Complaints

Complaint Procedure

We always aim to deliver to the highest possible standards, but we are only human and mistakes can happen. If they do, we will seek to resolve any issues quickly and fairly. In the event you feel you need to complain, we ask that you follow our complaints policy, which can be found below:

If you believe something has gone wrong, you need to tell us about it. In the first instance, please contact the Solicitor/Partner supervising your matter setting out the nature of the concerns you have/ complaint you would like to make and we will do our best to resolve any issues. We will also send you a link to this document, our formal complaints policy.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, we will send you a copy of this policy. Once we have your detailed formal complaint, we will:

1. Within two working days of receiving your formal complaint, the Solicitor/Partner with conduct of your matter will send you a written acknowledgement that your formal complaint has been received and the proposed timetable for dealing with your concerns.

2. Usually, within 14 working days of the acknowledgement, the Solicitor/Partner you contacted will:

a. investigate your complaint. This will normally involve reviewing your matter and speaking to any member of staff involved in your matter. This step may include us inviting you to a meeting to discuss the complaint. You are free to also request a meeting. We may need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific time frame; and

b. respond in writing and in detail to your complaint/concerns.

If this timescale is not achievable, the Solicitor/Partner will inform you of the reasons why and explain when s/he anticipates being able to reply.

3. Once we have responded to your complaint, if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can escalate it. If wish to escalate it:

a. you should contact Matthew Kilgannon (mk@kilgannonlaw.co.uk / 07769 700 343) to explain in writing your concerns and reasons for escalation;

b. Another Partner (different from the Solicitor/Partner to whom you initially complained) will be appointed to review the initial findings; and

c. The Partner investigating the matter will write to you within 14 working days of receiving your further concerns setting out his/her findings and the firm’s final position.

4. If you are still not satisfied with the firm’s final position, you have further recourse to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Legal Ombudsman:

a. If your complaint is about the work we did or your bill (or if we have not resolved your complaint within eight weeks of receiving it), you should contact the Legal

Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, by telephone 0300 555 0333, by email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or via its website www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be:

i. within one year of the date of the act or omission being complained about; or

ii. within one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint;

and within six months of the date of our final written response to your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman has discretion to consider complaints outside of those time limits but only if they consider that it is ‘fair and reasonable in all the circumstances’ to do so.

b. If your compliant is about your solicitor’s behaviour, you should contact the SRA at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN, telephone 0370 606 255 or via its website www.sra.org.uk.

Kilgannon & Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our SRA No. is 655674.

October 2023