Compliments & Complaints

We value your feedback and see it as an important part of providing the best possible service. Whether you want to tell us what worked well or raise a concern about your experience, we will listen, respond promptly, and use your comments to make sure we continue meeting your needs.

We want it to be easy for you to tell us about your experience, whatever it may be. This page explains how you can share a compliment, raise a concern, and what will happen once you have done so. Our aim is to make the process clear, straightforward, and fair for every client.

How to share a compliment

If you have received excellent service from a member of our team, we would be delighted to hear from you. Your compliments are shared internally so we can recognise and thank the people who have made a difference to your experience.

You can share your feedback with:

The person who handled your matter
Their supervising Partner
Our Client Care Partner, Antoinette Doyle, on 020 8367 3230 or at acd@martinshepherd.co.uk

Our complaints commitment

If something has not gone as you expected, we want to know so we can put it right. All complaints are taken seriously and handled with fairness, courtesy, and respect. You can expect:

A clear acknowledgement that we have received your complaint
A thorough and impartial investigation
Regular updates while we look into the matter
A written response within agreed timescales
Guidance on what to do if you remain unhappy with the outcome

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a concern or a complaint that has not been dealt with to your satisfaction by the person handling your case or their supervising Partner, please contact us as soon as you are aware of the problem so this can be addressed. The Client Care Partner is Antoinette Doyle at the Potters Bar office. Telephone: 020 8367 3230. Email: acd@martinshepherd.co.uk.

What Will Happen Next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, Antoinette Doyle, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

Within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter, Antoinette Doyle will send you a comprehensive written reply, including her suggestions for the resolution of the issue.

If you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter, we may at this stage arrange for another Partner to review the decision.

We will write to you within 21 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)

They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final written response from us regarding your complaint
Within a year from the date of the act/omission, or within a year of you realising there was a concern

The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, and it relates to a contract we entered into online or by other electronic means, you may also be able to submit your complaint to a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider in the UK via the EU ‘ODR platform’.

The ODR platform is an interactive website offering a single point of entry for disputes between consumers and traders relating to online contracts. The ODR platform is available to consumer clients only, i.e. where you have instructed us for purposes outside your trade, business, craft, or profession.

The website address for the ODR platform is: http://ec.europa.eu/odr.

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

What to Do If You Are Unhappy with Our Service or Performance

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our service or performance. This could be for things such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability, or another characteristic.

You can visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns: www.sra.org.uk.
You can also contact them directly by email at report@sra.org.uk