At Premier Legal LLP we aim to provide a high quality legal service to all clients.
Our policy concerning complaints
We have regulatory obligations to provide information about our complaints procedure to our clients at the outset of their matter and we recognize that we should deal with all complaints promptly, fairly, openly and effectively. Full details of our complaints procedures are contained in our terms and conditions issued at the outset of a matter.
Informal resolution
Minor concerns can often be resolved by informal discussion with the partner responsible for a particular matter and we encourage clients with concerns to raise these with their Client Partner in the first instance at the earliest opportunity.
How can a formal complaint be made?
If you wish to make a formal complaint please contact admin@premier-legal.co.uk.
Please make any complaint as soon as possible following the acts or omissions about which you wish to complain.
Our investigation
We will normally acknowledge each formal complaint within two working days of receipt and tell you the name of the person who will investigate the complaint.
The person carrying out the investigation will establish a separate file for that investigation to keep a written record of it and so that we can readily provide the investigation file to any relevant authority if subsequently requested.
The person investigating the complaint will review your complaint with the person handling the matter, consider relevant papers from the file and other records, and make any wider enquiries within the firm as may be necessary. He or she may also ask to meet with you in the course of our investigation, if clarification is needed of any points raised in your complaint.
We will usually respond substantively to a complaint within 28 calendar days. If that is not possible, we will let you know when you will receive our full response. We aim always to respond to a complaint within 56 days of its first being made to us.
In our substantive response to you, we will:
- outline the investigations that we have carried out;
- set out our conclusions in relation to your complaint; and
- explain how we have reached those conclusions based on our investigation.
If we find that we have fallen short of what you should have expected from us, then we may also:
- explain what went wrong;
- propose one or more remedies to you; and/or
- explain how we have changed our practices to prevent similar problems in the future.
No charge will be made to you for the work done in responding to your complaint.
England and Wales
If you are a client of Premier Legal LLP and you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service to you, including our fees, then please write to the Managing Partner, at our Nottingham office, setting out the details of your complaint. We will investigate in accordance with our general policy above.
Before setting out your complaint you may wish to review the guidance notes published by the Legal Ombudsman relating to complaints against solicitors. These are published on the Legal Ombudsman’s website, the details of which are provided below.
Please make any complaint as soon as possible following the acts or omissions about which you wish to complain and in any event within the time limits prescribed by the Legal Ombudsman referred to below (and which can be found on their website).
If your complaint concerns our fees, you may also have the right to challenge our fees by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitor’s Act 1974. Please note that certain time limits apply to these procedures and the Legal Ombudsman may not be able to consider a complaint about our fees if you have applied to the court for detailed assessment of our fees.
The Legal Ombudsman
If you are not satisfied with the response that we have provided to your complaint, then you may have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. This right is available to all individual clients and to some organisational clients.
The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against solicitors and may be contacted at:
The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Please also refer to the rules published by The Legal Ombudsman on its website in relation to complaints, including rules about:
- who can complain;
- the subject matter of complaints; and
- the time limits within which complaints need to be brought.
Should you wish to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, you must do so:
- within six months of receipt of our final written response; and
- within six years from the date of the act/omission, or three years from when you should have reasonably known about the complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (Authorisation no. 523030). If you have a complaint about our conduct, particularly in relation to dishonesty, financial wrongdoing or discrimination, the SRA may be able to help you. Further information is available here and they may be contacted at:
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
Tel: 0370 606 2555