Complaints Procedure
We are committed to providing a good legal service, treating clients fairly and learning from concerns. If something has gone wrong, we want you to tell us so that we can investigate it and, where possible, put matters right.
1. How to raise a concern or complaint
If you are dissatisfied with our service, advice, charges or the way your matter has been handled, please first contact the person dealing with your matter. You do not need to use legal language or prepare a detailed document. Please tell us, as clearly as you can, what has concerned you, how it has affected you and what outcome you would like.
If that is not appropriate, or if your concern has not been resolved, please contact:
A complaint may be made by email, letter, telephone or at a meeting. If you need information in another format, communication support or a reasonable adjustment, please tell us.
2. What information is helpful
- Your name and matter reference, if known.
- A short description of the main concerns and when they arose.
- The effect on you.
- Any documents you consider especially relevant.
- The outcome or practical resolution you would like us to consider.
If your complaint is unclear or very detailed, we may ask you to confirm the principal issues and desired outcome. We will not reject or disadvantage a complaint merely because it is brief, informally expressed or prepared with assistance, including an AI tool.
3. What we will do
- Within 3 working days of receiving your complaint, excluding weekends and bank holidays, we will acknowledge it. We will identify the person dealing with it and, if necessary, ask you to confirm or explain the issues you want us to investigate.
- We will record the complaint in our central register and open a separate complaint file.
- We will review the relevant matter file and any information you provide. If we need further information, we will explain what is needed and why.
- Where appropriate, we may offer a telephone call or meeting to clarify the issues, understand the outcome you seek and explore whether an early resolution is possible.
- At the end of our investigation, we will send you our written findings and explain any proposed resolution or action.
4. Timescales and requests for clarification
Our aim is to conclude our investigation and send our written findings within 20 working days of receiving the complaint.
If we need further information from you, we will continue with any parts of the investigation that can reasonably be progressed. If the missing information prevents us from reaching findings on some or all issues, we will tell you promptly, identify what remains outstanding and explain the effect on the timetable.
If we cannot conclude the investigation within 20 working days, including because clarification or evidence remains outstanding, we will write to you within that period, explain why more time is needed and give a revised likely timescale. A request for clarification does not automatically restart or suspend the timetable, and we will keep you appropriately updated.
5. Review of our response
If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our written findings, you may ask us to review our response. Please explain which findings or proposed outcomes you would like reviewed and why.
We may arrange for the response to be reviewed by another appropriate person and may propose independent mediation or another suitable resolution process. We will write confirming our final position and reasons. We generally aim to do so within 15 working days of receiving your request for review. If further investigation or another process means this will take longer, we will write within that period and give the likely timescale.
6. Complaints involving ongoing work or costs
Making a complaint will not adversely affect how we handle your case. We will discuss with you whether ongoing work should continue, pause or be limited. We will also identify any genuinely time-critical step needed to protect your position or comply with a court or procedural requirement.
A complaint may concern our charges or an invoice. There may also be a right to apply to the court for an assessment of a solicitor’s bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Different time limits may apply, so independent advice may be appropriate.
7. Using AI to help prepare a complaint
You may use an AI tool to help understand the process, organise information, or draft a complaint. We will respond to you and the substance of your concerns, not make assumptions about you because AI may have been used. A clear, concise complaint that identifies the main issues, their effect and the outcome sought will usually help resolution.
Please use AI carefully:
- Do not put confidential, private or sensitive information into a public AI tool unless you understand and accept how the provider will use and retain it. Consider removing names, addresses, financial details and information about children before using the tool, and add them later in your own document.
- Check the output carefully. AI can omit context, exaggerate, misquote rules or invent cases and facts.
- Use your own judgement. The complaint should accurately reflect your experience and the outcome you want.
- Keep the focus on the most important issues and practical resolution, rather than unnecessary legal language or blame.
For further independent guidance, see the Legal Ombudsman consumer guide on AI and complaints
8. If we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can consider complaints about legal service providers that have not been resolved through the provider’s complaints process. Ordinarily, you should first allow us up to 8 weeks from the date of your complaint to resolve it. You may be able to contact the Legal Ombudsman sooner if we issue a final response before then.
Any final response from us will explain whether we regard our internal process as complete and will give the current Legal Ombudsman contact details and applicable referral time limits. Because external rules and time limits can change, please check the Legal Ombudsman’s current website rather than relying solely on a stored copy of this procedure.
- Telephone: 0300 555 0333, 9.00am to 5.00pm
- Email: [email protected]
- Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Current information is available from the Legal Ombudsman website
9. Regulatory concerns
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can consider certain concerns about professional conduct or regulatory matters. It does not usually deal with complaints solely about the level of service. Further information is available from the SRA.
Visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority website
Appendix: Optional AI prompt to help you draft a complaint
This optional prompt has been prepared by the Legal Ombudsman and reproduced below to assist you. It is not a requirement, and you may complain in your own words. Before using it, remove or replace private information with neutral labels such as [lawyer], [date] or [amount]. Review the finished draft carefully and add only information you are comfortable sending to us.
Act as a neutral complaint-writing assistant. Help me prepare a short, clear and fair complaint to my legal service provider. Do not invent facts, legal duties, cases, quotations or evidence. Do not assume that the service provider is at fault. Use plain English and a calm, constructive tone focused on resolution.
First, help me identify:
1. The two to five main issues I want investigated.
2. The key dates and facts supporting each issue.
3. How each issue affected me.
4. The practical outcome I would like the provider to consider.
5. Any important information that is missing or uncertain.
Then draft a complaint letter with these headings:
– Why I am writing
– What happened
– How this affected me
– What I would like to happen
– Documents provided
Keep the letter concise. Distinguish fact from opinion. If I mention a legal or regulatory rule, ask me to verify it rather than presenting it as correct. Do not include personal or sensitive details unless I add them myself after the draft is complete. End by asking the provider to handle the matter under its complaints procedure and confirm the next steps and timetable.
Suggested information to supply after removing identifying details:
- A brief description of the legal work.
- The principal events in date order.
- What you expected and what occurred.
- The effect on you, including any cost, delay or inconvenience.
- The outcome you want the firm to consider.
- A short list of the most relevant documents.
Family Law Partners
Edition: October 2026