Complaints procedure

If something has gone wrong with the service we have given you, we want to know. This page explains how to tell us, what we will do about it, and who you can go to if our answer does not satisfy you.

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Our commitment to you

We aim to give every client a high standard of service. If at any point you are unhappy with the service you have received, or with a bill, please tell us so that we can put it right as quickly as possible.

Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case, and it will not affect your position in your matter.

How to raise a complaint

In the first instance, please speak to the person handling your case. Most concerns are resolved quickly at this stage.

If they cannot resolve it to your satisfaction, or you would rather not raise it with them, you can make a formal complaint to our Client Care Officer, Ogechi Duru.

By email
[email protected]
By telephone
0121 523 5432
By post
Jemek Solicitors Limited, Branston Court, Branston Street, Birmingham B18 6BA

It helps if you tell us what has gone wrong and what you would like us to do about it, but you do not need to set your complaint out in any particular form.

What we will do

  1. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing promptly, and tell you who is dealing with it.
  2. We will investigate. That normally means reviewing your file and asking the member of staff involved for their account. We may come back to you for more detail.
  3. We may invite you to a meeting to discuss the complaint, if that seems likely to help. You do not have to attend one.
  4. If we meet, we will write to you afterwards to confirm what was discussed and anything we agreed. If we do not meet, we will send you a full written response once our investigation is finished.
  5. Our response will set out our conclusions and anything we propose to do to put matters right.
  6. If you are still unhappy, you can ask us to review the decision. That review will be carried out by someone at the firm who has not been involved in your matter, and we will write to you with our final response.

We will keep you informed of progress as we go, and you are welcome to ask us where things have got to at any point.

We aim to complete this process within eight weeks of you first complaining to us. That eight weeks matters: once it has passed, you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman whether or not we have finished. If we are not going to manage it, we will tell you why and when we expect to be able to give you our final response.

Taking it to the Legal Ombudsman

If you are unhappy with our final response, or if eight weeks have passed since you first complained to us and we have not resolved it, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at your complaint. The service is free to you and independent of us.

There are time limits, and the Ombudsman cannot usually consider a complaint brought outside them. You must refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • within six months of receiving our final written response to your complaint; and
  • within one year of the act or omission you are complaining about; or
  • within one year of when you should reasonably have realised there was cause for complaint.

If you are outside those limits it is still worth asking. Since 1 April 2023 the Ombudsman may accept a complaint out of time where it considers it fair and reasonable to do so, which is a wider discretion than the exceptional circumstances test that applied before.

The Ombudsman will normally expect you to have complained to us first and given us the chance to resolve matters.

Website
www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone
0300 555 0333
Minicom
0300 555 1777
Email
[email protected]
By post
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

Complaints about our bill

If your complaint is about a bill, you may also have the right to apply to the court to have the bill assessed under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

If you apply to the court for an assessment, the Legal Ombudsman will not usually also consider a complaint about the same bill, so it is worth deciding which route you want to take before you start.

Raising a concern with the SRA

The Legal Ombudsman deals with the standard of service you have received. The Solicitors Regulation Authority deals with conduct: matters such as dishonesty, misuse of money held for clients, or discrimination. You can report a concern of that kind to the SRA at any time, and you do not have to complain to us first.

Website
www.sra.org.uk
Telephone
0370 606 2555
By post
Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN

Alternative dispute resolution

Alternative complaints handling bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, should both you and we agree to use such a scheme. We have not agreed to use any such scheme as a matter of course, and our usual route for an unresolved complaint is the Legal Ombudsman.