Commitment to Client Care

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided, then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem . This will help us to improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.  If you feel this has not resolved your concerns and you would like to make a formal complaint, please contact  Jacqueline Hardaway, our client care director by e-mail: jmh@dawson-hart.co.uk, by phone on: 01825 762281, or by post: The Old Grammar School, Church Street, Uckfield, East Sussex. TN22 1BH.

What will happen next?

1.  We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint, confirming the name of the person dealing with it and asking you to confirm or explain any further details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage.
2.   We will investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file and speaking with the relevant personnel.
3.   Within 14 days of your complaint, we will write to you setting out our response to your complaint and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.  Redress may include offering an apology, an explanation of steps taken to improve or correct our procedures, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.  If we feel it would help resolve the issues between us, we may invite you to meet with us to discuss your complaint further.
4.   Following receipt of our letter and/or meeting, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know and we will then arrange to review our decision.  This will happen in one of the following ways:

  • We will arrange for a senior person in the firm, who has not been involved in your complaint, to review it.
  • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation.

​5.   We will generally aim to complete the review within 14 days of your request, although if we agree mediation, a longer timescale may apply and we will agree this with you.  Within 5 working days of the end of the review, we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint, explaining our reasons.  

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman or Solicitors’ Regulatory Body

All complaints must be directed to this firm in the first instance.  If we are unable to resolve your complaint, you can contact our regulatory body, details of which are set out below.  We very much hope that this will not be necessary.

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman or Solicitors’ Regulatory body must be made within 6 months of this Firm’s final response to your complaint.  It must also be made within 6 years from the date of the act or omission or 3 years from the date on which you could reasonably have known that there were grounds for a complaint.  

The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints regarding poor service:-

            Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
            Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm
            E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
            Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority deals with complaints in relation to professional standards, such as acting independently, fairly and with integrity:

            Visit: http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page