Complaints Policy

1. Our aim

Mayfair Place Chambers (MPC) aims to provide an excellent service at all times. However, if you do have a complaint you wish to make, you are encouraged to let us know as soon as possible. You do not have to involve solicitors in order to make your complaint, but you are free to do so should you wish.

2. Time Limits

The independent complaints body for service complaints about lawyers is The Legal Ombudsman, which has specific time limits within which a complaint must be raised with them. These time limits are:

  • That the act or omission, or when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5 October 2010, and;

  • That the complainant must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than six years from the act / omission, or three years from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
    However, please note that from 1 April 2023 these time limits are changing.  From the 1 April the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned, or within a year of you realising there was a concern.

  • The complainant must also refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the complaint receiving a final response from their lawyer, if that response complies with the requirements in rule 4.4 of the Scheme Rules (which requires the response to include prominently an explanation that the Legal Ombudsman was available if the complainant remained dissatisfied, and the provision of full contact details for the Ombudsman and a warning that the complaint must be referred to them within six months).
    From 1 April, the requirement to refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you remains the same.

Mayfair Place Chambers must have regard to that timeframe when deciding whether we are able to investigate your complaint and will not usually deal with complaints that fall outside of the Legal Ombudsman’s time limits. The Ombudsman can extend the time limit in exceptional circumstances. Details of how to contact the Legal Ombudsman can be found at the end of this policy.

3. Complaints from non-clients

The Ombudsman will also only deal with complaints from consumers (i.e. the barrister’s clients). Non-clients who are not satisfied with the outcome of the Chambers’ investigation should contact the Bar Standards Board (BSB) rather than the Legal Ombudsman. Details of how to contact the BSB can be found at the end of this policy.

Complaints made by a non-client are not always possible to investigate satisfactorily and are often better suited to be resolved by the disciplinary procedures imposed by the BSB. Mayfair Place Chambers will make an initial assessment of the complaint, and refer you to the BSB if it is felt that the issues cannot be properly resolved through our complaints process.

4. Ways of making your complaint

You can make your complaint in writing or by telephone. If you would prefer to speak on the telephone about your complaint, and if the complaint is about a member of Chambers or a member of staff, please contact the Practice Manager, Sorcha Duncan.

If your complaint is against the Practice Manager, please contact Richard Matthews KC.

Whoever you speak to will:

  • Make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like to have done about it;

  • 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;

  • Record the outcome of the telephone discussion in writing.

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.

If you wish to make your complaint in writing, or are invited to do so after a conversation by telephone, please provide the following details where possible:

  • Your contact details (name, address, contact number)

  • Who you are complaining about;

  • The details of the complaint, and;

  • How you would like it to be dealt with.

Please address your letter to the Practice Manager, Sorcha Duncan. We will, where possible, acknowledge receipt of your complaint within seven days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.

5. Investigating the complaint

When we acknowledge receipt of your complaint, we will also notify you of the name of the person who will investigate your complaint.

The person appointed to investigate your complaint will always be someone other than the person you are complaining about.

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 28 days. If they find that they are not able to reply within 28 days they will set a new date for their reply and inform you. Their reply will set out:

  • The nature and scope of their investigation;

  • Their conclusion on each complaint and the basis for their conclusion, and;

  • If they find that you are justified in your complaint, their proposals for resolving the complaint.

6. 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 only be to anyone involved in the complaint and its investigation: such people will include the barrister or staff member who you have complained about and / or the relevant senior member who investigates the complaint. The BSB is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when exercising its monitoring functions.

7. Our Records

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. 

8. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman / Alternative Dispute Resolution

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation and you fall within its jurisdiction, you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman at the conclusion of our consideration of your complaint. The Ombudsman is not able to consider your complaint until it has first been investigated by Mayfair Place Chambers. Please note the timeframe for referral of complaints to the Ombudsman as set out above. Clients who are able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman are:

  • Individuals;

  • Businesses or enterprises that are micro-enterprises within the meaning of Article 1 and Article 2(1) and (3) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (broadly businesses or enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or assets not exceeding €2 million);

  • Charities with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million;

  • Clubs, associations or organisations, the affairs of which are managed by its members or a committee of its members, with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million;

  • Trustees of trusts with an asset value of less than £1 million, and;

  • Personal representatives or beneficiaries of the estates of persons who, before they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

You can write to the Legal Ombudsman at:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Telephone number: 0300 555 0333

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

More information about the Legal Ombudsman is available on their website: legalombudsman.org.uk and legalombudsman.org.uk/information-centre/data-centre/ombudsman-decision-data/.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the investigation by the Ombudsman, there are alternative complaints bodies also exist which can deal with complaints about legal services, should you and the barrister both wish to use such a scheme. A list is available here: tradingstandards.uk/consumer-help/adr-approved-bodies/. If you wish to use one of these services, then please contact us to discuss this. 

  1. 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: +44 (0) 20 76111 444

Website: barstandardsboard.org.uk