Complaints Procedure

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to sort out any mistakes or misunderstandings, and to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please raise the problem with the lawyer responsible for your matter, or if you prefer, our complaints partner Tim Quinn.

What will happen next?

1.           We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within threedays of receiving it.

2.           We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve our complaints partner reviewing your file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you.

3.           Within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter our complaints partner will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter writing and offer a meeting to discuss and resolve your complaint.  If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, our complaints partner may instead offer you a chance to discuss the matter by telephone.

4.           Within three days of the meeting, or any telephone conversation we have with you instead of a meeting, our complaints partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.

5.           At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner or someone unconnected with the matter at the firm to review the decision.

7.           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.

8.           If we have to change any of these timescales we will let you know and explain why.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. 

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six 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.

For more information contact the Legal Ombudsman.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

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.