Complaints Procedure

This guidance note is designed to ensure that you, as one of our clients, understands our complaints procedures.

What is a complaint?

Complaints can range from clients being concerned about delay, our charges, the manner in which their matter has been handled to matters relating to our professional conduct.

Whatever the nature of the client’s complaint, we take it seriously.  The success of our Practice depends upon the service we provide for our clients and, if for any reason we are not delivering the service expected of us, we need to know about this quickly.

How the complaint will be dealt with

If you have a complaint, we ask that you direct that complaint initially to the Team Leader that has been dealing with your work. Their name can be found on the retainer documents you were sent at the start of your case. If that person is unavailable, you should speak to our Complaints Partner, Jon Loney via email: jloney@nash.co.uk or telephone: 01752 827080.

The Complaints Partner/Team Leader will contact you either by telephone or in writing and wherever possible will try to resolve the complaint with you.  If appropriate, we may suggest a meeting with you.

We will normally acknowledge a complaint within three working days of the complaint being received and advise you as to the next steps we intend to take in resolving your complaint.

In dealing with your complaint, our objectives are to ensure that (a) you receive a prompt response, (b) you receive an assurance that the matter is being investigated fairly and (c) you are notified as soon as possible of the outcome.

We will endeavour to provide our written response to your complaint within 28 days of receiving your complaint at no charge to you.

What happens after a complaint?

If we are unable to resolve your complaint through our own complaints procedure, we will advise you of your right, if you have one, to complain to the Legal Ombudsman and we will provide you with details of that office. Eligibility criteria are set out at the end of this procedure.

In the event that your complaint really amounts to an allegation of professional negligence that could be directed against this firm, we shall advise you to obtain independent legal advice.

Please note that certain businesses, charities and trusts are not eligible to use the Legal Ombudsman service.  Businesses with more than 10 employees OR having an annual turnover or balance sheet of €2 million or more, charities and clubs and other unincorporated organisations with a net annual turnover of £1 million or more, and trustees where the trust asset value is £1 million or more cannot use the service.

What happens if the Legal Ombudsman becomes involved?

The Legal Ombudsman’s office has its own procedures but, essentially, they always encourage Solicitors to try to resolve complaints directly with their clients.  Only if it proves impossible for the complaint to be resolved between the Solicitor and the client does the Legal Ombudsman take the next stage, which is to investigate the matter itself.

You will be notified by the Legal Ombudsman of its continuing investigations from time to time and the Legal Ombudsman will, at the conclusion of its enquiries, inform you as to whether the claim is justified and, if so, what remedies should be provided by the Solicitors. If a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is found to be unjustified, the Legal Ombudsman will notify you and the matter will be closed.

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted at:

P O Box 6806

Wolverhampton

WV19 9WJ

Tel: 0300 555 0333

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

It is worth considering, whilst it is open to you to submit a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, they apply strict criteria to determine whether they will ultimately accept a complaint for a full investigation. They have the discretion to dismiss or discontinue all or part of a complaint if they believe:

• it does not have any reasonable prospects of success;

• you have not suffered (and are unlikely to suffer) significant financial loss, distress, inconvenience or detriment;

• it is frivolous, vexatious, lacks merit or where there is a compelling reason not to accept it;

• the likely impact, size, complexity, scope, volume of evidence or your conduct render it disproportionate/unreasonable/impossible for the complaint to be investigated;

• you have previously complained about the same issue to them, unless you provide material evidence that is likely to affect the outcome which only became available to you after you submitted the original complaint;

• there has been undue delay in the complaint being raised.

Also note:

• If, during the course of an ongoing investigation by the Ombudsman, a revised/increased offer is made by us which is deemed to be fair and reasonable redress and you decide to reject that offer, the Ombudsman has the discretion to dismiss or discontinue all or part of your complaint;

• If you have already accepted an offer to settle your complaint made by us during our internal complaint handling process, which is deemed to be fair and reasonable redress, unless there has been some significant intervening act, you will not be able to have that agreement overturned in the hope of securing a preferential outcome by pursuing your complaint via the Ombudsman.

Time limits for Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman:

From 1 April 2023 the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date upon which the act or omission about which you are concerned took place, or within one year of the date upon which you realised that there was a problem. The requirement to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you remains the same.

What to do if your complaint remains unresolved:

If a complaint cannot be resolved, you may also be able to ask for it to be referred to a process of alternative dispute resolution using a certified provider. We are not required to agree to such a request. In any case this is not available to businesses, only consumers. We will give you more information about that right if it becomes relevant.

If your complaint is about the reasonableness of our charges, you can apply to the Court for a detailed assessment those charges under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If accepted for assessment, the Court will assess, not only the charges, but also the costs of assessment, and will certify what is due to, or payable by, us in respect of our charges, and the costs of assessment. An application for an assessment of costs must normally be made within 12 months of the delivery of our invoice, or in exceptional circumstances longer and on such terms as the Court may think fit. Please see sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors Act 1974 for further details.

Solicitors Regulation Authority:

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can also help you if you are concerned about our professional conduct or 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 the SRA’s website to see how you can raise your concerns: www.sra.org.uk

Updated: 1 April 2023