Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint please contact David Poddington, our Client Care Partner, to provide him with all the relevant details either by writing to him at 20 Arundel Gate, Sheffield S1 2PP, by emailing him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or telephoning on 0114 218 4065.

If David is on holiday, please contact his secretary, Sally Hankin on 0114 218 4303 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   and she will refer your complaint to another partner who will deal with it until Mr Poddington returns.

What will happen next?

1. Within three working days of receiving your complaint we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and it will be recorded in our central register.  A complaint file will be opened and we will send you a copy of this procedure.

2. We will then investigate your complaint and this will involve one or more of the following steps:-

(a) We will examine the file concerned and discuss the matter with the member of staff who acted for you within one working week where practicable but as soon as possible thereafter if not - for example if the Fee Earner concerned is on holiday.

(b) If further information is needed, we will tell you how long it is likely to take us to complete our investigation and keep you informed of developments.

3. Within two days of the conclusion of our investigations we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint setting out our initial views and any solution we propose. We will also invite you to discuss the matter with us.

4. Within 3 days of a meeting, where one is held, David or another partner in his absence will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.

5. At that stage, if you are still not satisfied you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner to review the decision.

6. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

7. If you are still not satisfied, and if you are an individual or a very small business, charity, club or trust you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman on telephone number 0300 555 0333, by post to: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 15870, Tamworth, B77 9LE or visit the website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 6 months of the date of our final decision on your complaint.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.