Complaints Handling Policy
1. We aim to give all lay and professional clients a good service at all times. However, in the event that you are dissatisfied with the services you have received from a barrister or a member of our staff, we wish to provide a remedy.
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When to complain?
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2. Very often, potential complaints can be resolved by raising the matter informally, because they may have arisen through a misunderstanding or can be remedied without resort to the full complaints procedure herein.
3. We therefore encourage you to take up a complaint with the responsible person in the first instance, if possible by email, or by personally meeting the responsible person where offered to do so. If the matter cannot be resolved to your satisfaction in this way, it is open to you to make a formal complaint. We recognise, of course, that there may be grievances which are incapable, in your view, of being resolved in this informal way. If that is the case, we expect you to inform the responsible person of the same at the informal stage.
4. A formal complaint will be entertained if it is made within 6 months of the date of the cause of the complaint or when informal resolution has failed, whichever is the later.
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What is a complaint?
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5. Under this procedure a complaint is one made in writing, including by email to info@maxlaw.co.uk, which is addressed to the Principal. You should supply your name and address, identify which member(s) of Chambers you are complaining about, provide the detail of the complaint and indicate what you would like done about it.
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6. If you consider yourself to have a disability which affects your ability to formulate or pursue a complaint, please tell us and we will discuss appropriate and reasonable adjustments with you.
7. Your correspondence will be acknowledged in writing by the Principal within three working days of receipt.
8. It is the job of the Principal to determine what has gone wrong. You should receive a full written response within 14 days informing you whether your complaint is upheld or rejected, and setting out the reasons why. When a complaint is upheld the letter will set out or include a proposal for resolving the complaint.
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Confidentiality
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9. All conversations, records and documents relating to the complaint will be treated confidentially and retained for 6 years. They will only be disclosed as necessary: normally only to the person complained about, the internal complaint handler and (in response to a specific request) the Bar Standards Board or Legal Ombudsman.
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Supervision of complaints procedure
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10. As part of our commitment to client care, we keep a record of all complaints made and the outcomes for inspection. Additionally, the record of complaints is available to the Bar Standards Board in the exercise of its monitoring or auditing functions.
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Complaints after the internal process
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11. If it has not been possible to settle your complaint using our internal complaints process, alternative complaints bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and the Principal wish to use such a scheme.
12. You also have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body, established under the Legal Services Act 2007, which deals with legal services complaints.
13. You have six months from the date of our final letter in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
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Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email:enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website:www.legalombudsman.org.uk
14. A link to the decision data on the Legal Ombudsman’s website is here.