Complaints Procedure

We aim to provide an excellent quality of service at all times. If, however, you have a complaint, we invite you to let us know as soon as possible by following the procedure below. It is not necessary to involve solicitors in order to make your complaint, but you may do so should you wish.

Timeline

1. Chambers must have regard to the Legal Ombudsman's timeframe for considering complaints (please see paragraph 11 below) when deciding whether they are able to investigate your complaint. Chambers will not therefore usually deal with complaints that fall outside of the Legal Ombudsman's time limits.

2. A formal complaint must be raised as soon as reasonably possible, and in any event, within one year of the act/omission being complained of, or one year from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

Eligibility

3. The Legal Ombudsman will also only deal with complaints from consumers. This means that only complaints from the barrister's client are within their jurisdiction. 

4. It should be noted that it may not always be possible to investigate a complaint brought by a non-client. This is because the ability of Chambers to satisfactorily investigate and resolve such matters is limited and complaints of this nature are often better suited to the disciplinary processes maintained by the Bar Standards Board. Therefore, Chambers will make an initial assessment of the complaint and if they feel that the issues raised cannot be satisfactorily resolved through our complaints process, we will refer you to the Bar Standards Board.

Procedure

5. If you wish to make a complaint, please follow the procedure below.

a. Please address all complaints in writing to the Director of Clerking, Alfie Lee.

b. If the complaint is about the Director of Clerking, please address it to the Heads of Chambers (Tyrone Smith KC and Nicola Howard KC).

c. Please make clear:
- Your name and contact details.
- The precise nature of your complaint.
- How you would like it to be resolved.

d. Your complaint will be acknowledged as soon as possible and within seven days of receipt. 

e. Depending on the nature of your complaint, we may refer your complaint to an independent complaints handling service for investigation and substantive reply, which will be issued within 28 days following acknowledgement of receipt.

f. The substantive reply will include:
- the nature and scope of the investigation;
- a conclusion on each complaint and the basis for this conclusion; and
- in the case of a complaint which is found to be justified, proposals for resolution.

g. If you are dissatisfied with the decision, or any part of it, you may ask for it to be reviewed within Chambers and/or you may refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (please see below for further details).

h. A record will be kept of all complaints, including correspondence and resolutions relating to them, for a period of six years following its conclusion.

Reasonable Adjustments

6. We will make all necessary reasonable adjustments for complaints which cannot be submitted in writing. Please contact us so we can best accommodate your needs.

Confidentiality

7. All conversations and documents relating to the complaint will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed only to the extent that is necessary. Disclosure will be to the Heads of Chambers, members of our Management Committee and to anyone involved in the complaint and its investigation. Such people will include the barrister member or staff who you have complained about and the person who investigates the complaint. We may also refer the investigation of your complaint to an independent complaints handling service. If we do, they are bound by the same confidentiality regulations. The Bar Standards Board is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when discharging its auditing and monitoring functions.

Record Keeping

8. As part of our commitment to client care, we make a written record of formal complaints and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years. A summary of the (anonymised) record is inspected regularly with a view to improving services.

9. From time to time, a summary of the complaints record will be provided to the Bar Standards Board, on an anonymous basis which will only provide information about what the complaint was about and the outcomes.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

10. If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation and you fall within their jurisdiction, you fall within their jurisdiction you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for complaints about lawyers, at the conclusion of our consideration of your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman is not able to consider your complaint until it has first been investigate by Chambers. 

11. The time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be:

- no later than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.

- within six months of the complaint receiving a final response from their lawyer, if that response complies with the requirements in 4.4 f the Scheme Rules (which requires the response to include prominently an explanation that the Legal Ombudsman was available if the complainant remained dissatisfied, and the provision of full contact details for the Legal Ombudsman and a warning that the complaint must be referred to them within six months).

12. Legal Ombudsman Contact Details:

- You can write to the Legal Ombudsman at: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

- Telephone: 0300 555 0333

- Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.co.uk

- See also: www.legalombudsman.org.uk and details of cases decided by the Legal Ombudsman in the past 12 months.

13. If you are unhappy with the outcome of the investigation, alternative complaints bodies as approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute also exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, should and the barrister both wish to use such a scheme. If you wish to use your chosen ADR provider, please contact us to discuss this, including time limits for contacting your chosen ADR. Please also note that if mediation is used, neither you nor hte barrister is required to accept the proposed resolution. If mediation does not resolve the complaint, you may still make a complaint to the legal Ombudsman (as detailed above), provided you fall within their jurisdiction and you do so within the time limit.

Complaints to the Bar Standards Board

14. If your complaint concerns a barrister who is not representing you and you are not satisfied with the outcome of our investigation, then please contact the Bar Standards Board.

15. Bar Standards Board Contact Details:

- You can write to the BSB at: Contact and Assessment Team, Bar Standards Board, 289 -293 High Holborn, London WC1V 7HZ

- Telephone: 020 7611 1444

- See also www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

16. The BSB Barristers' Register shows barristers who hold a current Practising Certificate and also whether they have any disciplinary findings against them.