Complaints Procedure

You can complain to us about the service provided by Clerk & Counsel, including concerns relating to:

• the way we have handled your enquiry;
• our communication with you;
• the sourcing or administration of your barrister instruction;
• fees charged by Clerk & Counsel;
• the handling of documents or information;
• payment administration; or
• the conduct or service provided by a member of the Clerk & Counsel team.

Clerk & Counsel does not provide legal advice or representation. Complaints about legal advice, advocacy or other professional services provided by a barrister should normally be made under the barrister's own complaints procedure.

If you have a concern, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible. We will always try to resolve straightforward issues quickly and informally where possible.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, please contact us by email at: info@clerkandcounsel.co.uk

Please include:

• your name and contact details;
• your Clerk & Counsel reference, if applicable;
• a brief description of your complaint;
• relevant dates or correspondence; and
• what you would like us to do to resolve the matter.

If you require assistance making your complaint, please contact us and we will do our best to accommodate any reasonable requirements.

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receiving it.

Your complaint will be reviewed by an appropriate person at Clerk & Counsel. Where possible, this will be someone who was not directly responsible for the issue giving rise to your complaint.

We may contact you if we require further information or documents to investigate your concerns.

We aim to provide a substantive response within 14 working days of receiving your complaint.

If the matter is particularly complex and we are unable to provide a full response within this period, we will explain the reason for the delay and tell you when we expect to provide our response.

Our response will explain the outcome of our investigation and, where appropriate, any action we propose to take.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask us to review the complaint.

Your request should explain why you remain dissatisfied and should normally be made within 14 days of our response.

Where reasonably possible, the review will be undertaken by a different or more senior person.

We will provide our final response following the review as soon as reasonably practicable.

Where applicable, our final response will also provide information about any relevant Alternative Dispute Resolution service available to you and whether Clerk & Counsel is required or willing to participate in that process.

Barristers instructed through Clerk & Counsel are independent professionals and are responsible for the legal services they provide.

If your complaint concerns the barrister's legal advice, advocacy, professional conduct or the standard of their legal services, the complaint should generally be made directly to the barrister or their chambers under their complaints procedure.

The barrister's client care information should explain how you can make a complaint.

If you remain dissatisfied after the barrister's complaints process has concluded, you may be entitled to refer a complaint about the barrister's service to the Legal Ombudsman, subject to its eligibility requirements and time limits.

Information is available from the Legal Ombudsman at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

Serious concerns about a barrister's professional conduct may be reportable to the Bar Standards Board.

Information about reporting concerns is available at www.barstandardsboard.org.uk.

Clerk & Counsel can provide you with the relevant barrister's complaints details if you are unsure where your complaint should be directed.

Making a complaint to Clerk & Counsel will not affect how we treat you.

However, making a complaint to Clerk & Counsel does not alter court or tribunal deadlines and does not automatically suspend or cancel an instruction with a barrister.

If your complaint concerns an ongoing instruction, we will explain any administrative steps that may need to be taken while the complaint is being considered.

Complaints will be handled sensitively and information will only be shared where reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to the complaint, or where we are required to disclose information by law or for regulatory purposes.

We maintain appropriate records of complaints so that we can identify recurring issues and improve our services.

We take complaints seriously and aim to deal with them fairly, promptly and professionally.

We will use feedback and complaints to identify where our service can be improved.