Client care is central to the way in which we provide our services to you as clients. Robertsons Family Law is committed to providing a good standard of service to all clients—all staff share the responsibility of ensuring we achieve this.
In all our dealings with you as clients, we will act:
- in your best interests;
- with independence;
- with honesty;
- with integrity; and
- in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion.
We will not:
- abuse our position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others; or
- unfairly discriminate by allowing our personal views to affect our professional relationships and the way in which we provide services to clients.
It can be seen from our testimonials the level of service that we provide to our clients. However, we acknowledge that sometimes we may not always get it right, so if something has gone wrong, we need you to tell us. This will help us to improve our standards of service and hopefully resolve any issues you may have at an early stage.
As part of our regulatory duties, we also have to set out, in clear terms, our complaint’s handling process. This can be found below.
How do you make a complaint?
You can contact us in writing (by letter or email) or by telephone.
In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you do not feel able to discuss your concerns with them, please contact the person responsible for the overall supervision of your matter, who will be named in the Letter of Engagement we sent you at the beginning of your matter.
If you do not feel able to raise your concerns with either of these people, or you are unsatisfied with their response, please contact our Complaints Director who has overall responsibility for complaints and whose contact details are: David Paddison, 6 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3RS. Tel: 029 20237777. Email: law@robsols.co.uk.
To help us understand your complaint, and in order that we do not miss anything, please tell us:
- your full name and contact details;
- what you think we have got wrong;
- how you would like your complaint to be resolved; and
- your file reference number (if you have it).
If you require any help in making your complaint we will try to assist you.
How will we deal with your complaint?
We will write to you within two working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.
We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:
- reviewing your complaint;
- reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents; and
- liaising with the person who dealt with your matter.
We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.
We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.
We may also, if appropriate, invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to or if you are unable to. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you by telephone or video conference.
We will write to you at the end of our investigation to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint. Where possible, we will aim to do this within 28 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint?
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your matter.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint 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 act/omission; or
- no more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Write: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme, eg Ombudsman Services, ProMediate or Small Claims Mediation. We have, however, chosen not to adopt an ADR process. If, therefore, you wish to complain further, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
Visit its website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Their website is: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor
What will it cost?
Client Care & Complaints
We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
Please note that if we have issued a bill for work done on your matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount outstanding. This is explained in our Terms of Business.
The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.
