We are committed to providing high-quality legal advice and client care.
However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service provided, please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
First steps
Please contact the person who is handling your case so that we can try and amicably resolve your complaint swiftly for you.
However, if your complaint still has not been resolved and/or you have further queries or concerns, the next step would be to follow our formal complaint procedure, which appears below.
Formal complaint procedure
The following outlines our recommended procedure for making a formal complaint. Please note that making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
Stage 1
- A formal complaint should be sent to us in writing addressed to our head of practice, Mrs Maxine Johnson. You can send your formal complaint by post to Johnson May Solicitors, 137-139 High Street, Beckenham, BR3 1AG or by email to maxine@johnsonmay.com. Please mark you correspondence “formal complaint” set out the full details of your complaint.
- We will typically acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receipt.
- Our head of practice will show your complaint to the person responsible for your case and ask them to investigate and to conduct a complete review of the file and to respond in writing. They will also interview any members of staff involved in your case, if necessary.
- You will typically receive a formal written response to your complaint within 14 to 21 days from the date the complaint is first received. This response will set out the result of our investigation, any proposed resolution and, if relevant, any procedural changes we will make to ensure the situation does not arise again.
- We would hope that you are satisfied after our full response but if not, your complaint will next be considered by our Client Relations Manager “CRM”. Our CRM will acknowledge the fact that your complaint remains unresolved usually within five working days. You will typically receive a formal written response within 14 to 21 days
- In the event that you are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint you may wish to take your complaint further and more information about how to do that is provided below.
Please note, if we are unable to meet the deadlines suggested in this policy for whatever reason, we will notify you of the timescales that will apply and we will let you know the reason why.
Ultimately, the recommendation is that you give us at least 8 weeks to properly investigate and provide you with our final response to your formal written complaint before you will be able to seek assistance from the Legal Ombudsman.
Taking the complaint further
We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complaints and redress mechanisms are provided through them and the Legal Ombudsman.
If we are unable to resolve any such concerns to your satisfaction you are entitled to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – www.legalombudsman.org.uk – P.O. Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.
The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.
Our firm details for ease of reference: Johnson May Solicitors CRN: 09878262 Registered address: 137-139 High Street, Beckenham, BR3 1AG SRA number: 8001033.
Complaints about a client’s rights under the General Data Protection Regulation must be submitted to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can find out more by visiting the ICO’s website at www.ico.org.uk.
Any disputes or legal issue arising from our Client Care and Terms of Business will be determined by the law of England & Wales and considered exclusively by the English Courts.