Symons, Gay & Leland LLP pride themselves in providing a professional and sympathetic service to all our clients. However, solicitors are human and therefore not always perfect. Sometimes there can be a breakdown in communications between the client and the solicitor dealing with their matter.
The Law Society requires us to operate a complaints handling procedure which requires us to deal with any problems clients may experience swiftly and efficiently.
What do you do if you have a problem?
Initially if you have any concerns, please first take them up with the person who is acting for you at this firm. If that does not resolve the problem, or you would prefer not to speak to that person, then please contact Suzanne Wilson-McMahon who is the firm’s Complaints Handler.
How do you contact Suzanne Wilson-McMahon?
The easiest way is by telephone on 01708 744211. If it’s a small problem, it can often be quickly resolved over the telephone. After speaking to you - if it is too complicated to deal with over the telephone – she will ask you to put your concerns in writing and either send your letter to her at Symons, Gay & Leland LLP 91a South Street Romford Essex RM1 1PA or email her at swm@symonsgayandleland.co.uk
What happens next?
1) Suzanne Wilson-McMahon will send you a letter within 7 days of receiving your complaint.
2) Your complaint will be recorded in our central register.
3) Suzanne will then investigate your complaint. This usually involves the following steps:
(a) She will ask the person who is acting/acted on your behalf to provide a written response to your complaint within 7 days.
(b) She will then examine their response and refer to the information in your file and if necessary speak to the person in (a), which may take up to another 7 days.
(c) Suzanne Wilson-McMahon will then either invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint or she will telephone you to discuss the matter. Usually the matter will be resolved and a letter will then be sent to you confirming the outcome. If the matter cannot be resolved Suzanne Wilson-McMahon will respond formally to your complaint and outline your options.
(d) If you are not happy with the outcome, you can ask us to review the position within 14 days and the matter will be referred to another Partner who will review the matter and respond within 10 days.
(e) If still unresolved at this stage you may take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
The Legal Ombudsman is able to investigate the quality of professional service supplied by a solicitor to a client and investigate allegations that a solicitor has breached rules of professional conduct.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. Their address can be found on our terms and conditions sent to you at the start of the matter. We very much hope this will not be necessary.
Before it will consider a complaint, The Legal Ombudsman generally requires that the firm’s internal complaints procedure has been exhausted and if it is satisfied that the firm’s proposals for resolving a complaint are reasonable, it may decline to investigate further.
The Legal Ombudsman’s address is PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH
Telephone 0300 555 0333
website www.legalombudsman.org.uk or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
When to report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority
If you have a compliant about the person you are dealing with and/or the firm breaching the SRA Code of Conduct and you are not satisfied with their response, you can report the matter to the SRA.
Further information can be found at www.sra.org.uk
