We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have provided then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure [link to your process]. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
· Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
· No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
· No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
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 on their website: www.sra.org.uk.
Our Complaints Procedure
We hope that you will never have reason to complain about our service to you or a bill of costs that we send to you. However, if you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about the bill, please bring it to our attention as soon as you can with full details. We will try to resolve the matter quickly, and fairly. The firm’s Managing Partner and Complaints Partner is Stephen Abletshauser who can be contacted on 0207 788 7631. Alternatively, please send a letter by post to our office.
What will happen next?
1 We will send you a letter or email acknowledging your Complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your Complaint if Stephen Abletshauser is unavailable.
2 We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your Complaint. We will then investigate your complaint.
This will normally involve the following steps:
Stephen Abletshauser or another staff member will start to investigate your Complaint.
The partner handling your complaint will obtain the relevant file and review the same.
The partner handling your complaint will speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
Although the Legal Ombudsman Guidelines allow us 8 weeks to resolve your complaint, you should hear from the partner handling your complaint, with the findings, within 15 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. However, if the complaint is complicated, further time may be needed and we will write to tell you and set another time limit.
3 If the reply (and the proposed action if any) is not satisfactory to you, the relevant partner will then invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your Complaint. S/he will do this within five working days. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, we will write to you with our suggestions for resolving the matter.
4 Within five working days of any meeting, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed with you.
If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman (address PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ website www.legalombudsman.org.uk telephone 0300 555 0333) to consider the complaint. Please note that before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint; and
No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or no more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.