Policy

We take very seriously all expressions of dissatisfaction from our clients.  If you have received this leaflet, it is likely that you have already expressed your concerns verbally or in writing to your lawyer, their Supervisor or the Managing Partner who is ultimately responsible for dealing with complaints. This leaflet explains our procedures for handling complaints to ensure that each complaint is dealt with swiftly in an attempt to reach an amicable and satisfactory solution.

Reporting & Investigation Responsibilities

Informal verbal complaints should be addressed to your lawyer in the first instance.  If you are not satisfied with their proposals, then the matter should be taken up with the Supervisor responsible for their work. The name of that Partner will have been given in your initial client care letter, but if you are unable to locate this, you can ask your lawyer or a member of our support staff.  If the matter cannot be resolved informally with your lawyer, it would assist investigations if you were to fully detail your concerns in writing so there is less room for misunderstanding your concerns and requirements.

Response Times

Written complaints will be acknowledged within 3 working days of receipt whereby the name of the person responsible for handling the complaint will be confirmed.  A full reply will be sent as soon as the matter has been investigated and our proposals for dealing with your concerns have been agreed upon.  In any case, we will always endeavour to provide a full response within 20 working days.  If that is not possible, an interim response will be given explaining why it is not possible to meet this deadline, when we expect our investigations to be completed and a response finalised. If we have not finalised our response within 40 working days, you have the right to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Unresolved Issues

If, in the unusual event that we are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you are able to take the matter up with the Legal Ombudsman (Office for Legal Complaints).  The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough  SL1 0EH, Tel: 0300 555 0333,  www.legalombudsman.org.uk. The Legal Ombudsman will normally expect you to have taken the matter through our complaints procedure before he will investigate your complaint. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made: • Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint
and • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or • No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

Complaints About Misconduct

If you have any concerns about any misconduct or breach of the SRA Code of Conduct by our firm such as taking or losing your money, dishonesty or discrimination, you can also report the matter to our regulatory body, the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Their details are:

The Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Cube
Wharfside Street
Birmingham

B1 1RN
0370 606 2555

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

Management

All complaints (written or verbal) are recorded and logged centrally to enable us to detect recurring problems and trends.  As necessary, we will implement corrective action in response to individual complaints and improvement measures to prevent adverse trends and correct recurring problems.  In this manner, we aim to constantly improve the service we provide.