Complaints Procedure

1. We hope you will have no complaint.  To underline how seriously we take complaints, we have a set Complaints Procedure which can be summarised as follows:-
   1. If you have any complaint or observation (good or bad) about our service, please say so.
   2. Raise any complaint first with the Fee Earner assigned to your matter, including any complaint about your bill.
   3. If this does not resolve it satisfactorily, tell the Supervising Partner responsible for your case.
   4. If this does not resolve it satisfactorily, contact Shelley Spyrides, the Complaints Handling Partner nominated by the practice to ensure prompt and thorough investigation of any complaint.
   5. You will receive a response within 48 hours from the Complaints Handling Partner (or designated person) and a full response within 14 days.  Please quote our full reference.  He/she will then open a file for the complaint and commence our formal Complaints Procedure. We hope this will resolve any query before it becomes a problem.
   6. If still unresolved at this stage, you may take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. Normally, you will have to bring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final response from us about your complaint and 6 years from the date of the act or omission giving rise to the complaint or alternatively 3 years from the date you should reasonably have known there are grounds for complaint (if the act/omission took place before 2010 or was more than 6 years ago).
2. Contact details:
   1. The address of the Legal Ombudsman is:  PO Box 6806,Wolverhampton  WV1 9WJ; telephone, 0300 555 0333; or view their website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk, email enquiries to:  enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
3. A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:
   • An individual;
   • A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million);
   • A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;
   • A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;
   • A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or a personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.
   • If you do not fall into any of these categories, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by taking action through the Courts.
4. Kindly note that you have the right to object to your bill by making a complaint to the appropriate body referred to above and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974 and, if all or part of our bill remains unpaid, we may be entitled to charge interest.

Exclusions

We shall not be obliged to comply with paragraph 1.1 above in relation to any Dispute in which we seek:-

1. an order or award (whether interim or final) restraining you from doing any act or compelling you to do any act; or
2. a judgment or award for a liquidated sum to which here is no arguable defence (provided that the exception shall cease to apply and the Dispute may be referred to arbitration on the application of either party if the court decides that you should have permission to defend the claim); or
3. the enforcement of any agreement reached or any binding order, award, determination or decision made pursuant to paragraph 1.1 above,

nor shall anything in this paragraph inhibit us at any time from serving any form of demand or notice or from commencing or continuing with any bankruptcy, winding up or other insolvency proceedings.

Regulator

Nothing in this Terms of Business shall prevent you at any time from referring any Matter to the body or bodies for the time being charged with the regulation of solicitors.