SRA complaint information

If you are concerned about your solicitor's behaviour. The SRA can help you, or take action. It is a requirement by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) that all regulated law firms: -have a complaints procedure in place which must include certain text. -publish a copy of the complaints procedure on their website. We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients, and it is rare in the extreme that any one has had cause to complain about a service or any other issue. However if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we provide, you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

Our complaints procedure

In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If matters remain unresolved, please contact us by email at info@kacelawsolicitors.com

What will happen next?

Step 1- We will telephone and/or write to you acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 days of receiving it. We may ask you at this stage to clarify any aspect of your complaint.

Step 2- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve your complaint being reviewed by our client care partner, Philip Landau, who will speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

Step 3- Within seven working days, we will be in contact with you by telephone and/or in writing to set out this firm’s preliminary position in relation to your complaint, and address any appropriate solutions.

Step 4- If the matter is not yet resolved, we will send you within 14 days a detailed written reply to your complaint (on the assumption there is more detail to give over and above step 3 above) including suggestions for resolving the matter, and including inviting you to a meeting if preferable.

Step 5- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a review of the decision.

Step 6- We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

In the unlikely event that we cannot resolve your complaint, you may wish to raise your matter with the Legal Ombudsman.

You have six months (subject to some qualifications below) from the date of our final response in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ Telephone: 0300 555 0333 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

As of 01 April 2023 the time periods for reporting a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is no longer than:
• Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint and
• No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about;
• No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

In the highly unlikely event that you need to make a complaint, and your complaint is not about our service, but is about our conduct, the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) deals with conduct issues rather than the Legal Ombudsman which deals with service issues. You can visit the SRA’s website here to see how you can raise concerns with them.

Legal Ombudsman

A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman may include a challenge or complaint about bills and interest and must be made:
• Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint
• No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about
• No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
Please note that in January 2024 the Legal Ombudsman changed their address. It is now:
Médiateur juridique, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH. Téléphone : 0300 555 0333, courriel : enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk. Site web : www.legalombudsman.org.uk.