We aim to provide a careful, responsive and transparent service. If something has gone wrong, please tell us promptly so that the concern can be investigated and, where appropriate, put right.
1. How to complain
Please address your complaint to Complaints Manager and send it to bulandarshed@yahoo.com or by post using the office details on our Contact page. Please include your name, matter reference if known, the issue complained of, important dates and the outcome you are seeking.
2. Acknowledgement and investigation
We will acknowledge a complaint promptly and explain who is dealing with it. We will review the relevant file, correspondence and any explanation from the people involved. If further information would help us understand the complaint, we may ask you for it.
3. Our response
We aim to provide a substantive written response as soon as reasonably practicable. If the investigation is taking longer than expected, we will provide an update. In any event, a complaint about a solicitor’s service should be handled consistently with the applicable SRA requirements concerning complaints and the Legal Ombudsman route.
4. Legal Ombudsman
If the complaint concerns a service provided personally by, or under the responsibility or supervision of, an SRA-regulated solicitor, an eligible client may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman after using our internal procedure. A service provider generally has up to eight weeks to resolve a complaint. Under the current scheme rules, a complaint ordinarily must also be referred within one year of the act or omission complained about (or one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint) and within six months of a properly signposted final response. The Ombudsman can have discretion in some circumstances, and the rules can change, so please check the current information at legalombudsman.org.uk.
5. Solicitors Regulation Authority
The SRA deals with professional-conduct and regulatory concerns about solicitors rather than ordinary service complaints. Information about reporting concerns is available at sra.org.uk.
6. Services not within an external legal-services complaints scheme
Phrasing Legal itself is not an SRA-authorised firm. Work provided solely by a non-authorised person and not under the responsibility or supervision of an authorised solicitor may not fall within the Legal Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. We will explain the relevant position when the service is provided.