COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

How to make a complaint​​​​​

We always aim to deliver a high-quality service, however if you are dissatisfied with the service we have provided, please bring it to our attention.  You may do so in one of the following ways:


  • Telephone – please telephone our clerks on 0208 466 6673 or 0757 044 5417. If the complaint is about a clerk, please telephone the Management Committee on 0208 466 6673 or 0757 044 5417.
  • In writing – please address your letter to: Amethyst Chambers, Unit 327, 1 Elmfield Park, Bromley, BR1 1LU.


Our complaints handling process​

You will need to provide us with your name and address/email address, and the nature of your complaint as well as whom the complaint is regarding. If you consider yourself to have a disability which affects your ability to pursue a complaint, please let us know and we will discuss appropriate and reasonable adjustments with you. 


​Your correspondence will be acknowledged in writing within 7 working days, irrespective of the method of contact. The subject of the complaint will be informed about the complaint by the Management Committee as soon as the complaint is received. Within 14 days of our acknowledgement of your complaint, a member of the Management Committee will be appointed to investigate your complaint. We will then aim to reply to your complaint within 21 days of this appointment. If it is not going to be possible to reply within this timeframe, we will let you know, providing reasons why and setting a new date by which you will receive our reply. Once your complaint has been investigated and considered, the Management Committee will reply to you in writing, setting out the nature and scope of the investigation carried out, the conclusion reached and the basis for that conclusion and, where the complaint is considered to be justified, the Management Committee will set out proposals for resolving the complaint.

Confidentiality
All conversations and documents relating to your complaint will be treated as confidential and will only be disclosed to the extent that is necessary.  Disclosure will be to the Management Committee and any persons involved in the complaint and its investigation, including the individual the subject of the complaint.


The Legal Ombudsman
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the handling of your complaint, you have the option of taking your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
You are only able to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if you have already been through Chambers' complaints procedure, and if you are a client of a member of Chambers.


The Legal Ombudsman will only consider complaints received within the following time limits:

  • six years from the date of the act or omission complained of; or
  • three years from the date on which you should reasonably have known that there were grounds for complaint; or
  • within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint from chambers.


The Legal Ombudsman can extend the time limit in exceptional circumstances. We will adhere to the relevant time limits in deciding whether we are able to investigate your complaint, and will not normally deal with a complaint that falls outside the time limit applicable to a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.


You may contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk 

Data on all complaints resolved by the Legal Ombudsman can be found here.

The Bar Standards Board
If you are not a client of Chambers, or if your complaint relates to the professional conduct of one of our barristers rather than about the quality of our service, it is more appropriate for you to address your complaint to the Bar Standards Board (the regulatory body for barristers). The contact details for the Bar Standards Board are as follows:

Bar Standards Board
Contact and Assessment Team
289-293 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7HZ
Tel: 020 7611 1444​