B J McKENNA & CO SOLICITORS LLP

Complaints handling procedure

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 14 days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care partner who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
  3. Our client care partner will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  4. Our client care partner will then invite you to a meeting or will telephone you, if this is more convenient, to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 28 days of sending you the detailed written reply.
  5. Within 21 days of the meeting/telephone conversation our client care partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
  6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for the decision to be reviewed by a senior member of staff.
  7. We will write to you within 28 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  8. If after concluding our internal complaint procedure you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman Service PO Box 15870 Birmingham B30 9EB about your complaint. You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final response to your complaint from us. From 1 April 2023, the Legal Ombudsman also expects complaints to be made to them within 1 year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned (prior to 1 April 2023: 6 years) or within 1 year of you realising there was a concern (prior to 1 April 2023: 3 years). For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman Service (0300 555 0333 or refer to www.legalombudsman.org.uk)

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.