SMITHs

Complaints procedure

We are confident you will be satisfied with the quality of the work that Smiths Law LLP carries out for you. However, if you have any concerns about it, please contact one of one of its members (which is the name used to describe partners in an LLP) as soon as possible. The members are Liam McNeive who can be contacted by e-mail at mcneive@smiths-law.com and Andrew Lewis who can be contacted by e-mail at lewis@smiths-law.com.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days from receipt and then investigate it fully and do our best to ensure any problems are dealt with quickly and effectively. We may ask you for more information about your complaint and may suggest that you meet us in person or on a video call to discuss your complaint more thoroughly. We will provide you with a full written response to your complaint no later than 28 days after we have finished our investigation. If appropriate, we will propose a suitable remedy.

If, having considered our response, you are still dissatisfied, you should write to us explaining the reasons for your dissatisfaction and we will respond to you within 5 working days. This second response will address any additional points you have raised and set out our final position, including any proposed final remedy.

If you are still dissatisfied with our response, you may can contact the Legal Ombudsman by

• calling them on 0300 555 0333
• going to the Legal Ombudsman website
• emailing them at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

If your complaint is about breaching the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct and you are not satisfied with our response, you can report us to the SRA.

Examples of a breach of the code include:

• dishonesty
• fraud
• discrimination

You do this through the SRA website:
SRA | Reporting an individual or firm | Solicitors Regulation Authority