Gouldingays Family Law & Mediation 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 and the service we provide. If at any point you become unhappy with the service, we provide to you or you have concerns about your bill, then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.

In the first instance, please mention any problems to the person who is working on your case as they may be able to quickly reassure you or explain any concerns or misunderstanding. If you have already done this without success or you feel it is not appropriate, then we have a complaints procedure as detailed below.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. We may ask you for more information or to explain or clarify the details you have sent us if there is any uncertainty.
  2. We will then promptly and thoroughly investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Principal Wendy Gouldingay, who will review your matter.
  3. She will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. She will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  4. Within three days of the meeting, she will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you.
  5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, she will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for someone unconnected with the matter to review the decision.
  7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  8. If we are unable to resolve your complaint within eight weeks after you have brought it to our attention, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about poor service from lawyers.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.

From 1 April 2023, it is really important to be aware that you must refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • within six months of the date of 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 reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint

The Legal Ombudsman has strict time limits and if you fail to adhere to these, it is unlikely that the Legal Ombudsman will be able to investigate your complaint as they are only able to investigate complaints which fall outside their time limits where it is considered fair and reasonable to do so.

The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:

  • Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
  • Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
  • Telephone: 0300 555 0333 between 8:30am to 5:30pm

Calls from both mobiles and landlines to 03 numbers cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01 or 02). Calls are recorded and may be used for training and monitoring purposes.

  • For minicom call 0300 555 1777
  • In writing: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

Do not send original documents to the Legal Ombudsman. They will scan any documents you send to make computer copies then destroy the originals.

9. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for concerns about dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. You can raise concerns directly with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk)

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

11. We will not charge you for handling your complaint.

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