Mullenders Complaints Policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. All firms of solicitors are obliged to attempt to resolve problems that clients may have with the service provided. It is therefore important that you immediately raise your concerns with us. We value you and would not wish to think you have any reason to be unhappy with us. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it in order to help us improve our standards and client care.
Roger Mullender has overall responsibility for dealing with complaints. He can be contacted by email at
How to make a complaint?
Stage 1. If you have any concerns about the way in which your matter is being conducted please raise it in the first instance with the solicitor dealing with your file. This can be by telephone, in writing or in person.
If they are unable to deal with your concern to your satisfaction, you may then ask that the matter be formally investigated under our Complaints Procedure as follows.
Stage 2. If your concern has not been addressed to your satisfaction by your Solicitor, then please phone or email their Supervisor who will conduct an independent investigation of the complaint. You will find the Supervisor’s details in your initial Client Care letter. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 days and a written response will be provided within 28 calendar days of the complaint being received.
Stage 3. If the complaint remains unresolved, it will at your request be escalated to Roger Mullender to deal with. If Roger Mullender is acting as your solicitor, Jane Wright will instead respond to the complaint. The complaint will be reviewed, and further investigations may be carried out, if deemed necessary. We will write to you within 28 calendar days of receiving your request for review and confirm our final position on your complaint and explain our reasons. We then have eight weeks to consider your complaint.
What if your complaint is still not resolved?
Following our final response, you may have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman if your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction. You can contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, www.legalombudsman.org.uk, tel 03005550333,
Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman cannot deal with all complaints and will only deal with complaints from members of the public, certain very small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. The Legal Ombudsman will tell you whether they are able to deal with your complaint. If we are unable to meet any of the timescales given to you we will let you know and explain why. You will not be charged for our work investigating a complaint made by you. If because of a special need, you require us to deal with your complaint or communicate with you in a particular way please let us know so that in as far as is practicable, this may be accommodated.
What to do if you are concerned about our conduct?
We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). If you have a complaint regarding regulatory standards which we have been unable to resolve with you directly, you may wish to raise the issue with the SRA. This could be for things like dishonesty, losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, disability or other characteristics. Their contact details can be found here www.sra.org.uk/contact-us
Complaints against Barristers
If we instruct a barrister on your behalf, you will also have the right to complain about the barrister to the barrister’s chambers and ultimately to the Legal Ombudsman. By instructing us you give us the authority, if we feel it is in your best interests, should we instruct a barrister on your behalf, to pass your contact details to the barrister’s chambers in order that they may provide you with details of their complaints procedure.
What if my complaint concerns an invoice?
In the first instance please raise any query or concern with the solicitor dealing with your case. If the matter is not resolved, we will pass it to our Accounts Department for further investigation. If you still are not satisfied you also have the right to make a complaint to the court for an assessment of the bill under part 111 of the Solicitors Act 1974.
