1. We will send you a letter (also by email if you have an email address) acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of our receiving the complaint, with a copy of this procedure.
2. Your complaint will then be investigated by Stefanie O’Bryen of Watlington Solicitors. As you know, Nick is a sole practitioner and therefore, to ensure that your complaint is handled objectively and independently, TW Family Law is obliged to engage the services of an external solicitor as an integral part of this firm’s complaints procedure. This will normally involve passing your complaint to Stefanie, an experienced Family Law solicitor, who will contact you to confirm her involvement, review your matter file and speak with Nick as appropriate. Please rest assured that Stefanie will fully respect the rules of confidentiality and ensure that no confidential information or personal data from your file is shared with any third parties.
3. In the event of Stefanie’s absence (through holiday, sickness, bereavement etc) the complaint will be handled by another suitable independent person (referred to henceforth in this procedure as ‘the I P’) and the same duty of confidentiality will apply.
4. Stefanie (or the I P in her absence) will then send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her/his suggestions for resolving the matter. She/he will do this within 14 days (excluding the Christmas and New Year period, the Easter weekend and other bank holidays) of sending you the acknowledgment letter.
5. If you would like a meeting with Stefanie/the I P to discuss the matter you should inform Nick Rees either in the initial complaint, or on receipt of the detailed written reply from Stefanie /the I P. Nick will liaise with Stefanie/the I P as to a suitable date and venue and he will then contact you within 7 days of your request (again excluding the Christmas and New Year period, the Easter weekend and other bank holidays) to arrange an appointment. We are happy to arrange an appointment either at TW Family Law’s office or at the office of Stefanie O’Bryen Solicitors, and will consider any preference you may have as to the most convenient date, time and venue.
Watlington Solicitors are located at: 20 Shirburn Street, Watlington, Oxfordshire, OX49 5BT. Telephone 01491 614700
6. Within three days of the meeting (excluding weekends, the Christmas and New Year period, the Easter weekend and other bank holidays), Stefanie/the I P will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she/he has agreed with you.
7. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact Stefanie/the I P again to explain why you remain unhappy with the response, and Stefanie/the I P will review your comments. Depending on the matter we may at this stage arrange for an additional external person, normally a solicitor at another practice, to review the decision.
8. Stefanie /the I P will write to you within 14 days (excluding the Christmas and New Year period, the Easter weekend and other bank holidays) of receiving your request for a review, confirming her/his final position on your complaint and explaining her/his reasons.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
7. If we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Website www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Email [email protected],
Telephone 0300 555 0333 about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of your receiving a final written response from Stefanie /the I P regarding your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service on its website.
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then the following timescales apply within which you would have to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
To get in contact email [email protected] or call 07432 767426. Easier still, fill in your email here…
Unit 3, Wheatley Business Centre, Old London Rd, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1XW
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (No. 660466) VAT registration number: 330 7633 20
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service provided, then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem. Please follow the following link to Thame & Wheatley Family Law’s Complaints procedure.