Complaints Handling Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong, we would be grateful if you will you tell us about it.  This helps us improve which means a better service to you.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care director, Duane Bridger, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. Duane Bridger will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. Within three days of the meeting, Duane Bridger will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Duane Bridger will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. 
6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for someone unconnected with the matter at the firm or, for Duane Bridger to review his decision. We are also prepared to co-operate with another local solicitor should you wish to instruct them to deal with the complaint on your behalf at your cost to them. There is no cost to us in dealing with your complaint.
7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

What if I remain unsatisfied?

If you remain dissatisfied you may be entitled to complain to the Legal Ombudsman about our service, including our charges. This service is not available to all clients however, such as large businesses. The Ombudsman would generally expect clients to follow a firm’s internal complaints procedure first. 

You can find further information about the Ombudsman on the website www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

You can write to the Ombudsman at:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH

or you can contact them by email on enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or call on 0300 555 0333. 

If you wish to raise a complaint with the Ombudsman then you should not delay bringing it to their attention once our own complaints process has concluded as there are some time limits on when this must be done.  For example, normally you must raise a complaint with the Ombudsman within six months of the date of our final written response to your complaint.

You should also be aware that the 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.

Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received.  Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms. This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns.  You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details and professional conduct rules on their website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/