Complaints Procedure

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.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.

What Will Happen Next?

1. 1. 1. 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 2 working days of us receiving your complaint.
      2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint. We will do this within a day of receiving your complaint.
      3. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:-
         • We will pass your complaint to Ms Sharon Cowell, our Client Care Partner.
         • She will ask the member of staff who acted for you for their comments on your complaint.
         • She will then examine their comments and the information in your complaint file. And, if necessary, she may also speak to them.
      4. Ms Cowell will send you a detailed reply to your complaint within 21 days of receipt of your complaint which will include her suggestions for resolving the matter.
      5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can write to 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 Ms Cowell’s decision within 10 working days.
         • We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint within 5 working days. We will let you know how long this process will take.
         • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation within 5 working days. We will let you know how long this process will take.

      We will let you know the result of the review within 5 working days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

      If, at the conclusion of this procedure, you are still not happy with the outcome, you have a right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at www.legalombudsman.org.uk or by telephone on 0300 5550333 by email to enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or by post at PO Box 6167, SLOUGH,SL1 0EH.

Please note that the legal ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within 1 year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within 1 year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the legal ombudsman within 6 months of our final response to you.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.