Client Care & Complaints

Our Complaints Policy

 

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all clients. If something goes wrong, or you are unhappy about the service you have received, we ask that you tell us about it in the hope that the matter can be resolved.  This will also help us to improve our standards.

1. In the first instance please raise any concerns with the person dealing with your matter.
2. If they are unable to resolve your issues, or if you are uncomfortable in raising the issue directly with them, please put your complaint in writing to the File Supervisor whose details can be found in the client care letter you received at the beginning of your matter.
3. If the File Supervisor is unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, please refer your complaint in writing to Nicholas Worsnop, the Partner responsible for dealing with client care.

 

Nicholas Worsnop

Chadwick Lawrence LLP

The Fire Station, Dean Clough Mills

Halifax West Yorkshire

HX3 5AX

nicholasworsnop@chadlaw.co.uk

 

If you should refer your complaint to Nicholas Worsnop, please ensure that you:

(i)            Provide copies of correspondence between you and the file handler with regard to the complaint;

(ii)           Provide a copy of your complaint to the File Supervisor and their response;

(iii)          Explain why you are unhappy with the File Supervisor’s decision and in what way you believe it to be wrong.

 

You should expect to receive a full response to your complaint within twenty-eight days of receipt.

 

What Will Happen Next

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint. We may ask you to confirm or explain the detail set out.
2. We will record your complaint in our Central Register and open a file for your complaint. We will do this within five days of receiving your complaint.
3. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will involve reviewing the file, considering the correspondence that has been raised in relation to the complaint and input from the Supervisor.
4. We shall respond to your complaint in writing, setting out the decision and the reasons for that decision and this we shall endeavour to do within four weeks of the matter being referred to Natalie Glover or Nicholas Worsnop. If we need longer to address the issue, we will inform you as soon as we become aware of the fact and let you know how long it will take.

 

If we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can assist if you are not satisfied with our response and we have been unable to resolve the complaint with you. Please note, however, that the Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve the issue with us first in line with this policy.

You must take your complaint to the Ombudsman:

–              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 or no more than one year from the date when you should have reasonably known that there was cause for complaint.

 

The Legal Ombudsman contact details are:

Address:              PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Website:              www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Telephone:           0300 555 0333

Email:                   enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

If you should have a complaint about our conduct, or for things such as dishonesty or unfair treatment, you may contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).  Details of the SRA can be found at www.sra.org.uk or by writing to them at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.

 

Mediation

Please note that alternative bodies such as Pro-Mediate (www.promediate.co.uk) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should you and we agree to use such a scheme.  Please note that we do not agree necessarily to use Pro-Mediate.

Also, should you have received our client care information, including our statement of terms and terms of business at the outset of your matter from us electronically, under the EU Regulation on Consumer Online Dispute Resolution, you may use the online dispute resolution platform (http://ec.europa.eu/odr).  Our email address for this is nicholasworsnop@chadlaw.co.uk.

 

February 2025