Our Complaints Policy
Black Norman Solicitors are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. If something goes wrong, we need you to let us know. This will help us to improve our standards, and we want to hear about it.
Our Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint, please provide us with the full details, preferably in writing. You can contact us at 67-71 Coronation Road, Crosby, Liverpool L23 5RE
email sarakeenan@blacknorman.com
We will deal with your complaint promptly, fairly and free of charge.
What will happen next?
1 We will write to you acknowledging your complaint and may ask you to provide further details if necessary. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within one week of us receiving your complaint.
2 We will record your complaint in our central register within seven days of receiving your complaint.
3 We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:-
a We will pass your complaint to Sara Keenan, our Practice and Risk Manager, within one week. If your complaint is about Sara Keenan, it will be investigated by Richard Entwistle.
b We will ask the member of staff who acted for you to comment on your complaint within two weeks.
c We will then consider your complaint, the comments of the relevant member of staff and examine your file. We will, if necessary, also speak to the member of staff who acted for you. This may take up to 6 weeks from receiving their comments and the file.
4 Sara Keenan or Richard Entwistle will then write to you with a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include our suggestions for resolving the matter. We will do this within eight weeks of our acknowledging your complaint.
5 However, if you remain unhappy with our response then you can refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act, who can investigate complaints about the legal service you have received from us.
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by visiting Bring your complaint to us | Legal Ombudsman or by contacting them on 0300 555 0333 or by email on enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Or you can contact them by post at:-
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made:
Your right to complain is not restricted to this firm’s conduct but can also relate to our charges and bill. In addition to these rights, you may also seek to object to the bill by applying to the Court for an Assessment of our bill which comes under Part 3 of the Solicitors Act 1974. We are obliged to inform you that should all or any part of our bill remain unpaid, we may be entitled to charge interest upon it.
In addition to directing a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (LEO) you will be able to refer your dispute for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Should you wish to consider this option, please request these details from us and we will provide the same to you, for the mediation services available at the time of the request.
You also have the right to make a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the event that any complaint you have relates to one of the following:
If you wish to make a report you can do so at:- http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page
or contact the SRA by post at:
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
T: 0370 606 2555
