Arbor Law Limited – Complaints Handling Policy
Arbor Law is committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.
This Complaints Handling Policy sets out how we deal with formal complaints.
Please contact the Arbor lawyers acting for you in the first instance if you feel your concerns might be better addressed by speaking with them. This will help us to improve our standards.
Otherwise, please follow the process below.
Once you have made a complaint, we will respond in the manner set out in this Complaints Policy.
What should you do if you have a complaint?
If you have a complaint, please contact kate.bennett@arbor.law, daniel.adams@arbor.law or ed.rea@arbor.law or write to Arbor Law Limited, Attention: Complaints at 118 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED, United Kingdom.
Your correspondence should set out the full details of your complaint, including:
You should enclose all relevant correspondence or documentation to support your complaint.
What will happen once we have received your complaint?
Where it is reasonable to do so, we may increase some of the timescales detailed above. If this is the case, then we will inform you in writing and we shall provide a reasonable explanation as to why we have extended the time periods.
If you are not satisfied with the firm’s response, or if we do not resolve your complaint within six weeks of your contacting us, then the Legal Ombudsman may be able to consider your complaint. There are, however, restrictions to this service, as set out on the Ombudsman’s website (see below).
If you wish to contact the Legal Ombudsman, you should contact them within six months of the date of our sending to you our final resolution letter. In addition, you should be aware that the Legal Ombudsman will not accept your complaint if:
For further information, you can write to the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk. You can telephone them on 0300 555 0333.
You may also be able to object to our invoice by applying to the court for an assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you exercise this right, you could be prevented from making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. In addition, if you apply to the court for an assessment and if all or part of the bill remains unpaid at the end of that assessment, we are entitled to charge interest. There are strict time limits that apply to this process and you may wish to seek independent legal advice on the issue.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority may be able to help you if you are concerned about our behaviour, for example, if you are concerned about dishonesty, taking or losing money or being treated unfairly because of your age, a disability or another characteristic.
You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority at www.sra.org.uk.