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COMPLAINTS POLICY

If you are a client of this firm and are dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provided, including our invoice, you are entitled to complain.

 

Our policy is to look at client complaints objectively and take a constructive approach to reach a satisfactory conclusion. We recognize that complaints may provide us with an opportunity to check the quality of our service and to make improvements to it in a particular case or more generally. Indeed, even if you do not have a complaint, your suggestions as to how our services might be improved will be welcome.

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You can make a complaint to the case handler who is responsible for the matter concerned or, if this is not appropriate or the complaint is in relation to more general matters, to your client partner. A complaint will be acknowledged within three working days. Your case or transaction will not be prejudiced by you raising concerns either. We hope you will not have any reason to complain, but in case you do, you should follow the procedure and steps below.

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Stage 1:

  • We very much hope that a complaint will not arise however if you feel you have cause for complaint, in the first instance, please contact the solicitor dealing with your matter, who will do their best to resolve your concerns. If you do not feel able to discuss your concerns with the solicitor with day to day conduct of your matter, please contact the person responsible for the overall supervision of your matter, who will be named in the client care letter we sent you at the beginning of your matter.

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Stage 2:

  • You may progress your complaint to our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and Managing Director Majid Malik, If you feel that it is too delicate for you to raise this directly with them, or they have not addressed all your concerns to your satisfaction, you should raise your concerns with their manager. Their manager’s name will be mentioned in our engagement letter to you, sent at the beginning of your case or transaction. Alternatively, you may simply ask your lawyer for their manager’s name or just ring us to request that information.

  • If neither your lawyer nor their manager can resolve your concerns to your satisfaction, your complaint will reach the second stage.

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To help us to understand your complaint, and in order that we do not miss anything, please tell us:

  • your full name and contact details;

  • where you think we have gone wrong including any related and relevant attachments;

  • the issues that matter the most to you; and

  • how you would like your complaint to be resolved.

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After we have received your complaint:

  • We will acknowledge your complaints within 5 working days and enclose a copy of this policy. You may be asked to confirm or explain the detail of your complaint. We will also let you know who will be dealing with your complaint.

  • Within three weeks, we will also acknowledge your reply and confirm what will happen next. We will then start to investigate your complaint.

  • 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 investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:

  • reviewing your complaint based on the evidence that you have supplied; speaking to you to better understand your complaint and what is important to you

  • reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents; and

  • liaising with the solicitor with day to day conduct of your matter as well as other relevant staff members including the supervising partner,

  • We will try to keep you updated on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times wherever possible.]

  • We will send you the result of our investigation by email or post. We may also offer to meet with you to discuss your complaint and resolve it.

  • You will receive a full final written response to your complaint within six to eight weeks. 

  • If we agree with you and we find the service you received was not as we would have liked it to be, we will work with you to try to find a way to resolve your complaint.

  • If we find that your complaint does not support a finding of poor service we will let you know the reasons why. We will let you know what to do if you are unhappy with our decision: we will tell you whether we agree to use Alternative Dispute Resolution, or whether your complaint can proceed to Stage 3.

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Before you use Stage 3, we always suggest using the last opportunity to refer your dissatisfaction or complaint to be dealt with directly by Majid Malik (mymalik@mymsolicitors.co.uk or 01753 208 786 or write to our office address), who will look at the matter afresh and will carry out any further investigations as may be necessary. Usually, within 7 days of the complaint being referred to him, he will inform you of his conclusions and any proposals to resolve the complaint.

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Stage 3:

If it remains unresolved, you have a right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. 

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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.

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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 a final response to your complaint; and

  • No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or

  • No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

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If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

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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.

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Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

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