Our Complaints Procedure

Whilst we always aim to provide an excellent legal service to our clients it is also very important that if a client believes that our service has fallen short in any way that any complaint is dealt with appropriately and in accordance with both the Law Society and the Legal Ombudsman’s guidelines.

How a Complaint will be dealt with

Stage 1:

If you have a complaint, please contact the person who has conduct of your case/ transaction in the first instance (by telephone, email or post). If that person is unable to resolve your issue, to your satisfaction, or if you feel that you cannot discuss the issue with that person, you should ask that your complaint be dealt with by their Supervisor/ Head of Department whose name should be set out in the Engagement Letter that was sent to you at the outset of your case.

If neither your case handler nor the Supervisor/ Head of Department can resolve your complaint informally at this stage your complaint will move to the second stage i.e. you may refer your complaint to our Practice Manager/ Designated Complaints Handler, Mrs Joanne Ormston.

Stage 2:

When you refer your formal complaint to Joanne Ormston, we would ask that you set out clearly, providing as much detail as possible, the grounds of your complaint (by email or in writing) so we can then endeavour to reply fully to your complaint and address all the issues that you have raised.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter/ email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 days of receipt of the complaint, enclosing a copy of this complaints procedure. Joanne Ormston will then refer the complaint to the relevant Head of Department/ Supervisor to investigate the matter fully.

2. The person dealing with your complaint will within 14 days from the date of the acknowledgment of your complaint write or email you to tell you how long it will take to investigate your complaint. This may vary depending upon the circumstances of your complaint, the complexity, the availability of both the case handler and supervisor, illness or holidays. However, it should not generally be more than 6 weeks after acknowledging receipt of your complaint.

3. The person dealing with your complaint will consider your file of papers, speak to the case handler and may seek clarification from you either in writing, by telephone or face to face so that the circumstances of your complaint can be investigated fully.

4. We will send you the result of our investigation by email or post within 6 weeks of the date of the acknowledgment letter. That email or correspondence will include any suggestions for resolving the matter (if appropriate) and may include an invitation to have a telephone discussion with the person dealing with the complaint or a face to face meeting in the hope this may resolve the issue.

5. If you agree to such discussion and/or meeting (if appropriate) then the person dealing with your complaint will write to you within 7 days of that discussion/meeting to confirm what took place and any solutions that have been agreed with you.

6. At that stage, if you are still not satisfied you can write to Joanne Ormston again to state why you are not satisfied and request that another Director/ Head of Department who specialises in the relevant area of law reviews the decision. However, it is at our discretion whether we will agree to a further review.

7. We will then write to you within 14 days of receiving your written request for review to let you know whether we will agree to a further review or confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. If a further review is agreed this will take place within 14 days and a letter sent to you confirming our final position on your complaint sent within that time

8. If you are still not satisfied with our handling of your complaint or are dissatisfied with our decision you may have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman but you must do so within 6 months of our final letter to you.

The Ombudsman’s contact details are:
Address: The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

In addition to the Legal Ombudsman, several other complaints bodies exist which are also able to deal with complaints about legal services such as Pro Mediate, Small Claims Mediation and the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform.

Information about these alternatives can be found at:
www.promediate.co.uk
www.gov.uk/guidance/small-claims-mediation-service

If we have to vary any of the time scales above, we will let you know and explain why and attempt to do so.

9. If you believe that we have behaved illegally, dishonestly or in breach of the Solicitor Regulation Authority’s principles you can complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Please refer to sra.org.uk or telephone 0370 606 2555 for further information.

Pearson Solicitors & Financial Advisers Ltd are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (No: 660918) and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Pearson Solicitors & Financial Advisers is a Limited Company registered in England and Wales under registration number 12024416.

page last updated: 26/08/2021