Complaints Handling Procedure

Our Commitment to You

In accordance with the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors and the SRA Transparency Rules, complaints are treated with the utmost seriousness, investigated objectively by our Complaints Handling Supervisor, and addressed without any charge to you. Raising a complaint will never prejudice your ongoing matter or our commitment to your legal interests.

Step 1: Contacting Your Fee Earner or Case Supervisor

Often issues arise due to communication delays or misunderstandings regarding procedural steps. In the first instance, please contact the fee earner dealing with your matter (or their named Supervising Solicitor as set out in your Client Care Letter) to discuss your concerns directly. They will endeavour to resolve the concern informally within 3 business days.

Step 2: Formal Complaint to our Complaints Handling Supervisor

If your fee earner cannot resolve the matter to your satisfaction, or if you prefer not to discuss it with them, please submit your formal complaint in writing (by post or email) to our Principal Director and Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP):

Investigation & Internal Review Timetable:

• Acknowledgement: Within 3 to 7 business days of receiving your complaint, we will send a written acknowledgement enclosing a copy of this procedure.
• Full Investigation & Meeting/Written Response: One of our Directors will examine your complete matter file, review correspondence, and take the views of the member of staff who acted for you. Within 14 to 21 days of our acknowledgement, we will either invite you to a meeting to discuss and resolve your complaint (confirming the outcome in writing within 3 days of the meeting) or send you a detailed written response setting out our findings and proposals for resolution.
• Internal Review by an Unconnected Director: If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our initial written decision, you may request an internal review. We will arrange for another Director within the firm who was unconnected with your matter to review the decision and confirm our final position in writing within 14 to 21 days (and in all cases within the statutory maximum of 8 weeks from initial receipt of your complaint).

Step 3: Escalating to the Legal Ombudsman

If we have been unable to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks of receiving it, or if you remain dissatisfied after receiving our final written response, you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent body that investigates complaints about poor service from lawyers in England and Wales.

Right to Object to a Bill (Solicitors Act 1974)

If your complaint relates to our bill of costs, you may also have the right to object to the bill by applying to the High Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of that bill. If all or part of a bill remains unpaid, the firm may be entitled to charge interest.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Notice

Under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015, alternative bodies such as ProMediate (www.promediate.co.uk) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. Because the Legal Ombudsman is the statutory dispute resolution scheme for legal service complaints, we do not ordinarily agree to use a separate ADR provider.

Reporting Regulatory Conduct to the SRA

The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about the quality of legal service. If your concern relates to a breach of the SRA Standards and Regulations or professional misconduct (such as dishonesty, losing or misusing client money, or unfair treatment), you can report the matter directly to our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA ID: 566084), at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/.