COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
At Lex Nova Solicitors, we are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our
clients. If something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve
our standards.
We aim to provide an efficient and effective service to all our clients. However, we are aware
that from time-to-time problems can occur and that you may have cause to complain. In the
first instance, you should address any complaint or concern that you may have with the person
dealing with your matter or their supervisor. However, if they cannot deal with your concerns
to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to raise your concerns with them, please get in
touch with our complaints handler at complaints@lexnova.co.uk or Ms. Rubbia Anwar, the
Head of the Complaints, at ranwar@lexnova.co.uk. However, you can contact our senior
partner Shakeel Bhatti
1. How to Complain
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. You can write to us at the
address above or email us at complaints@lexnova.co.uk.
2. What Will Happen Next
1. Acknowledgment: We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint
within 7 days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. Investigation: We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve
passing your complaint to our complaint’s handler, who will review your matter file
and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. The investigation process,
including reviewing the matter file and speaking to the staff involved, is typically
completed within 21 days after the acknowledgment letter is sent.
3. Response: The Head of the Complaints will then invite you to a meeting to discuss
and hopefully resolve your complaint. They will do this within 28 days of sending you
the acknowledgment letter.
4. Outcome: Within 7 days of the meeting, the Head of the Department will write to you
to confirm what took place and any solutions they have agreed with you.
5. Further Investigation: If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, The Head of
the Department will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including
their suggestions for resolving the matter, within 28 days of sending you the
acknowledgment letter.
6. Review: At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and
we will arrange for another Partner to review the decision.
7. Final Response: We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a
review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
3. Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman plays a crucial role in the complaint process for a law firm’s
complaint procedure by providing an independent and impartial service to resolve disputes
between clients and their legal service providers. If you are not satisfied with the firm’s final
response to their complaint, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman for further assistance.
If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
Address: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Phone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
A client can contact the Legal Ombudsman if:
1. They have received a final response from the law firm and remain dissatisfied with
the outcome.
2. The law firm has not resolved the complaint within eight weeks of receiving it.
Please note that the client must contact the Legal Ombudsman within six months of
receiving the final response from the law firm. Additionally, the complaint must be made no
more than six years from the date of the act or omission being complained about, or no more
than three years from when the client should reasonably have known there was cause for
complaint.
Please note that the client must contact 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.
The Legal Ombudsman has the discretion to dismiss or discontinue all or part of a
complaint if:
• it does not have any reasonable prospects of success.
• You have not suffered (and are unlikely to suffer) significant financial loss, distress,
inconvenience or detriment.
• It is frivolous, vexatious, lacks merit or where there is a compelling reason not to accept it.
• the likely impact, size, complexity, scope, volume of evidence or your conduct render it
disproportionate/unreasonable/impossible for the complaint to be investigated.
• You have previously complained about the same issue to them, unless you provide
material evidence that is likely to affect the outcome which only became available to you
after you submitted the original complaint.
• There has been undue delay in the complaint being raised
4. Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative complaints bodies such as ProMediate and Small Claims Mediation, are
competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to
use such a scheme.
5. Record Keeping
We will keep a record of your complaint and the outcome for 6 years from the date of the
final response.
We are confident that we will be able to resolve your complaint through our internal
procedures. However, if you remain dissatisfied, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman as
detailed above.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We value your feedback and are
committed to resolving any issues promptly and fairly.