Braham Dutt Badrick French LLP (BDBF) is committed to a high quality of legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, please contact Clare Brereton who is a Partner and acts as our Complaints Partner.

We hope that you will not need to complain about our service and wish to work with you throughout our relationship to ensure that your aims are met. We value all feedback, positive or otherwise, so we take your comments and concerns raised with us seriously.

We will never charge you for dealing with a complaint.

How do I make a complaint?

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you do not feel able to discuss your concerns with them, please contact the person responsible for overall supervision on the matter (they will be named in the client care letter we sent to you at the beginning of your matter as the “supervisor”).

You can contact us in writing (by letter or email) or by telephone.

If you do not feel able to raise your concerns with either of these people, or you are unsatisfied with their response, please contact Clare Brereton, Complaints Partner, who has overall responsibility for all complaints and can be contacted at ClareBrereton@bdbf.co.uk, or 020 3828 0350 or by post to our office at Kings House, 36 King Street, London EC2V 8BB.

Help us to understand your complaint

We hope you will not have any reason to complain but if you do it will help us to understand your complaint and respond effectively if you could please tell us in writing:

a) Your name and contact details;
b) What you think we got wrong;
c) How you would like your complaint to be resolved; and
d) Your file reference if you have it.

If you require any help in making your complaint, please let us know and we will try to help you.

What will happen once we receive your complaint?

When we receive your complaint, we will acknowledge it within two working days and send you a copy of this procedure.

We will begin an internal investigation into your complaint and may invite you to a meeting if we feel it would be beneficial to understand your complaint. We will do this within 21 days of receipt of your complaint. You can also request a meeting with us.

Following our meeting, or if a meeting is not appropriate or you do not wish to take part in one, we will write to you with the outcome of our internal investigation into your complaint.

We have eight weeks to consider your complaint under the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules. If we have not resolved it within this time, you may have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

Who can complain?

If you are a consumer, you will automatically be eligible for the Legal Ombudsman Scheme. If you are a business or an organisation such as a trust or a charity, there are limits to be eligible based upon both turnover and number of employees. The Legal Ombudsman has jurisdiction broadly for a business or enterprise (trust or charity, etc.) with fewer than 10 employees and a turnover or assets not exceeding €2 million.

If you are a larger business and excluded by the Legal Ombudsman from using its service, we will try to find an alternative method to assist us in resolving your concerns and typically this will include either an internal appeal, mediation or another law firm considering the complaint independent of ourselves.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. Please be assured that we will try and resolve any issues with you because we recognise that it is in your interest and ours to resolve matters as promptly as is practicable.

If we have to revise any of the above timescales, we will let you know.

Legal Ombudsman: Time Limit and Contact Details

If you wish to raise your matter with the Legal Ombudsman, there are time limits which are a part of the Legal Ombudsman rules which means that you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

•  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 have realised that there was cause for complaint; and
•  Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint from us.

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

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333 between 10am and 4pm
Relay UK: 1800 10300 5550333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

The Solicitors Regulation Authority does not deal with client service complaints but may review conduct matters where the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019 have been breached by a firm which they regulate. Upon receipt of any complaint the Solicitors Regulation Authority aims to acknowledge it within 10–15 working days.

To contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority you can:

Telephone: 0370 606 2555 or
Email: contactcentre@SRA.org.uk or
Write to them at: The Cube 199, Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN.
You can find out more information about then by visiting www.SRA.org.uk

There may also be a right for you to object to your bill by applying to the court for an assessment under Part 3 of The Solicitors Act 1974.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

We do not have a specific ADR process but are willing to enter into an ADR process using mediation with a reputable provider, subject to your agreement.

If you would like to understand this process further, please let us know.

Conclusion

We reiterate that we are committed to providing the highest quality legal advice and will try and resolve any concerns that you may have.

If you have any questions or queries about this policy please contact ClareBrereton@bdbf.co.uk.