Complaints Procedure

Effective Date: 21.11.23

Introduction

KWS Law Limited is committed to providing the best possible service to our clients. However, we understand that there may be occasions when you are not entirely satisfied with our services. This Complaints Procedure is designed to ensure that your concerns are addressed promptly and fairly.

How to Raise a Complaint

If you have a complaint, please follow these steps:

admin@kwslitigation.co.uk or by phone on 0203 6037591. Our team will make every effort to resolve your issue as quickly as possible.

Provide Details: When contacting us, please provide as much information as possible about your complaint, including your full name, contact details, a detailed description of the issue and any relevant documents or correspondence.

Escalation: If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction at the initial contact, you may request that your complaint be escalated to a higher level within our organisation.

Complaint Handling

Upon receipt of your complaint, we will:

Acknowledge your complaint promptly, typically within 48 hours, providing you with a reference number for your case.
Investigate your complaint thoroughly, considering all relevant information and documents.
Keep you informed of our progress and expected timelines for resolution.
Provide a written response with the outcome of our investigation and any proposed resolution.

Timeframes for Resolution

We aim to resolve complaints as swiftly as possible, typically within 14 days of receipt. In cases where a resolution may take longer, we will keep you informed of the reasons for the delay and the expected timeframe.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

If you remain dissatisfied with our final response or if your complaint remains unresolved for more than 8 weeks, you may have the right to refer your complaint to an independent ADR provider. We will provide details of an appropriate ADR service upon request.

Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation which is ultimately responsible to Parliament. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about the legal profession. You must make any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within a certain period of time of the act or omission in the work which gave cause to the complaint arising. We refer you to the website of the Legal Ombudsman, as below, for details of that time limit.

There are also two additional relevant time limits; the Legal Ombudsman will accept complaints up to six years from the date of act/omission, or three years from when you should have known about the complaint.

However, this new limit will be introduced gradually, as at present, the problem must have happened on or after 6 October 2010, or if the problem happened earlier than that, you must not have been aware of it before 6 October 2010.

The Legal Ombudsman may:

Investigate the quality of professional service supplied by a solicitor to a client.
Investigate allegations that a solicitor has breached rules of professional conduct.
Express a view on whether a solicitor’s charges are fair and responsible.
Ensure that a solicitor has handled a complaint correctly The Legal Ombudsman will not:
Determine whether a solicitor has been negligent.
Give legal advice or tell a solicitor how to handle a case.
Review the outcome of a court case.
Review a decision of the Legal Aid Agency (the body that regulates the provision of legal aid)

There are restrictions upon who may make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, individuals and certain enterprises may do so, however, are therefore referred to the Legal Ombudsman’s website, as below, for clarification. Before it will consider a complaint, the Legal Ombudsman generally requires that the firm’s internal Complaints Procedure has been exhausted.

If it is necessary to involve the Legal Ombudsman it may take up to six months from the end of the firm’s procedure, this can be checked at www.legalombudsman.org.uk or by telephoning the Legal Ombudsman at 03005550333.

If the Legal Ombudsman is satisfied that the firm’s proposals for resolving a complaint are reasonable, it may decline to investigate further. The Legal Ombudsman’s address and further details are:

Legal Ombudsman PO BOX 6806 Wolverhampton
Phone: 03005550333
www.legalombudsman.org.uk/enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Contact Information

To raise a complaint or request additional information about our Complaints Procedure, please contact:

KWS Law Ltd. Our email address is admin@kwslitigation.co.uk

Review of Procedure

We regularly review and update our Complaints Procedure to ensure it remains effective and compliant with legal requirements. This version was last updated on 21.11.23.