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, contact us with details.
What Will Happen Next?
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 14 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 14 days of receiving your complaint.
3. We will acknowledge your reply to our acknowledgement letter and confirm what will happen next. You can expect to hear from us within 14 days of your reply.
4. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
- We will pass your complaint to Ms Garrod / Ms Reid, our Client Care handlers, within 7 days.
- Ms Garrod / Ms Reid will ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply to your complaint within 21 days.
- Ms Garrod / Ms Reid will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file. If necessary, Ms Garrod / Ms Reid may also speak to them. This will take up to 21 days from receiving their replyand the file.
5. Ms Garrod / Ms Reid will then invite you to meet with her and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. She will do this within 14 days.
6. Within 14 days of the meeting Ms Garrod / Ms Reid will write to you to confirm what took place, and any solutions she has agreed with you. If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible, Ms Garrod / Ms Reid will send you a detailed reply to your compliant. This will include her suggestions for resolving the matter. She will do this within 14 days of completing her investigation.
7. 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 complaint handler at the firm will review the decision within 28 days.
- We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of Solicitors to review your complaint within 28 days.
- We will invite you to agree to independent mediation within 28 days. We will let you know how long this process will take.
8. We will let you know the result of the review within 28 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. We will also give you the name and address of the Legal Ombudsman. If you are still not satisfied you can contact them about your complaint.
If we have to change any of the time scales above, we will let you know and explain why.