Clients Complaints

1. We are committed to providing a first class quality service to all our clients. Operating an effective complaints procedure is fundamental in the early resolution of any complaint. All complaints must be resolved within 35 days.

2. Clients complain because we have not met their expectations of what they think is a good level of service. At any every day level, they are concerns that have probably been made worse by repetition, they include:

• Not returning phone calls

• Not replying promptly to letters

• Unexplained delays

• Unclear communications

• Not keeping the client informed of progress

• Not checking regularly that you are still working towards the solution the client wants or that the solution is achievable

• Not giving the best information possible and regular updates about likely overall costs of the matter.

3. The definition of a complaint is ‘any expression of dissatisfaction’ by a client, whether justified or not. It is not intended to include any expression of dissatisfaction on any issue which has been immediately and successfully resolved by the lawyer concerned, and which has related to the subject matter of the case in hand. A complaint may be identified in the form of a letter, e-mail, telephone, or face to face conversations.

4. If you receive a complaint, deal with it calmly and professionally and in line with our complaints procedure. Formal complaints are dealt with in 2 stages at BLM. Stage 1 is the responsibility of the lawyer concerned/the category supervisor and Stage 2 is the responsibility of the complaints officer (Carol Lloyd-Morris). All complaints should be fully resolved within a maximum of 35 days, (although this time limit may be extended in appropriate cases). In the event that Carol Lloyd-Morris is the subject of the complaint Syvil Lloyd Morris takes on the role of Complaints Officer.

5. If the complaint cannot be resolved ‘immediately’ (within 4 days) by the lawyer concerned it should be referred to your category supervisor (stage 1) who will have another 3 days to resolve the complaint. If this cannot be achieved the complaint should be referred it to the complaints officer (Carol Lloyd-Morris) for stage 2. Category supervisors must acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 7 days of receipt of the initial complaint in any event. Complaint MUST be passed to the category supervisor if still not resolved ‘locally’ by the lawyer concerned within 4 days. Category supervisors may take the opportunity to carry out a supervisory file review at this time. This may be done to assist the client, the fee earner concerned and the complaints officer. In those cases where a supervisory file review is undertaken the file review forms must clearly be marked “COMPLAINT” and passed to the Complaints Officer who will file it in the central complaints register. It is anticipated that many complaints will be resolved at Stage 1, by the lawyer concerned before they reach a category supervisor, without the need to make a Stage 2 referral to the complaints officer.

6. Upon referral to the complaints officer of a formal complaint (stage 2) the complaints officer will

• Within 7 days send a letter formally acknowledging the complaint
• Record the complaint in the central register
• Open a complaints file
• Fully investigate the complaint
• Consider inviting the complainant for a meeting as part of the procedure
• No later than 35 days after the initial complaint provide a full written response to the complainant
• The complainant is entitled to have any decision reviewed. This should be done by a Partner or the Office Manager within 10 days of the request for a review
• In any event the complainant will be reminded of the right to have a complaint referred to the Legal Ombudsman (“LeO”).

7. If there are any variations to the above time scales, the complainant must be advised of this and an explanation given as to why.

8. If the complaint relates to the complaints officer in her capacity as a fee earner, the complaints procedure will be conducted through a Partner or the Office Manager.

9. A central complaints register is to be kept by the complaints officer and is reviewed annually for trends by her.

10. Where a complaint has been upheld or partially upheld one or more of the following remedies may apply:

• a full acknowledgement and explanation of any poor service
• an apology
• appropriate action to rectify the situation for the complainant
• appropriate recommendations for action to improve BLM’s practices or procedures
• an offer of an ex gratia payment (“compensation”)

11. The Compliance Officer (Michelle Daubney) will review the central complaints register before completing the annual return to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, in order to make any appropriate disclosures to them. This is separate to the annual review of trends which will be undertaken by the Complaints Officer (Carol Lloyd Morris)

12. The following time-line is therefore applicable to BLM complaints procedure: