Complaints procedure

1. Linenhall Chambers aims to provide the best possible service at all times. However, if at any time you have a complaint about the quality of services of our barristers or members of staff you are invited to let us know as soon as possible. It is not necessary to involve solicitors in order to make your complaint but you are free to do so should you wish.

2. Please note the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for service complaints about lawyers, has a twelve-month time limit in which a complaint must be raised from the date of the act or omission complained of from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint without taking advice from a third party. The Ombudsman can extend the time limit in exceptional circumstances. Chambers must therefore have regard to that timeframe when deciding whether they are able to investigate your complaint. Chambers will not therefore usually deal with complaints that fall outside of the twelve month time limit.

3. The Ombudsman will also only deal with complaints from consumers. This means that only complaints from the barrister’s client are within their jurisdiction. Non-clients who are not satisfied with the outcome of the Chambers’ investigation should contact the Bar Standards Board rather than the Legal Ombudsman.

4. It should be noted that it may not always be possible to investigate a complaint brought by a non-client. This is because the ability of Chambers to satisfactorily investigate and resolve such matters is limited and complaints of this nature are often better suited to the disciplinary processes maintained by the Bar Standards Board. Therefore, Chambers will make an initial assessment of the complaint if they feel that the issues raised cannot be satisfactorily resolved through the Chambers complaints process they will refer you to the Bar Standards Board.

Complaints Made by Telephone

5. You may wish to make a complaint in writing and, if so, please follow the procedure in paragraph 7 below. However, if you would rather speak on the telephone about your complaint then please telephone our Chambers Business Manager, Charlene O’Reilly. If the complaint is about the Chambers Business Manager then please telephone the Chambers Director, Gavin Wright. The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like done about it. They will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is resolved they will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome and record that you are satisfied. You may also wish to record the outcome of the telephone discussion in writing.

6. If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone, you will be invited to write to us about it so it can be investigated formally.

Complaints Made in Writing

7. Please give the following details:

• Your name and address;
• Which member(s) of Chambers you are complaining about;
• The details of the complaint; and
• What you would like done about it.

Please address your letter to:

Charlene O’Reilly, Chambers Business Manager,
Linenhall Chambers,
1 Stanley Place, Chester CH1 2LU.

We will, where possible acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.

8. Our Chambers has a panel composed of the Head of Chambers, Duncan Bould, and the Chambers Director, Gavin Wright, which considers any written complaint. Within 14 days of your letter being received they, or in their absence one or more senior members of the Management Committee, will investigate the complaint. If your complaint is against the Head of Chambers, the next most senior member of the Management Committee in conjunction with the Chambers Director will investigate it. In any case, the person appointed will be someone other than the person you are complaining about.

9. The person appointed to investigate will write to you as soon as possible to let you know they have been appointed and that they will reply to your complaint within 14 days. If they later find that they are not going to be able to reply within 14 days they will set a new date for a response and inform you.

The response will set out:

• The nature and scope of the investigation;
• The conclusion on each complaint and the basis for his conclusion; and
• If the finding is that you are justified in your complaint, the proposals for resolving the complaint.

Confidentiality

10. 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 Head of Chambers, members of our 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, the head or relevant senior member of the panel and the person who investigates 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.

Our Policy

11. As part of our commitment to client care we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years. We undertake an annual review of chambers policies and procedures and an anonymised report of complaints received and issues arisen therefrom is presented to the committee for review.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

12. Clients can complain to LeO if they are unhappy with the final response to their complaint, or if their complaint has not been dealt with in eight weeks.

Please find here, the LeOs decision data where you can find details of those providers who have received an ombudsman’s decision in the previous 12 months.