If you would like to make a formal complaint about our service or a bill that we have issued or both, please contact Richard Shears with the details. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 3 working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint.
3. We will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This will be done within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. Within 3 working days of the meeting, Richard Shears will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Richard Shears will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
6. At this stage, if we have not resolved your complaint, we will write to you, within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint, to inform you about what you can do next (as explained below in the next section).
7. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, the Legal Ombudsman may be able to independently consider your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. There are, however, restrictions to this service for organisations, as set out on their website (see below).

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:

•    Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

•    Call: 0300 555 0333

•    Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

•    Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.