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Complaints Procedure

Broadway House Chambers aims to ensure that our clients are satisfied with the service they receive from all members of chambers and staff. All concerns and complaints will be investigated and responded to as soon as possible. To ensure a swift and fair investigation, any complaint must be raised within 3 calendar months of the event in question.

We believe that we may provide better service by addressing your concerns as they arise. To help us do this we would ask that you raise any issues of concern with the Barrister, or staff member, at the time.

If you do not feel able to do this, please raise any issues with the senior clerk for the Barrister concerned, or with Chambers Administrator in respect of the Staff Member concerned, who will attempt to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Please note that the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for service complaints about lawyers, has a twelve-month time limit from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining within which to make your complaint. Chambers must therefore have regard to that timeframe when deciding whether they are able to investigate your complaint. To ensure that you are able to raise any complaint with the Legal Ombudsman chambers will not deal with complaints that fall outside of the three month time limit.

Formal Complaints

If we have not been able to resolve your concerns and you wish to make a formal complaint please do so in writing and address your concerns, in confidence, to the Client Standards Officer. To ensure that the matter may be investigated swiftly all complaints must be made within 3 calendar months of the event complained about.

The Client Standards Officer will formally acknowledge your complaint within 14 days of receipt. If your complaint relates to the Client Standards Officer, then they will ask a colleague to handle the complaint.

The Client Standards Officer will then appoint a senior member of the Barristers Practice Team as the Complaint Investigator.

As soon as possible the Complaint Investigator shall report to the Complaints Committee who will respond to you on behalf of Chambers. If your complaint is significantly complicated it will be passed directly to the Management Committee for investigation.

If you are not satisfied with the response from the Complaints Committee, you may appeal this decision. Any appeal should be made in writing, and addressed to the Head of Chambers.

Your appeal will be acknowledged within 7 days of receipt and will be presented to the Management Committee for investigation at their next monthly meeting. A formal response to your appeal will be sent to you as soon as possible afterwards.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for complaints about lawyers, 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 Chambers. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman has a twelve-month time limit from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining within which to make your complaint. You can write to them at:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 15870
Birmingham
B30 9EB
Tel 0300 555 0333
Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk