Our Complaints Procedure
Our aim is to provide consumers of our service(s) with an excellent service at all times. However, should you have a complaint you are invited to let us know as soon as possible as complaints can only be raised within six months of the act or omission complained of.
Upon making a complaint you must provide us with the following information:
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Your full name and address;
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The name of the person you are complaining about;
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Details of the complaint; and
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What you would like to be done to remedy the complaint.
Upon receipt of your complaint our Barristers’ Chambers will appoint a person to deal with your complaint. The person appointed will endeavour to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 14 working days (or if later, the reasons will be explained in writing) and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.
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Your complaint will be acknowledged and responded to promptly. When acknowledging your complaint, the following information will be provided to you:
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The name of the barrister who will be handling your complaint,
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His/her position in Chambers,
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A copy of the Chambers’ complaints procedure
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The date by which the complainant will next hear from Chambers.
The person appointed to deal with your complaint will inform you that he/she has been appointed as the person who will deal with your complaint, and provide you with a time-frame by which you will be sent a Decision to your complaint. The usual time-frame within which a Decision is provided is 8 weeks.
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Should the appointed person find that they are not able to provide a Decision within the 8 week time-frame, they will inform you of a new date that a Decision will be sent to you.
His/her reply will set out:
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The nature and scope of the investigation;
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The conclusion(s) reached on each complaint and the basis for their conclusions;
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If your complaint is found to be justified a proposal(s) for resolving the complaint will be sent to you.
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If your complaint is deemed not to be justified, you will be informed of the reason(s) for the decision
If your complaint has not been dealt with within eight weeks of your complaint, or if you are not provided with a timely explanation of the reason for the delay, or if you are not satisfied with the proposal for resolving your complaint or if the decision is not to uphold your complaint, you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
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Consumers with a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman are individuals, small businesses and charities.The following link to the Legal Ombudsman’s web-site provides a full list of those who has a right to complain: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/?faqs=who-can-use-our-service
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You can also write to the Legal Ombudsman at:
The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6808
Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
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For more information about the Legal Ombudsman, visit their website: https://legalombudsman.org.uk/
A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made either within six years of the barrister’s alleged acts or omissions complained of, or no later than three years after you should have known or ought to have known that you may reasonably have had grounds for making a complaint. Also, after receiving the barrister’s decision, if you are not happy with the decision, you must complain to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receipt of the barrister’s final response to your complaint.
After receipt of your complaint the Legal Ombudsman will provide instructions to you on how to pursue your complaint through them. Thereafter, the Ombudsman will make his/her decision. Their decision will be published on their Decision Data website. The Decision Data on the Legal Ombudsman website will also provide the details of providers of legal services who received an Ombudsman decision within the last 12 months, and will also state the name of the Provider the Ombudsman required to provide a remedy to the consumer.
The link to the decision data on the Legal Ombudsman’s website: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/information-centre/data-centre/#ombudsman-decision-data
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The details of all barristers entitled to practice in England and Wales is recorded on the Barristers’ Register page of the BSB’s website and can be found by using the link: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record/the-barristers-register.html
The BSB’s Barristers’ Register shows you:
(1) Barristers who has a current Practicing Certificate, and
(2) Whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings against them.
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