Client Complaints Procedure

Mortimers Solicitors Limited aims to provide the highest standard of legal service to every client. We recognise however, that we may not always achieve this aim and want to know about any problems so that we can try to put them right.  We value feedback, which provides us with an opportunity to check the quality of our service and to make improvements. We will consider any complaint carefully and objectively, endeavouring to resolve the issues and reach a satisfactory conclusion.

 

WHO SHOULD I COMPLAIN TO?

If you wish to complain (about our service or charges) please contact the lawyer dealing with your matter, or the supervising Matter Partner. Their names and contact details will be in the engagement letter you received when you first instructed the firm on the relevant matter and on our website. We are happy to deal with your complaint by informal discussion or in writing, at your choosing.

If you would prefer to deal with someone else, you are welcome to do so. You can contact the Complaints Partner (details below).

 

WHAT WILL MORTIMERS SOLICITORS LIMITED DO?

We will acknowledge a complaint as soon as possible and set out a suggested timetable for our response. We normally aim to provide an initial response to your complaint within 1 calendar month of receiving it.

If you are not satisfied with our initial response, you can escalate your complaint to the firm’s Complaints Partner. The Complaints Partner will either: 

  • review the substance of your complaint themselves; or
  • ask another person to do so.

In either case, your complaint will be looked at afresh and we will work with you to understand any remaining concerns. We will aim to provide a final response within a month of the complaint being escalated.

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

 

WHAT ARE MY LEGAL RIGHTS?

Our Terms of Business will continue to apply to this procedure. Nothing in this procedure takes precedence over or replaces any right that you have to bring a complaint or dispute that you may have against the firm under UK law.

 

OUR COMPLAINTS PARTNER CAN BE CONTACTED AT:

complaints@mortimers-solicitors.co.uk

 

PROCEDURAL OPTIONS

If you do not agree with our final response to your complaint and your complaint concerns any of our offices, if you are a consumer (or qualifying small business) you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation which deals with complaints about solicitors and other legal professionals.

Full details of the process are available from the Legal Ombudsman website (www.legalombudsman.org.uk) or can be obtained by calling 0300 555 1777, emailing enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or writing to Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.

If you wish to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you should do so within 6 months of our final response to your complaint, and within 1 year of the date of the act or omission about which you have complained or within 1 year of you realising there was a cause for complaint.  Please refer to the Legal Ombudsman website for full details on its approach to handling complaints.

You may also ask an approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body to deal with the complaint, such as CEDR in London – https://www.cedr.com.  We do not agree to use the scheme operated by CEDR.

If your complaint relates to fees, you may be entitled to have them reviewed by the court by applying for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you take advantage of this procedure within a month from the date of our invoice, your right to a detailed assessment is unconditional. If you delay beyond a month the court may impose conditions. Once a year has elapsed since the date of the bill you will lose the right to a detailed assessment unless there are special circumstances. 

Alternatively, if you consider that we have breached a regulatory obligation, you may refer the matter directly to the SRA here: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/. Alternatively, you can call 0370 606 2555, email report@sra.org.uk or write to Solicitors Regulation Authority The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN.