We aim to provide an excellent quality of service at all times. If, however, you have a complaint, we invite you to follow the procedure below. Please note that we will not consider complaints raised more than six months after the relevant event.
Please address all complaints, either written or by telephone, to the Senior Clerk, Stephen Ball (sball@furnivallaw.co.uk) . If the complaint is about the Senior Clerk, please address it to the Heads of Chambers Michael Holland KC and or Pippa McAstasney KC.
Please ensure that you provide:
- Your name and contact details;
- The precise nature of the complaint;
- How you would like it to be resolved;
If in writing, your complaint will be acknowledged, where possible, within 2 days and considered and actioned by the Senior Clerk/ Heads of Chambers within 14 days.
If a telephone complaint cannot be resolved immediately, you will be invited to put your concerns in writing within 14 days. The substantive reply will include:
- The nature and scope of the investigation:
- A conclusion on each complaint and the basis for this conclusion: and in the case of a complaint which is found to be justified,
- proposals for resolution.
A record will be kept of all complaints and resolutions, and conversations and correspondence relating to them.
Confidentiality
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 Heads of Chambers, members of chambers 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 investigated 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.
Record keeping
As part of our commitment to client care, we make a written record of formal complaints and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of 6 years. A summary of the (anonymised) record is inspected regularly with a view to improving services.
Complaints to the Legal Services Ombudsman
We hope that you will use our procedure. However, if you would rather not do so or are unhappy with the outcome you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. You have 6 months from our final decision in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be submitted within 12 months from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining.
You can write to the Legal Ombudsman at:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Tel 00300 555 0333
Website here
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
See also www.olso.org
Non-client complaints
The Legal Ombudsman will only deal with complaints from consumers of lawyers’ services. This means that generally complaints from barristers’ clients fall within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, although they will accept complaints from non-clients where permitted by their Scheme Rules See the Legal Ombudsman guidance and their Scheme Rules for further details.
If you are not the barrister’s client and are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation then please contact the Bar Standards Board at:
Bar Standards Board
Contact and Assessment Team
289-293 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7JZ
Telephone number: 0207 6111 444
Website: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
BSB’s Contact and Assessment Team contactus@barstandardsboard.org.uk
Alternative Dispute Resolution
We will advise of the name and web address of an ADR body which would be competent to deal with the complaint, but the complainant retains the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman provided they fall within their jurisdiction. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) approves ADR entities which are able to provide mediation services here.
(Neither barrister nor client is required to use ADR, but it is an option that can be utilised if the barrister is unable to resolve the complaint through the relevant complaints process, and both the barrister and the client agree to use the scheme).