Peace | Crowell takes professional responsibilities seriously and is committed to providing the highest level of client service.
Peace | Crowell’s clients may raise any questions or concerns about our services or the quality of our work with the firm’s managing partner. All concerns should be raised promptly, and we will make every effort to ensure prompt resolution of any such complaints.
In relation specifically to our operations in the United Kingdom, we note that our affiliated limited liability partnership operating as Peace Crowell LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under the laws of England and Wales under Partnership No. OC411325 and VAT Registration No. 242 9199 86, having its registered address at 6th Floor, 246 High Holborn, London WC1V 7EX, is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has additional rules and procedures that apply to complaints against firms that are so authorised and regulated. The balance of this complaints procedure implements those additional requirements and applies only to clients of Peace Crowell LLP, our affiliated limited liability partnership operating in the United Kingdom, which is our only firm affiliate that is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
If you are a client of our affiliate in the United Kingdom and you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provided to you, we would ask that you contact the firm’s managing partner directly, who directly oversees all of our client work and who will be happy to discuss the matter with you and will work with you to try to resolve your complaint. When contacting the firm’s managing partner with a complaint, you should set out in an email as much information as possible regarding the reasons for your complaint, and the dissatisfaction with any proposed resolution that may have been previously discussed. Your email should specifically state that you are making a complaint under Peace | Crowell’s complaints policy, and should include your full name and contact details, specific reasons why you are dissatisfied with the service provided and your desired outcome from the complaint.
Complaints could relate to a number of potential concerns, including concerns over the quality of our work or a bill we have issued, concerns about dishonesty, taking or losing client money or treating clients unfairly because of their age, a disability or other characteristic, or other reasons that cause you concern as a client of Peace | Crowell.
Following receipt of your formal complaint we will reply to you within 14 days identifying the individual responsible for investigating the complaint and confirming the steps we are taking. We will either provide our substantive response within this 14 day period or, if that is not practicable, we will give our expected timetable for doing so. We aim to respond in full to all complaints within eight weeks, but we will keep you informed if we are not going to be able to meet that timescale. At the conclusion of the investigation of your complaint you will be advised of our response in writing.
At the conclusion of our investigation, you may have the right to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Legal Ombudsman as described in greater detail below.
A complaint can be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority if it relates to the professional conduct of Peace Crowell LLP, our affiliated limited liability partnership operating in the United Kingdom, or any of its partners and employees. Further information is available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can be contacted by telephone at +44.370.606.2555, by email to reports@sra.org.uk or by post at SRA Report, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN, United Kingdom.
The Legal Ombudsman is an independent, consumer focused scheme set up to resolve complaints about lawyers in England and Wales. It provides a free complaints resolution service to members of the public, very small businesses, charities and trusts. Not all clients will be eligible to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, with larger businesses generally ineligible. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of Peace | Crowell’s formal complaints procedure and no more than six years from the date of the act/omission, or no more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. Further information on the Legal Ombudsman and the services it provides is available on its website. The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted by telephone at +44.300.555.0333, by email to enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or by post at The Legal Ombudsman, P.O. Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, United Kingdom.
We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
This policy is issued in compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Standards and Regulations.