Complaints Procedure

ASHBY FAMILY LAW PRACTICE SOLICITORS

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

1. If you have a complaint as to the service you have received from us contact the partner who acted for you (Nick Herbert or David Guthrie) with the details.
2. We will reply within 3 working days and provide you with a copy of our complaints procedure. We may ask you to confirm or explain the details set out in your complaint, although this will not always be necessary. We will confirm what will happen next.
3. Your complaint will be investigated. This will involve one or more of the following steps.
   1. The partner who acted for you will consider your complaint again;
   2. Your complaint will be considered by the partner who did not act for you;
   3. A solicitor from another firm (not involved in your case) will be requested to consider your complaint.
      The investigation will be completed within 10 working days in ordinary circumstances but it may take longer if the matter is complex and requires a more in-depth investigation.
4. We will write to you and invite you to a meeting with the partner who acted for you to discuss your complaint. We will write within 3 days of completing our investigation.
5. If you do not want a meeting or a meeting is not possible, we will send you a detailed response to your complaint which will include our proposals for resolving the matter.
6. If you are not satisfied you can write to us and ask us to review our decision. We will acknowledge your letter within 5 days. The review will take one of the following forms.
   1. If the investigation of your complaint was carried out by the partner who acted for you, the decision will be reviewed by the partner who did not act for you;
   2. We will ask a solicitor from another firm (not involved in your case) to consider your complaint and our decision;
   3. We will invite you to agree to independent mediation.
      The review will be completed within 10 working days, although mediation may take longer.
7. We will let you know the result of the review within 5 days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
8. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
9. If you remain unsatisfied as to how your complaint has been handled, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman whose details are as follows:
   • Legal Ombudsman
     PO Box 6806
     Wolverhampton
     WV1 9WJ
     Telephone: 0300 555 0333
     Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
     Website: www.legalombudsman.org.ukThe Legal Ombudsman will require you to confirm that you have tried to resolve your complaint through our complaints procedure. You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman: (i) within 6 months of receiving our final response to your complaint; (ii) no more than 6 years from the date of the act or omission complained of; and (iii) no more than 3 years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
10. In certain circumstances you may be able to make a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You can contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority if you have concerns as to a solicitor’s honesty or behaviour. The SRA’s contact details are as follows:
    • Solicitors Regulation Authority
      The Cube
      199 Wharfside Street
      Birmingham
      B1 1RN
      Telephone: 0370 606 2555
      Website: www.sra.org.uk