We aim to provide an excellent quality of service at all times. If you are unsatisfied with any area of our service, please let us know immediately.
In many cases, potential complaints can be resolved informally without resorting to the formal complaint procedure. For example, you should contact the administration team if you complain about a barrister. Alternatively, if your complaint concerns a staff member, you should direct your complaint to Simon Russell Flint KC. In our experience, complaints can often be resolved satisfactorily in this way without recourse to the more formal procedure.
Complaints Procedure | Millennium Chambers
Our aim at Millennium Chambers is always to give you excellent service. However, if you have a complaint, you are invited to let us know as soon as possible. We will investigate promptly; we will not charge for the investigation of any complaint and will provide you with a final response within six weeks.
Involving solicitors to make your complaint is unnecessary, but you are free to do so should you wish.
Please note that the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for service complaints about lawyers, has time limits in which a complaint must be raised with them.
Those time limits are:
- a) Six years from the date of the act or omission
- b) Three years from the date that the complainant should have known there were grounds for complaint (if the act/omission took place before 6 October 2010 or was more than six years ago)
- c) Within six months of the complainant receiving a final response from their lawyer, if that response complies with the requirements in rule 4.4 of the Scheme Rules (which requires the response to include prominently an explanation that the Legal Ombudsman was available if the complainant remained dissatisfied and The provision of full contact details for the Ombudsman and a warning that the complaint must be referred to them within six months
The Ombudsman can only extend the time limit in exceptional circumstances.
Please note that Millennium Chambers will only consider complaints raised within 12 months from the date of the act or omission.
The Ombudsman will also only deal with complaints from consumers. This means only complaints from the barrister’s client are within their jurisdiction.
Non-clients unsatisfied with the outcome of the Chambers’ investigation should contact the Bar Standards Board rather than the Legal Ombudsman.
It should be noted that it may only sometimes be possible to investigate a complaint brought by a non-client. This is because the ability of Chambers to investigate satisfactorily and resolve such matters is limited, and complaints of this nature are often better suited to the disciplinary processes maintained by the Bar Standards Board. Therefore, Chambers will make an initial assessment of the complaint. If they feel that the issues raised need to be satisfactorily resolved through the Chambers complaints process, they will refer you to the Bar Standards Board.
Complaints Made Orally or by Telephone
You may wish to make a complaint in writing, and if so, please follow the procedure in paragraph 10 below. However, if you would rather speak in person or on the telephone about your complaint, please get in touch with our Director of Clerking, Richard Fowler. If the complaint is about Richard Fowler, please contact our Head of Chambers, Simon Russell Flint KC. The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like to have done about it. He will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is determined, he will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome, and record that. You may also wish to record the result of the telephone discussion in writing. You will be sent a copy of the written record made of your telephone discussion, and a copy will also be sent to your solicitor.
If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone, you will be invited to write to us about it so that it can be investigated formally.
Complaints made in Writing
Please give the following details:
- Your name and address
- Which member(s) of Chambers are you complaining about
- The detail of the complaint, including date, time, and place where appropriate, e.g., the Court where the case took place at
- What would you like done about it?
Please address your letter to Richard Fowler and post it to Chambers at Millennium Chambers, 160 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2DQ.
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.
Millennium Chambers has a panel headed by Simon Russell Flint KC, who will consider any written complaint. If your complaint is against the head of the board, the next most senior member will investigate it. In any case, the person appointed will be someone other than the person you are complaining about.
The person appointed to investigate will write to you as soon as possible to let you know the nature and scope of his investigation and his conclusion on each complaint, and the basis for his decision, and if he finds that you are justified in your complaint, his proposals for resolving the complaint.
Confidentiality
All conversations and documents relating to the complaint will be treated as confidential and disclosed only to the extent necessary. Disclosure will be to the
Head of Chambers, the Director of Clerking, and anyone involved in the complaint and investigation. Such people will include the barrister(s) or Staff member(s) to whom you have complained, the panel’s head or relevant senior member, and the person who investigates the complaint. In addition, the Bar Standards Board is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when discharging its auditing and monitoring functions.
Our Policy
As part of our commitment to client care, we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for six years.
Complaints to the Bar Standards Board (the regulatory arm of the Bar Council, which is the professional body for barristers)
If you are not the barrister’s client and are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation, then please get in touch with the Bar Standards Board at:
Bar Standards Board Professional Conduct Department, 289-293 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7HZ Telephone number: 0207 611 1444.
Website: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman
Suppose you are unhappy with our investigation’s outcome and fall within its jurisdiction. In that case, you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for complaints about lawyers, after we consider your complaint. The Ombudsman can usually consider your complaint once Chambers has first investigated it. Please note the timeframe for referral of complaints to the Ombudsman as stated in paragraph 3 above.
You can write to them at Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ Telephone number: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Millennium Chambers,
160 Fleet Street,
London,
EC4A 2DQ.
Tel: 020 3179 2023
E-Mail: clerks@millenniumchambers.com
Web: www.millenniumchambers.com
"Regulated by the Bar Standards Board"