Complaints Procedure
Objectives
1. Chambers aims to ensure that clients are happy with the professional services provided.
2. However, Chambers recognises that mistakes, misunderstanding, delays and other problems can occur. Our Complaints Procedure is designed to ensure that:
(1) clients are made aware of our complaints policy and the procedure for raising their concerns;
(2) complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively;
(3) complaints are analysed to determine what went wrong in order that weaknesses can be acted on to improve overall performance;
(4) complaints are regularly monitored to assess whether the nature of the complaints change over time as problems are identified and
addressed and clients’ needs change;
(5) feedback is regularly obtained from solicitors as to whether they have any concerns and whether any such concerns are being
acknowledged and acted on to their satisfaction;
(6) the concerns of the complainant are satisfied.
3. Please note that Chambers will only consider complaints that are raised within twelve months of the act or omission complained of.
Procedure – Complaints made by telephone
4. Sometimes it is sensible to raise the concern by telephoning us and asking to speak to the Chambers Director, Michael Couling. Informal complaints should be made to the Chambers Director in this way. This will usually be the convenient course if something has gone wrong but it is not clear what. The matter of concern may be explained to your satisfaction and involve no fault on the part of Chambers. If there remains the possibility that Chambers has been at fault, we will make a record of the matter, whether or not it is then resolved to your satisfaction.
5. If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone you will be invited to write to us about it within the next 14 days so that it can be investigated formally.
Procedure – Complaints made in writing
6. A complaint in writing should be made to the Chambers Director, Michael Couling. If the complaint is about the Chambers Director, the complaint should go to the Head of Chambers, Edward Cohen, who has overall responsibility for handling external complaints. Complaints received by a barrister or a member of staff will be forwarded to the Chambers Director. We will, where possible, acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.
7. When making a complaint in writing, please give the following details:
- your name and address;
- which member(s) of Chambers you are complaining about;
- the detail of the complaint;
- what you would like done about it.
8. On receiving a formal complaint the Chambers Director will:
(1) contact you by telephone and/or in writing within fourteen days to establish the full nature of the complaint and let you know what
action is being proposed;
(2) inform the barrister or member of staff to whom the complaint relates as soon as practicable;
(3) if appropriate, inform the Head of Chambers as soon as reasonably practicable
(4) discuss the matter with those who are the subject of the complaint and carry out such investigations as are deemed necessary to
establish whether the concern or complaint is justified and/or requires further investigation;
(5) inform the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund if the complaint may result in a claim against professional indemnity insurance.
9. Where a complaint can be resolved at this stage, the Chambers Director will contact you by telephone or in writing to inform you of the result of the investigation and what further action, if any, is proposed
10. Where the complaint is not capable of resolution at this stage, the Chambers Director will make a report to the Head of Chambers who may carry out or request the Chambers Director to carry out further investigations. The Head of Chambers will ensure that you are given proper opportunity to make representations in writing and that the barrister or member of staff is given proper opportunity to respond.
11. If the Head of Chambers finds the complaint to be unjustified, the Chambers Director will contact you and the barrister or member of staff concerned and explain why, following investigation, the complaint was not upheld.
12. If the Head of Chambers finds the complaint to be justified, he will determine what remedial action and/or compensation is appropriate. The Head of Chambers will inform you that the complaint has been investigated, that the complaint was found to be justified and what action is proposed.
Confidentiality
13. All conversations and documents relating to a complaint will be treated as confidential and disclosed only to the extent that it is necessary. Disclosure will be to the Head of Chambers, the Chambers Director and to anyone involved in the complaint and its investigation. This will include the barrister member or staff about whom you have complained. The Bar Standards Board is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when discharging its auditing and monitoring functions.
Our policy
14. As part of our commitment to client care, we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years.
15. Where a complainant has raised concerns about a particular aspect of the service the Chambers Director may ask the complainant to monitor that aspect over a specified period. In that event, a time will be arranged for the Chambers Director to contact the complainant to establish whether there has been an improvement
Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman (the regulatory body which deals with complaints about a lawyer in England and Wales)
16. We hope that you will use our procedure and that it will address your concerns. However, if you are unhappy with the outcome of our complaint procedure, you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman has a 12 month time limit from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining within which to make your complaint. If you wait longer than 12 months then it is possible that the Legal Ombudsman will refuse to deal with your complaint.
You should first raise your complaint with Chambers. There is then a six month time limit from the conclusion of the investigation by Chambers in which to raise your complaint with the Ombudsman (so long as the complaint is submitted no later than 12 months from the date of the act or omission about which you wish to complain).
You can contact the Ombudsman at:
Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman
3rd Floor
Sunlight House
Quay Street
Manchester M3 3JZ
Local no: 0845 601 0794 (charged at local rates)
Email: Iso@olso.gsi.gov.uk
Phone: 0161 839 7262
See also www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Please note that complaints about professional misconduct will continue to be dealt with by the Bar Standards Board, whose address is at:
Bar Standards Board
289 - 293 High Holborn
London WC1V 7HZ
Tel: 0207 611 1444
Fax: 0207 831 9217
Any complaints about professional misconduct referred to the Legal Ombudsman will be passed on to the Bar Standards Board for consideration.
Absence of Head of Chambers
17. If the Head of Chambers shall at any time be unable to deal with any complaint or any aspect of such complaint or the investigation of such complaint, he may delegate such task to a senior member of Chambers, and any reference in this document to the Head of Chambers shall be held to refer to any senior member of Chambers to whom such task has been delegated.
18. In the absence of the Chambers Director, complaints will be handled in the first instance by Matthew Curness.
January 2011