When you first meet with a lawyer you should be given a letter which explains how your lawyer will carry out work for you. You can expect to be given:
- the name of the lawyer, or other person, carrying out work for you,
- the name of any person who supervises their work,
- a summary of the information you gave to your lawyer and what you want your lawyer to do for you,
- a summary of your lawyer’s advice and the work your lawyer has agreed to carry out for you,
- notes of any action you need to take,
- an idea of the length of time it will take for your work to be carried out,
- an explanation of the way that the costs will be worked out,
- costs information should also explain:
- how you will be charged, for example, a fixed fee or for the time the lawyer spends on each activity such as a meeting, letter or telephone call,
- if there will be additional costs, for example, court fees or a fee for a report,
- if VAT will be charged on top of costs,
- if interest will be charged for late payment of costs,
- if there will be an extra charge for paying with a credit card.
You should be given the firm’s Complaints procedure. This will tell you how to complain and:
- explain that complaints should firstly be made to the Firm,
- give the name of the person to contact about a complaint,
- allow for reasonable ways for you to complain, for example, by email, telephone and letter,
- state the number of days within which the Firm will let you know they have received your complaint,
- state how long it will take for your complaint to be investigated and a decision sent to you,
- explain that if your complaint is not resolved after 8 weeks, or if you are not satisfied with the decision, you can refer your complaint to:
- the Legal Ombudsman, or
- an Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, - explain that there are time limits for complaining to the Legal Ombudsman (you should check the most up to date time limits with the Legal Ombudsman). As at October 2015 a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within 6 months of receiving a decision from your Firm and within 6 years from the date of the problem, or 3 years from when you should have known about the problem,
- provide contact details for the Legal Ombudsman, which are:
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ
Telephone 0300 555 0333
Minicom call 0300 555 1777
Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk - provide the name and website address of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider and whether the Firm is prepared to use ADR,
- provide contact details for the Firm’s Regulator and timescales for complaining to them,
- provide details of the Firm’s Professional Indemnity Insurance.