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Hardwicke is a professionally run and open organisation. We welcome the opportunity to know what our clients think so that we can improve our services, recognise and reward staff, provide additional training if necessary, and help to develop members’ practices.  Your views on our service are important to us. We will take seriously any comments made, and identify matters we can improve.

You are encouraged to contact our Chief Executive, Ann Buxton or our Practice Director Amanda Illing, if you would like to convey feedback about our members, staff, or levels of service.

We recognise that you may feel that you want to make a complaint about the advice you have been given, or the service you have received.  As a professional service organisation, we take every complaint extremely seriously. We would hope that any complaint can be resolved amicably and informally in the first instance.

If, however, you consider that your concerns have not been resolved informally, our Complaints Policy is set out as follows:

Our Policy

It is the duty of every member of chambers and every member of staff to inform the chief executive of any complaint made about them.

We recognise that it is important that all complaints are dealt with promptly, courteously and in a manner which addresses the issues raised in accordance with our procedures.

The Complaints process

Informal complaint

You may wish to make a complaint in writing and, if so, please follow the formal procedure below. However, if you would rather speak on the telephone about your complaint then please telephone the individual nominated under the Chambers Complaints Procedure to deal with complaints – Lynne Orsborn (Operations Director) or, in her absence, Amanda Illing (Practice Director). The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like done about it. She will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is resolved she will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome and record that you are satisfied.

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.

Formal complaint

Please make your complaint by letter or email to Lynne Orsborn (Operations Director) who will have the initial responsibility for handling your complaint. If your complaint is about the Operations Director herself and you feel uncomfortable about addressing it directly to her in the first instance then please send it by letter or email to the Chief Executive. Their contact details are given below.

It would be helpful if you could include the following information so we can deal with your complaint as effectively as possible:

• the date the matter which is the subject of the complaint happened
• the barrister or member of staff concerned
• the nature of the complaint
• what steps you would like to see taken to resolve your complaint.

Once your formal complaint has been received the Operations Director or Chief Executive will, if you ask, explain to you how it will be handled.

We try to keep this process flexible to take account of different circumstances. In principle, it will work as follows:

The Operations Director will handle complaints about staff other than herself, and all other complaints will be handled by a senior member of chambers as complaints officer.

The Operations Director or complaints officer will notify you as soon as possible and, in any event within 14 days of receiving the complaint, that it is under investigation. They will set a date by which you will be contacted again. They will carry out the necessary investigations and give everyone involved the opportunity to comment on the complaint and provide all relevant information.

Any complaint which appears to involve a claim for money or professional negligence against a barrister will be brought to the attention of the barrister’s professional indemnity insurers as soon as possible.
The Operations Director or complaints officer will in due course inform you of the result of the investigation by explaining either:

• that the complaint has been found not to be justified, explaining why; or
• that the complaint has been found to be justified and either explain what remedial action is proposed, including any form of compensation, or refer the matter to the head of chambers for final resolution. The complainant will be reminded of the right to refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman and the time frame for such referral which is outlined above.

We aim to deal with any complaint within 28 days of receipt. If we are unable to meet this time scale we will let you know.

In order to allow for any potential complaint to be referred on to the Legal Ombudsman within its twelve-month time limit, Chambers cannot, normally, accept a complaint about an issue which arose more than ten months prior to the date of the letter of complaint. The Legal Ombudsman’s definition of how its time limit apply is that time starts from the date of the act or omission complained of, or from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint without taking advice from a third party.

Please note that the Ombudsman will 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.

Records and reporting

The Operations Director will maintain a record of every complaint detailing:

• the name and address of the complainant (be it an individual or a firm or company)
• the date of the complaint
• the nature of the complaint
• the barrister or member of staff concerned
• the steps taken to resolve the complaint
• communications with the complainant

Information of complaints are reported quarterly to the management committee of chambers, on an anonymised basis, with a recommendation, where appropriate, for changes to policies or procedures. The management committee will decide and implement any necessary changes in policies or procedures or take other appropriate steps to reduce the possibility of a similar complaint arising again.

Contact Details

Operations Director
lynne.orsborn@hardwicke.co.uk

Chief Executive
ann.buxton@hardwicke.co.uk
+44 20 7691 0296

Practice Director
amanda.illing@hardwicke.co.uk
+44 20 7691 0014

Head of Chambers
Nigel Jones QC
nigel.jones@hardwicke.co.uk

Hardwicke
Hardwicke Building
New Square
London WC2A 3SB   

Legal Ombudsman

PO Box 15870,
Birmingham
B30 9EB

Telephone number: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

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

Professional Conduct Department
289-293 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7JZ

Telephone number: 0207 6111 444
Website: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

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