Norman Sheridan is the sole practitioner at Sheridan Chambers.
We take pride in aiming to provide an excellent service to clients at all times. However, we recognise that there may be occasions when a client may feel that the level of service provided falls short of that which is expected.
If that is the case we would like to know straight away so that we can try to do something to remedy the situation immediately to your satisfaction. If we are not able to resolve matters, we understand that you may prefer to make a formal complaint.
We take feedback, complaints and their investigation very seriously so that we may learn from them and further improve what we do.
If you have a complaint, we would invite you to let us know as soon as possible. All complaints will be dealt with promptly, courteously and in a manner which addresses the issues raised.
If you wish to make a formal complaint we would request that you do so in writing by letter or by email. It would be helpful if you could provide the following information so that we can deal with your complaint as effectively as possible:
- Your contact details;
- The nature of the complaint;
- What we asked to do, what happened or did not happen;
- What steps you would like to be taken so as to resolve the complaint.
We will aim to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within one week of receipt or sooner, and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with. We will then carry out a thorough investigation of your complaint. We would then aim to send you a response to your compliant within 3 weeks of receipt of your complaint. If this is likely to take longer then we will inform you of this fact and provide you with the new date of the response.
The response will set out:
- The complaint;
- The nature and scope of the investigation;
- The conclusion on each complaint and the basis for that conclusion; and
- If the conclusion was that the complaint was justified, the proposals for resolving that complaint.
If you are not happy with the outcome of our investigation, you may take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complaints body for complaints about lawyers in England and Wales.
This complaints procedure deals only with service issues. It is not usually appropriate for us to deal with allegations of professional negligence or serious misconduct under the Bar Code of Conduct.
In so far as your complaint raises issues of professional negligence the Barrister is required to report the same to their professional indemnity insurers who may elect to deal with it themselves. You can find a link to the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board website here.
In so far as your complaint raises issues of serious misconduct, you may wish to refer it to the Bar Standards Board which regulates all barristers in England and Wales.