Our Complaints Policy

Whilst we are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients we acknowledge that at times something may go wrong. When this happens we need you to tell us about it to help us to improve our standards.

We take your concern seriously and are committed to resolving any issues that may arise.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details and let us know if you wish to meet to discuss your complaint.

Our Client Care Partner is Colin Richman who may be contacted by post to our office address, by telephone (020 7242 3191) or by email (c.richman@teacherstern.com).

What Will Happen Next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure and giving you the name of the person who will investigate your complaint. This will normally be our Client Care Partner, Colin Richman, but if for some reason either he is unable, or it is inappropriate for him to deal with your complaint we will notify you of the relevant person. When describing our complaints procedure below, for convenience we refer throughout to “Mr Richman” but these references apply to any other named Partner who is dealing with your complaint.
  2. Following our acknowledgment letter, we will then investigate your complaint. Mr Richman will in the first instance review your matter file and speak to the member (or members) of staff who acted for you.
  3. If when communicating your complaint to us (or subsequently) you have asked for a meeting, or if following his investigation Mr Richman considers that a meeting might give further assistance in better understanding and dealing with your complaint, Mr Richman will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will normally do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgment letter and will let you know should this period need to be extended for any reason.
  4. Within three days of the meeting, Mr Richman will then write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
  5. If you do not want a meeting or for some other reason it is not possible or considered necessary for a meeting to take place, Mr Richman will then send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including any suggestions for resolving the matter. This will normally be sent to you within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgment letter, but we will let you know should this period need to be extended for any reason. Unless we state otherwise, this letter will be our “final response” to your complaint (‘outcome’)
  6. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome or we have not provided you with an outcome within eight weeks, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman directly at PO Box 6167 Slough Sl1 0EH or call 0300 555 0333The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint provided that you fit one of the following categories: –
    • you are an individual.
    • you are a business or enterprise that was a micro-enterprise (European Union definition) when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
    • you are a charity that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
    • you are a club/association/organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members/a committee/a committee of its members, that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
    • you are a trustee of a trust that had an asset value of less than £1million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
    • you are a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before he/she died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
    Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.
    The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
    The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
  7. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) can help you if you are concerned about our professional behaviour – for example dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. The SRA can be contacted on 0370 606 2555 and further information can be found on their website www.sra.org.uk