Our Complaints Policy
We are committed to providing high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service you have received or about your bill, we would ask you to initially discuss this with the fee earner who has/had conduct of your matter. If your concerns cannot be resolved we ask that you put your concerns in writing and it will be dealt with as a formal complaint. In accordance with our internal complaint’s procedure, your complaint will be acknowledged and we will look into your concern promptly, fairly and effectively and will try to resolve the problem quickly. Please ask for a copy of this procedure if you would like further details.
Satpal Singh, who is the Principal Solicitor of the firm will review the matter and provide you with an initial or substantive response normally within 14 days. Mr Singh is also our firm’s Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA), therefore, he has responsibility for ensuring that our firm and its members provide a service and act in a manner which is consistent with our professional obligations. He may consider it appropriate to instruct an external reviewer to assist in the review but it will be subject to strict rules of confidentiality and you will be informed if this happens.
Should you remain dissatisfied with our handling of the complaint, or about the firm’s bill, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider it further. Before you make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, it is a requirement that you have raised your complaint with us first and we have 8 weeks to deal with your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint after the 8 weeks has expired you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
The time limit to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is:
Within 6 months of receiving our final response to your complaint
and
No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
Their contact details are:
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
tel: 0300 555 0333 (8.30am-5.30pm); email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, ; www.legalombudsman.org.uk
As part of the firm’s complaints handling procedures, we are obliged to inform you that you are entitled to complain about your bill; there may also be right to object to the bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part lll of the Solicitors’ Act 1974; and if all or part of the bill remains unpaid the firm may be entitled to charge interest. If you have already applied to the Court for assessment of your bill, please be aware that the Legal Ombudsman cannot then consider it.
Solicitors Regulation Authority
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.