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Immigration

Benefits

Solicitors

Solicitors must follow the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct. It’s a set of rules to make sure solicitors treat you fairly and professionally.

You can complain if you are not satisfied with issues such as:

• how your solicitor handled your case

• the cost for their services

Firstly, you should complain to your solicitor. All solicitors have a process for handling complaints.

When you make a complaint, you should:

• complain as soon as possible

• be clear on what the issue is and how you would like it to be resolved

• give them up to eight weeks to resolve your complaint

Download a formal complaint letter template from the Legal Ombudsman website to complain to your solicitor.

If you have complained to your solicitor about poor service and you are not satisfied with their response, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman deals with poor service, such as:

• delayed or unclear communication

• problems with your bill

• loss of documents

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:

• calling them on 0300 555 0333

• going to the Legal Ombudsman website

• emailing them at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

They will keep in contact with you and make sure your case is passed to an investigator for assessment.

Barristers

If the barrister you want to complainabout is acting for you, you must contact the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation.

It deals with complaints about the service provided by all types of lawyers in England and Wales.

The Legal Ombudsman can decide whether or not the service you received from your barrister was satisfactory, and can:

• award compensation for poor service;

• consider whether the fees you paid, or have been charged, should be reduced; and

• decide whetheryou should receive an apology.

However, they can normally only do this after you have made a complaint to the barrister’s chambers(their office).

The Legal Ombudsman can give you more detailed information about making a complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman will assess your complaint to decide whether it:

relates tothe service you received from your barrister;

is made within 6 years of the problems arising, or within 3 years of you becoming aware of the problem;

or concerns a potential conduct issue.

TheLegal Ombudsman cannottake disciplinary action against a barrister.

So if your complaint relates to the professional conductof a barrister, they will refer the relevant parts of your complaint to us to consider.

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman:

By phone: 0300 555 0333By email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Through the website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

By post: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

If your complaint needs to be referred to us, you do not have to do anything.

The Legal Ombudsman will let you know if it has referred any issues to us,and we will then contact you to confirm this.