Feedback and Complaints
Leaving feedback
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients and appreciate your feedback. If you would like to pass on compliments to our team, you can do so by contacting our Marketing Officer Joanna Shields at joanna.shields@ellis-fermor.co.uk or on 0115 922 1591. Visit the feedback section to view our client reviews.
Our complaints procedure
If something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
Initial concerns
In most cases, an informal chat with the lawyer responsible for your matter will resolve your concerns.
If it does not, you can formalise your complaint or speak to someone other than the lawyer responsible for your matter. Our Client Care Director can record everything you are unhappy about and recommend the best solution for you. You can contact Simon Hale at s.hale@ellis-fermor.co.uk, by writing to him at 2 Devonshire Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1BS or by phoning our Beeston office on 0115 922 1591
In certain circumstances, such as a breach of the Solicitors Code of Conduct or discrimination, you may have the right to refer your complaint direct to the SRA for their investigation.
What we need to know
When contacting us please provide the following information, in writing if possible, to enable us to deal with your complaint correctly:
- Your name, contact details and preferred contact method
- File reference number
- Details of your concerns
- How you would like us to put things right
Our aim is to deal with any complaint in a prompt and fair manner and free of charge.
What will happen next?
- If you telephone us, we will endeavour to resolve the issue in that call.
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 2 working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. Your complaint will be passed to our Client Care Director who will review your matter file, arrange to speak to you about your complaint and will also speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
- We will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact the Client Care Director who will arrange for another Director at the firm to review his decision.
- 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.
- If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why. If we have not responded to your complaint within 8 weeks you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to help you.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH (telephone 0300 555 0333 or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk) about your complaint.
We have 8 weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint and no later than:
- one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring; or
- one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
Our Terms of Business can be found at https://www.ellis-fermor.co.uk/terms-of-business/
The Legal Ombudsman Scheme can be found at https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/
Note that the Legal Ombudsman service cannot be used by businesses or most other organisations unless they are below certain size limits. Further details are available from the Legal Ombudsman.
If a complaint cannot be resolved, you may also be able to ask for it to be referred to a process of alternative dispute resolution using a certified provider. We are not required to agree to such a request. In any case this is not available to businesses, only consumers. We will give you more information about that right if it becomes relevant.