If you are dissatisfied with the service, we have provided then you have the right to complain. The Legal Ombudsman service has been operational since 6 October 2010 and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that complaints are handled appropriately.
However, before you contact the Legal Ombudsman you must first register an official complaint with us. Normally, the Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve the matter. If after 8 weeks, you are still dissatisfied you can involve the Legal Ombudsman. For more information on how the Legal Ombudsman works please visit the Legal Ombudsman website.
Timescales
In normal circumstances you are required to register a complaint within one year. You must then give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint before contacting the Legal Ombudsman. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of the Firm’s complaints procedure. In summary:
- You must register your complaint with us within one year of the act or omission being complained about, or one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint.
- The Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint
- After this time, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman (but you must do so within 6 months)
The Legal Ombudsman is allowed to exercise discretion to extend the one year time limit for specific clients if, on the evidence, it is fair and reasonable to do so.
Getting Started
To register a formal complaint, please write to us and include all the information suggested by the Legal Ombudsman – their website includes some useful resources. We will contact you within 5 working days of receipt of your complaint. We would encourage you to first raise any complaint with the fee earner responsible for the handling of your matter, if the fee-earner is not able to resolve the complaint within 10 working days of the receipt of the Complaint, please contact the Firm’s Complaint Manager, Seyi Clement. If the claimant is against Seyi Clement, you are still expected to raise the complaint with us first before approaching the Legal Ombudsman.
In addition to the Legal Ombudsman, several other complaints bodies exist which are also able to deal with complaints about legal services – these are:
You may also choose to make a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This could be if you are concerned about our professional behaviour or conduct, such as for things like dishonesty, deliberately overcharging you, or treating you unfairly because of a characteristic such as your age, sex or disability.
You can find out how to make a report at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor or contact the SRA at their details below:
Solicitors Regulation Authority,
The Cube,
199 Wharfside Street,
Birmingham,
B1 1RN
Tel: 0370 606 2555