Policy
Perrin Myddelton is committed to providing a quality legal service to all clients, without exception. But we do recognise that sometimes things do not go according to plan, and clients may believe they have reason to complain. So we have adopted the procedure set out below, to facilitate resolution of any problems, and to learn from them to improve our future performance.
Procedure
| Timescale | |||
| 1. | Please provide details of your concerns and the nature of your complaint, in writing without which we cannot provide a thorough objective consideration of your complaint. | ||
| 2. | We will register your complaint in our Central Register for monitoring and management information purposes. | Within 2 working days of receipt. | |
| 3. | Once we have received full details in writing of your complaint we will acknowledge receipt of your written complaint, set out our understanding of it and request your written confirmation of our understanding of your complaint. We will also seek any necessary clarification. | Within 5 working days of receipt. | |
| 4. | Mr Jeremy Newman, our Complaints Partner, will (once we have received your written clarification of any points in in relation to your complaint we consider still require clarification) then investigate your complaint as follows:- | ||
| (a) | He will ask the person who acted for you to provide him with a response to your written complaint within a further 5 days. | Within 5 working days of receipt of your confirmation letter. | |
| (b) | He will then examine the response and the file as against your complaint and, if necessary, speak again to the person who acted for you. | Within 10 working days of receipt of the response and file. | |
| (c) | He will then write to you with a detailed response to your complaint and with any suggestions he has for resolving it. | Within a further 5 working days. | |
| 5. | If you remain dissatisfied with what Jeremy Newman says, and how it is proposed to resolve your complaint, we will arrange for the matter to be reviewed by Robin Myddelton, one of our Partners | Within 5 working days of receipt of confirmation that you remain dissatisfied. | |
| 6. | Robin Myddelton will write to you to confirm the outcome of his review. | Within 10 working days of the conclusion of his review. | |
| 7. | If you still remain dissatisfied with how your complaint has been handled and the decision on it, we will write to you confirming our final position, and explaining why we consider our handling of the complaint, our decision on it and of any review were reasonable. | ||
If there is any reason why we will not be able to adhere to any of the timescales set out above (e.g. relevant persons off sick or on holiday or the issues are particularly complex) we will inform you and provide an estimate as to when you can expect the complaint timescales to resume.
Our internal complaints procedure set out above is the appropriate starting point for raising complaints or concerns. Beyond that you may take any complaints to the Legal Ombudsman which is the independent complaints handling organisation that deals with complaints about Solicitors in England and Wales. Their contact details are as follows:
The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Helpline number: 0300 555 0333
N.B.:-
1. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made:-
- Within 6 months of receiving our final response to your complaint; and
- No more than 1 year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
- No more than 1 year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
2. The role of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) – our regulatory body
The SRA investigates serious or repeated cases of poor behaviour or conduct by Solicitors such as dishonesty or fraud or failing to act in the best interests of a client including a firm/Solicitor acting for another client whose interests conflict or putting their own interests first. The SRA does not usually investigate concerns about delays or communication, disagreements about a bill and isolated mistakes by a Solicitor. If you have a complaint relating to any of the above last mentioned matters then the Legal Ombudsman is the organisation that is best placed to help you.
Their contact details are:-
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
DX 720293 BIRMINGHAM 47
Tel: 0370 606 2555
Email: contactcentre@sra.org.uk
22 January 2024