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. We will deal with all complaints promptly, fairly and effectively.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint please contact our Practice Manager Jan Hordern in confidence with the details either in writing or by telephone on (0117) 942 0901.
What will happen next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. If the nature of your complaint is unclear we may ask you for more information. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file.
- We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to Dianne Heys, a Solicitor and Partner, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
- We may invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. Within three days of any meeting, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.
- If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including our suggestions for resolving the matter. We will do this within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a different Partner to review the decision. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- We aim to complete investigating your complaint within 8 weeks.
- In the event that we have been unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction within 8 weeks following the making of the complaint, we will a) inform you in writing of your right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, the time frame for doing so and full details of how to contact the Legal Ombudsman; and b) if our complaints procedure has been exhausted, we will tell you that we cannot settle the complaint and will give you the name and website address of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approved body which would be competent to deal with the complaint; and whether we agree to use the scheme operated by that body.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can contact:
Legal Ombudsman,
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response on your complaint but for further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.