Complaints Handling Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high quality independent legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to maintain and improve our standards.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact Mr Mark Graham at the Penrith Office with the details.  In the event your complaint concerns Mark Graham and/or the work he has undertaken for you, then please contact the firms Senior Director, Kevin Lowther, at our Appleby Office.  

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
    
2. We will then investigate your complaint.  This will normally involve passing your complaint to Mr Mark Graham at our Penrith office, who will review your matter file and if appropriate, speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
    
3. Mr Graham will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
    
4. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another Director to review the decision.
    
5. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
    
6. Mr Graham may invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. 
    
7. Within three days of any meeting, Mr Graham will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
    
8. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman.  Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 12 months from the date of the act or omission being complained about and or 12 months from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman direct on 0300 555 0333, via email at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or, if you prefer to write, at:  
   
   Legal Ombudsman
   PO Box 6167
   Slough
   SL1 0EH
   
   If        you     want   to       find     out     more   about the     Legal   Ombudsman visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk  

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

Unless it agrees there are good reasons not to do so, the Legal Ombudsman will expect you to allow us to consider and respond to your complaint in accordance with the procedure set out above in the first instance.  You can refer your complaint up to 6 months after you have received our final written response to your complaint.  You can also use the Ombudsman service if we have not resolved your complaint within 8 weeks of us receiving it.  A complaint can be referred to the Legal Ombudsman up to six years from the date of the act or omission or up to 3 years after discovering a problem.  The ombudsman deals with service-related complaints; any conduct-related complaints will be referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Alternative complaints bodies (such as ProMediate – www.promediate.co.uk and Small Claims Mediation – www.smallclaimscourtgenie.co.uk ) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.