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Complaints Policy
6 PUMP COURT Chambers of
Stephen Hockman Q.C. EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS
POLICY AND PROCEDURES First Edition, April 2004 Revised Second Edition, July 2006 Revised Third Edition, May 2008 Revised Fourth Edition, April 2009 Revised Fifth Edition, October 2010
1. Our aim is to give you a good service at all times. However if you have a complaint you are invited to let us know as soon as possible. It is not necessary to involve solicitors in order to make your complaint but you are free to do so should you wish. 2. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for service complaints about lawyers, has a twelve-month time limit from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining within which to make your complaint. Chambers must therefore have regard to that timeframe when deciding whether they are able to investigate your complaint. Chambers will not deal with complaints that fall outside of the twelve month time limit. Complaints Made by Telephone
3. You may wish to make a complaint in writing and, if so, please follow the procedure in paragraph 5 below. However, if you would rather speak on the telephone about your complaint then please telephone the individual nominated under the Chambers Complaints Procedure to deal with complaints, namely:
First Nominated Person Stephen Hockman QC, Head of Chambers or (if the complaint is about a member of staff) Richard Constable, the Senior Clerk If the complaint is about the Senior Clerk telephone the Head of Chambers. If your complaint is about the Head of Chambers then telephone the Second Nominated Person for the purposes of complaint handling:
Second Nominated Person Peter Harrison QC The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like done about it. He will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is resolved he will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome and record that you are satisfied. You may also wish to record the outcome of the telephone discussion in writing. 4. If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone you will be invited to write to us about it within the next 14 days so it can be investigated formally. Complaints Made in Writing
5. Please give the following details: · Your name and address; · Which member(s) of Chambers you are complaining about; · The detail of the complaint; and · What you would like done about it. Please address your letter to the appropriate person as set out in paragraph 3 above. We will, where possible, acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with. 6. In our Chambers all complaints about members are received and considered by the Head of Chambers. Complaints about the Head of Chambers are received and considered by the Second Nominated Person, who will be a QC. Complaints about staff are received and considered by the Senior Clerk. Complaints about the Senior Clerk are received and considered by the Head of Chambers. 7. When a complaint comes before any of the above people they may, at their discretion, seek the assistance of a further senior member of Chambers to assist in any investigation. 8. Within 14 days of your letter being received the nominated person (or any person appointed to assist) will investigate your complaint. In all cases, the person investigating will be someone other than the person you are complaining about. 9. The person investigating your complaint will write to you as soon as possible to let you know an investigation has commenced and that he will reply to your complaint within 14 days. If he finds later that he is not going to be able to reply within 14 days he will set a new date for his reply and inform you. His reply will set out: · The nature and scope of his investigation; · His conclusion on each complaint and the basis for his conclusion; and · If he finds that you are justified in your complaint, his proposals for resolving the complaint. Confidentiality
10. All conversations and documents relating to the complaint will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed only to the extent that is necessary. Disclosure will be to the Head of Chambers, members of our Management Committee and to anyone involved in the complaint and its investigation. Such people will include the barrister member or staff who you have complained about, and the person who investigates the complaint. The Bar Standards Board is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when discharging its auditing and monitoring functions. Our Policy
11. As part of our commitment to client care we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years. Our management committee inspects an anonymous record regularly with a view to improving services.
Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman
12. If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for complaints about lawyers, at the conclusion of our consideration of your complaint. The Ombudsman is not able to consider your complaint until it has first been investigated by Chambers. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman has a twelve-month time limit from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining within which to make your complaint. You can write to them at: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 15870, Birmingham B30 9EB Telephone number 0300 555 0333 E-mail enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk |
