Complaints

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors Limited
St Georges Chambers
St Georges Place
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 8BT

Telephone: 01625 667166

Fax: 01625 667212

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within 5 days of receiving your complaint.

2. We will record your complaint in our central register and start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:

–    We will pass your complaint to Justine Sutton, the Director responsible for Client Care.

–    She will review your file and if appropriate ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply to your complaint.

–    She will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file. And, if necessary, she may also speak to them.

3. Justine Sutton will then decide whether it is appropriate to telephone you to discuss your complaint and hopefully resolve it or whether in view of all the circumstances a written response would be more appropriate. We anticipate taking up to 4 weeks to make the necessary investigations but it could take less or longer  due to for example holidays, sickness or the particular features of your complaint. We will keep you updated as to time scales.

4. If you do not want to discuss your complaint on the telephone or it is not possible to do so, or Justine Sutton has decided a written response would be more appropriate she will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include her suggestions for resolving the matter.  She will do this within 7 days of completing her investigation.

What happens if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint:

If we have been unable to settle your complaint using our internal complaints process, you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body, established under the Legal Services Act 2007 that deals with legal services complaints. You should allow a period of 8 weeks to allow us to investigate and finalise our written response to your complaint.

Should you wish to complain to the Legal Ombudsman you must do so within one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about or within one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint.

Should you wish to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, you must do so within 6 months of the date of our final written response.

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email address: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk  

What happens if you are concerned that we have not adhered to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) rules and regulations:

If you have such concerns you have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).  Should you wish to contact them there are no time limits for making a report.

Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN

Telephone: 0370 606 2555
Email: report@sra.org.uk
Website: www.sra.org.uk

Alternative complaints bodies such as Ombudsman Services, ProMediate and Small Claims Mediation exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.