COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

If a client has a complaint, they must contact in writing either Paul Millan our Client Care Solicitor for Criminal Matters or Jas Kalirai for Civil Matters. They can write to them at the Luton Stuart Street Head Office.

1. Within three days he will send a letter acknowledging the complaint and asking them to confirm or explain any details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We will also let them know the name of the person who will be dealing with their complaint.

2. We will then record the complaint in our central register and open a file for the complaint. We will also investigate the complaint by examining the relevant file.

3. If appropriate we will then invite them to meet Paul Millan/Jas Kalirai to discuss and hopefully resolve the complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with them in this way no longer than 14 days after first receiving the complaint. If they would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to them setting out our views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.

4. Within three days of any meeting we will write to them to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with them. In appropriate cases we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.

5. At this stage, if they are still not satisfied, they must let us know. We will then arrange to review our decision. We would generally aim to do this within 10 days. This will happen in one of the following ways.

Paul Millan/Jas Kalirai will review their own decision.

We will arrange for someone in the firm who has not been involved in the complaint to review it.

Paul Millan/Jas Kalirai will review your complaint within 10 days.

We will ask our local law society or another local firm of solicitors to review the complaint. We will let them know how long this process will take.

We will invite them to agree to independent mediation. We will let them know how long this process will take.

We will let them know the result of the review within five days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to them confirming our final position on the complaint and explaining our reasons. We will also give them the name and address of the Legal Ombudsman. If they are still not satisfied, they can contact them about the complaint. We very much hope that this will not be necessary.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted through the following:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Minicom: 0300 555 1777
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

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.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour.

The SRA can be contacted via their website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain to you why.