Complaints: Complaints Procedure

 

1. Our Complaints Policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

 

2. Our Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint, contact us with the details.

 

3. What Will Happen Next?

 

(i)         We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out.  We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.  You can expect to receive our letter within 7 days of us receiving your complaint.

 

(ii)        We will record your complaint on our central register.

 

(iii)       We will then investigate your complaint and will aim to provide you with a substantive response within 21 days of the date of our initial letter.  This will normally involve the following steps:

 

(a)  We will pass your complaint to Mr Richard Evans, our Client Care Partner.  If the complaint relates to Mr Evans, then the complaint will be dealt with Mr Edward Gaynor-Smith, a Partner in this firm.

 

(b)  He will ask the member of staff who acted for you to let him have their response to your complaint.

 

 

(c)  He will then examine their reply and the information on your complaint file.  If necessary, he may also speak to them.

 

(d)  Mr Evans will send you a detailed reply to your complaint.  This will include his suggestions for resolving the matter.

 

(e)  If appropriate you may be invited to a meeting to discuss this.  If a meeting takes place Mr Evans will write to you to confirm.

 

(f)  At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can contact us again.  We will then arrange to review our decision.  This will happen in one of the following ways:

• Another Partner of the firm will review Mr Evans’ decision within 14 days of that decision.
• We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of Solicitors to review your complaint.  We will let you know how long this process will take.
• We will invite you to agree to independent mediation.  We will let you know how long this process will take.

 

(iv)        We will let you know the result of the review within 14 days of the end of the review.  At this time we will write to you confirming our final position and confirming our reasons.  If you are still not satisfied you can contact the Legal Ombudsman at P O Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ about your complaint.  Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 years from any act or omission or 3 years from assumed knowledge of your right to complain.

 

(v)        If we do not hear back from you within 6 months of our response to the issues that you have raised, then we will regard your complaint as formally withdrawn unless you inform us otherwise.