not satisfied with the explanation given or the remedial action to be taken, you will be informed that you can request a review of your complaint, and any further representations you wish to make. The review will be undertaken by either our Quality Manager, Leigh Mollison or, if she has already responded to your complaint and you require a review of her response, our Compliance Partner, Jonathan Wilby.
  • If a complaint is referred for review, following the steps described above, either Leigh or Jonathan (depending on who is carrying out the review) will be provided with the file and full details of the matter. They will write to you within 2 working days of their involvement stating that the matter has been brought to their attention and that they are investigating and will contact you within a further 21 working days with a final decision.  It may be appropriate for them to contact you for further information prior to reaching a final decision and you will be told if it might take longer to complete the review than initially expected.
  • Every effort will be made to deal with every complaint or grievance within the time scales set out above and to the complete satisfaction of our clients, so that we maintain the goodwill of clients for the future. However, if, despite the above procedures, it is apparent that you are not satisfied with the final decision, then you will be reminded that you are entitled to bring the matter to the attention of the Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are:
    PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH or enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
    The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
  • The SRA can help you 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.
    You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority whose contact details are The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.