Eaton Smith LLP is committed to providing a high standard of service to our clients but we understand that, on occasion, you may feel that we did not get things right.

If you have a complaint about the service you have received from us or about the way in which we’ve handled your matter or your data, please get in touch. We will respond to any concerns you may have and we will do everything we can to sort out your complaint quickly and efficiently.

You can raise your complaint by letter, email or telephone with the team who have been dealing with your case, with the matter handler’s manager, or by email to philipclarke@eatonsmith.co.uk.

Alternatively, Phil Clarke and members of the Management Board can be contacted via our switchboard which is 01484 821 300 or by post to Eaton Smith LLP, 14 High Street, HD1 2HA.  

Please mark your letter or email ‘Complaint’. If you have any specific needs to enable you to bring your complaint to us, please let us know and we make every effort to accommodate them.

To help us make sure we have understood your complaint, and not missed anything, please tell us:

• your full name, contact details and any reference number you may have for your case;
• what you think we have done wrong; and
• what you think we should do to put things right.

How we will deal with your complaint

We have up to eight weeks to consider your complaint but we will try to deal with it as quickly as possible. If we have not resolved it within this time, you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman. We must respond to a data protection complaint without undue delay and we will try to deal with it as quickly as possible. In the case of a complaint relating to the way we handle your data, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, although we would appreciate the opportunity to investigate any complaint relating to your personal data before you contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, so you may wish to contact us in the first instance for a complaint relating to personal data.

Once received, we will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint.

Stage One

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of receiving the complaint.

We will investigate your complaint and provide a substantive response, usually within 20 working days of receiving your complaint. This may take longer if the matter is more complicated or there are many aspects to the complaint itself.

We may be able to deal with the matter in a phone call, or we may need to carry out a detailed review of your case. In all cases we will write to you to tell you the outcome of your complaint. We will also give you the opportunity to have your complaint reviewed if you are not satisfied with the outcome of the initial investigation – see Stage 2 below.

Stage Two

If you are not satisfied with our response, you should contact us again and we will arrange for the file to be reviewed. When contacting us please explain why you continue to be dissatisfied.

On receiving your request to review the initial response provided, we will appoint an independent and senior person within the business and someone previously unconnected with the matter to review the complaint. We will then respond to you within 20 working days of receiving your request or before the end of the eight-week deadline – whichever comes first.

If your complaint is particularly complex or lengthy and we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain the reasons why and provide you with an updated timescale.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman or the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. The Information Commissioner’s Office investigates complaints about the way your data has been handled.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

The Legal Ombudsman contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00am and 5.00pm

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Please note that alternative bodies such as Pro-Mediate (www.promediate.co.uk) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should you and we agree to use such a scheme. We have, however, chosen not to adopt an alternative ADR process because we already have the Legal Ombudsman to carry out this role. If, therefore, you wish to complain further, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman as detailed above.

If you would like more information about the Information Commissioner’s Office, please contact them.

The Information Commissioner’s Office contact details

Visit                ico.org.uk

Call                0303 123 1113 between 9.00am and 5.00pm

Address          

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

What to do if you are unhappy with how we have acted

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Visit their website on the link below to see how you can raise your concerns.

Solicitors Regulation Authority.