Fitzhugh Gates Solicitors Client Complaint Procedures
Policy
We take very seriously all expressions of dissatisfaction from our clients. If you have received this leaflet, it is likely that you have already expressed your concerns verbally or in writing to your lawyer, their Supervisor or the Partner responsible for dealing with complaints, Julian Cioffi. This leaflet explains our procedures for handling complaints to ensure that each complaint is dealt with swiftly in an attempt to reach an amicable and satisfactory solution.
Reporting & Investigation Responsibilities
Informal verbal complaints should be addressed to your lawyer in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with their response, then the matter should be taken up with the Partner responsible for their work. The name of that Partner will have been given in your initial client care letter, but if you are unable to locate this, you can ask your lawyer or a member of our support staff. If the matter cannot be resolved informally with your lawyer, it would assist investigations if you were to fully detail your concerns in writing so there is less room for misunderstanding your concerns and requirements.
Response Times
Written complaints will be acknowledged in within 7 days of receipt whereby the name of the person responsible for handling the complaint will be confirmed. A full reply will be sent as soon as the matter has been investigated and our proposals for dealing with your concerns have been agreed upon. In any case, we will always endeavour to provide a full response within 21 days. If that is not possible, an interim response will be given explaining why it is not possible to meet this deadline, when we expect our investigations to be completed and a response finalised. If you prefer, once we are aware of the nature of your complaint we can seek to resolve it at a face to face meeting.
Costs
We do not charge for handling complaints. Please note that if we have issued a bill for work done on the matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount outstanding. This is explained in our Terms of Business.
Unresolved Issues
In the unusual event that we are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction within eight weeks of your complaint being made, you are able to take the matter up with the Legal Ombudsman or the Solicitors Regulation Authority, depending on the nature of the complaint. Both services are free of charge. The contact details are:
The contact details are:
Legal Ombudsman (for issues relating to the quality of service or advice)
PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
Telephone No: 0300 555 0333
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The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about a solicitor’s behaviour. This could be for concerns about dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
The contact details are:
SRA
The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN
DX 720293 Birmingham 47
Telephone No: 0870 606 2555
The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
Alternative complaints bodies such as ProMediate (http://www.promediate.co.uk/what-we-do/what-is-mediation/) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.
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Management
All complaints (written or verbal) are recorded and logged centrally to enable us to detect recurring problems and trends. As necessary, we will implement corrective action in response to individual complaints and improvement measures to prevent adverse trends and correct recurring problems. In this manner, we aim to constantly improve the service we provide.