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COMPLAINTS HANDLING

COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE
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.

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


In most times an informal chat with the Lawyer responsible for your case over the telephone will resolve your concerns. If it does not the following will apply.


  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 three 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 start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
  4. We will pass your complaint to Mr Edward De Silva, our Client Care Officer, within three days.
  5. He will ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply to your complaint within 5 working days.
  6. He will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file. And, if necessary, he may also speak to them. This will take up to three days from receiving their reply and the file.

  7. Mr. De Silva will then invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within four working days.

  8. Within two working days of the meeting he will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
    If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, our Client Care Officer will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include his suggestions for resolving the matter. He will do this within five days of completing the investigation.

  9. 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.
  10. another senior solicitor from separate local firm of solicitors will review Mr. De Silva’s decision within 10 working days
  11. we will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint within five days. We will let  you know how long this process will take.
  12. we will invite you to attend on independent mediation within 5 days. We will let you know how long this process will take place.

We will let you know the result of the review within five 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 independent Customer Complaints Service which is the Legal Ombudsman which can be contacted at www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Their address is PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be usually made within 6 months of the date of our final written response on your complaint. For further information you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0330 5550333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman service cannot be used by businesses or most other organisations unless they are below certain size limitations. Further information on this is available from the Legal Ombudsman.


Legal Ombudsman's limitation data


A complaint to the legal ombudsman must be made :

  • within 6 months of receiving our final response to your complaint and
  • no more than 1 year from the date of the act or omission being complaint of or
  • no more than 1 year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint


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


 If you are not clear on the above provide please contact us we are here to help.


How to Complain about a Solicitor


Solicitors must follow the Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA) code of conduct a set of rules to ensure you are treated fairly and professionally. You can Complain about: 

  • How solicitor handled your case
  • The costs of their services 


What to do first :

You should Complain to your solicitor who will handle your complaint under their procedures and he should find a solution for you. If you are still not satisfied then you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman under the procedure described in this website. 


When to report a solicitor to the SRA :

IF you have complained to your solicitor about breaking the SRA code of conduct and you are not satisfied with their answer then you can report this to SRA. You can do so by using SRA website and follow instructions there.


What can the SRA do to help you :

If you click the SRA badge at the beginning of this website it explains what they do.



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