Complaints Policy
Complaints policy for clients and third parties
Introduction
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 at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide to you or you have concerns about your bill, then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.
Emma Gaudern, the managing director and complaints manager overseas our complaints process. If the complaint is about Emma Gaudern the complaint will be investigated by one of the directors of the firm.
How do I make a complaint?
Step 1 – In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns (whose details will be in your client care engagement letter) and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.
Step 2 – If you remain unsatisfied with our response, or if you wish to refer your complaint to the complaints manager, please email: [email protected]. To help us to understand your complaint please tell us what you think we have got wrong and what you hope to achieve as a result of your complaint.
If you require any help in making your complaint we will try to help you.
How will you deal with my complaint?
We will write to you within three working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.
We will record your complaint centrally.
We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:
- reviewing your complaint,
- speaking with the person who dealt with your matter, and
- reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents.
We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.
We will write to you at the end of our investigation to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint. We will do this within eight weeks of our acknowledgement of your complaint.
All personal information you provide will be collected, processed and stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), please refer to our Privacy Notice for further information which can be provided upon request.
What if I am not satisfied with the outcome?
If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. Legal Ombudsman contact details: www.legalombudsman.org.uk, telephone: 0300 555 0333, address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you 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. The Solicitors Regulation Authority contact details: email: [email protected], telephone: 0370 606 2555, address: The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Alternative complaint mediation bodies such as ProMediate (www.promediate.co.uk) exist, however, we choose to use the Legal Ombudsman.
What will it cost?
We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
Please note that if we have issued a bill for work done on the matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount outstanding.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority and Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.
This complaints policy was last updated on 23/07/2024.