Complaints Handling Procedure
Our complaints procedure
We are committed to providing a high-quality service to all our clients which meets or exceeds their expectations and having open and honest relationships with our clients based on trust and confidence.
If something goes wrong we want you to tell us about it as soon as possible, even if this is whilst a matter is still ongoing.
This will ensure we can resolve it quickly and also help us to improve our standards and our service in the future.
If you have any complaint about our service please send it in writing to Emma Ramsay or Stephanie Paterson, partners within the firm. You can contact them via our get in touch page
What will happen if we receive a complaint
- We will send you a letter or an email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care partner, Emma Ramsay. She will review the matter you have complained about. If your complaint is about Emma Ramsay, then it will be investigated and managed by Stephanie Paterson.
- Emma Ramsay will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This invitation will be sent within 14 working days of sending you the letter or email acknowledging receipt of the complaint.
- Within 7 working days of the meeting, Emma Ramsay will write or email you to confirm what took place and any solutions or actions agreed with you.
- If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Emma Ramsay will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter. This letter will be sent within 21 working days of you notifying Emma Ramsay that you do not want to attend a meeting or it otherwise becoming apparent that no meeting is possible.
- At this stage if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again in writing or by email and state that you wish for the decision to be reviewed and we will arrange for another partner to review the decision.
- We will write to you within 10 working days of receiving your request for a review of the decision, confirming our decision on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- If you are still not satisfied, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Complaints Service must usually be made within six months of the date of our final decision on your complaint but for further information you should contact the Legal Complaints Service (0300 555 0333 or refer to www.legalombudsman.org.uk).
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also help you if you are concerned that our behaviour breaches the SRA Standards and Regulations or amounts to dishonesty or discrimination. You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/.
- In relation to any complaint, we believe that the best outcome is that we agree a resolution of that complaint promptly with you. We therefore suggest that you do not contact the Legal Ombudsman until the procedures described above have been completed.
If we have to change any of the timescales described above, we will let you know and explain why.