COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE

Our Complaints Policy

Brown & Co Solicitors 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.

Definition

Complaint - dissatisfaction with our service or aspect of a service you have received from the firm or third parties engaged by the firm e.g. counsel

Bringing a Complaint

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. If we have not resolved your complaint to your satisfaction you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

Details Required

Please be as succinct as possible when telling us about your complaint. Ideally we would like the following information:

1. Who the complaint is against

2. The issue or action which gives rise to the complaint

3. The date(s) on which the issue(s) arose

4. Detrimental consequences of the issue(s) or action(s)

You should also supply and documentary or other evidence in support of your complaint if it would assist to clarify the points you wish to make or to refer us to such evidence if it is already in our possession. Please address your complaint to the Principal Solicitor, Winston Brown at the address above. 

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter or email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of receiving it. It will be passed on to someone at the firm, who is not connected with the matter to fully investigate your complaint. If your complaint lies against the Principal then he will review your complaint himself.

2. The Complaints Officer will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming their findings and final position on your complaint and explaining the reasons.

3. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside of this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it). For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

Complaints to Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about the quality of service received from a solicitor’s firm, including costs charged by the firm for their services.

Before proceeding to the Legal Ombudsman, you should first raise your complaint with the firm. If you remain dissatisfied with the firm’s response, any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be submitted within six months of the date of our decision. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman should be submitted as follows:

Address:

Legal Ombudsman

PO Box 6806

Wolverhampton

WV1 9WJ 

Phone: 0300 555 0333

Calling from overseas:

+44 121 245 3050     

NGT Lite:

18001 0300 555 0333 

Minicom text phone:   

18002 0300 555 0333

The Legal Ombudsman can ultimately look at a complaint if it occurred within six years of the problem occurring, or within three years from when you found out about it if later.

Complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) deal with complaints about the conduct of the solicitor themselves and any complaint that the solicitor may have breached the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct or other standards of practice required by the SRA.

You can submit a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) online, with a form available on the SRA’s website, at www.sra.org, or by writing directly to the SRA at:

Address

Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Cube 

199 Wharfside Street

Birmingham

B1 1RN

Phone: 0370 606 2555