At Markham Family Law it is important to us that you receive a high quality family law service and, if you are not happy, we would like to hear about it and try to resolve it. If you feel that Markham Family Law has fallen short of acceptable standards please contact us to discuss your concerns, either by email, letter or a telephone call. Please be aware that it does not have to be done in writing although that will help us to identify any key areas of concern that you may have. Any complaints must be made to us either within 6 years from the act/omission or within 3 years of you knowing that there was reasonable cause for complaint.
The Initial Step – Solicitor review
In the first instance please contact your solicitor who has day to day conduct of your case to discuss your complaint and see if they are able to resolve it. If the complaint cannot be resolved within 7 days then please discuss this with the Complaints Director.
Complaints Director Investigation
The Complaints Director is Matthew Bowern and he can be contacted by email at matthew.bowern@mflaw.co.uk.
He will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and enclosing the Complaints Policy. He will ask you to confirm or explain details where any clarification is needed. This letter must be sent to you within 4 working days of Matthew receiving your complaint.
If we have enough information and nothing is required from you, Matthew will start the investigation. This will normally involve the following steps:-
- The Complaints Director will ask the solicitor who acted for you to provide information together with the relevant file of papers;
- This can take up to 7 working days;
- The Complaints Director will examine the papers together with any letter that has been sent to you regarding the complaint and, if necessary, may ask further questions to ensure that all aspects of the compliant have been examined;
- This can take up to 7 working days;
- Throughout this process, the Complaints Director will keep you advised of what is being done to progress the investigation of your complaint;
- As part of the investigation process, you may still communicate with the Complaints Director to discuss your complaint and/or a meeting maybe arranged;
- A meeting may be arranged between solicitor and the Complaints Director. If a meeting is held, the Complaints Director will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions that may be agreed. Any letter will be sent within 7 working days of the meeting;
Once the investigation has been completed, the Complaints Director will write to you with the final findings.
In the event that you remain dissatisfied with the conclusions of the Complaints Director, you should set out the reasons why in writing to the Complaints Director. He will review the reasons and, upon the completion of his review, he will write to you with his findings. This will be concluded within 14 days of receipt of the reasons and this is the last step in our internal complaints process.
Further Steps
If you remain unhappy with the outcome of our internal complaints procedure, you are entitled to contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, telephone number 0300 555 0333 or by email at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, and ask them to carry out their own investigations. Their website is www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
Please be aware that the Legal Ombudsman has a time limit upon which they can become involved. This time limit is 12 months following the act or omission being complained about or (if later) 12 months from the date when you should have realised there was cause for complaint. The Legal Ombudsman has the discretion to extend the 1 year time limit in certain circumstances. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of our final response to you.
You also have the right to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority if your complaint refers to our conduct rather than our service. They can be contacted at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN, telephone number 0370 606 2555 or by email at contactcentre@sra.org.uk.