Complaints Procedure
We are committed to providing the highest quality of service. If you are a client and you have any concerns or complaints about any of the services we provide to you, we would like to discuss them with you and try to resolve them as soon as possible. Initially, we suggest that you contact the lawyer responsible for the particular matter. However, if you do not want to do that or if your discussions with that person do not resolve your concerns, then please write to the Partners at info@wordenrichmond.com with details of your complaint. The Partner who has had least involvement in the matter will then do the following:
- confirm receipt of your complaint, by email;
- investigate your complaint;
- arrange a telephone call or meeting with you to discuss the complaint; and
- write to you to summarise the outcome of the call or meeting and the solution offered or agreed. If it is not possible to meet in person or by telephone, the Partner will respond to your complaint in writing, offering a solution.
If your complaint is still not resolved at that stage you should contact the Partner again. She will review the complaint once more and write to you with her final decision and the reasons for it, which concludes our complaint process. We aim to conclude our complaints procedure within eight weeks of receipt of your email to the Partners with details of your complaint.
If you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to apply to the court for an assessment of a bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 and/or to ask the Legal Ombudsman of England and Wales to consider your complaint.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve it with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and no more than six years from the date of the act or omission to which you object, or three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. Further information relating to the Legal Ombudsman can be found on their website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. Their contact details are:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email address: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Further, Worden Richmond is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Information on the SRA’s regulations, including the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct and arrangements regarding reporting concerns, can be found at www.sra.org.uk.
