Introduction

Albright Kendrick is a trading name of Albright Kendrick Law Limited a company registered in England and Wales under Company Registration N0. 14692201 and which  authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA ID 8003856).

We always endeavour to provide all our clients with a high level of commitment to client care and expertise to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service you have received from us, or about the bill, then you should inform us immediately, and we will do our best to resolve the problem. In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns so that any issues can be resolved at this stage.

We take complaints seriously and we regard our complaints process as an opportunity to monitor and improve the quality of our service, and to enhance our clients’ experiences when instructing us.

How to Complain

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about the bill, please contact us by post at our offices at 28^th Floor, The Gherkin, 30 St. Mary Axe, City of London EC3A 8BF or telephone us on 0203 556 2 556.

Please be assured that making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case. To assist us to understand your complaint, and so that we do not miss anything, please tell us:

1. Your full name and contact details.

2. Your file reference number (if you have it).

3. The full details of your complaint providing precise information and documentary evidence in support of what you say as this does make the process more efficient.

4. The resolution that you are seeking.

If you require assistance in making your complaint, we will try to help you.

What will happen next?

We will send you written acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, explaining the procedure that will be followed and general timescales that it will take to investigate your concerns.

We will investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Mr Needleman and/or to a Director of this firm, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. The first stage would be to identify the issues to ensure that we understand your concerns and we will agree the heads of complaint.

We will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. If you do not want a meeting or are it is not possible, you will need to write to us in this regard.

We will investigate your concerns internally and write to you within 14 days of agreeing the heads of complaint.

If the matter is complex and will take longer to fully investigate, we will contact you to give you an approximate timescale for when you can expect a full response to your complaint. We would endeavour to progress your complaint to initial response by no later than 21 days and for complex matters 28 days and our Final Response within 8 weeks. We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specified period of time. Please note that decision reached during our investigation will be based on the documentary evidence made available to us by you and obtained from an internal review of your file. We can only reach our conclusions based on the documentary evidence made available to us.

Please be aware that when we are conducting an investigation into a service complaint, the threshold of the standard of service upon which we based our decisions is a reasonable level of service and not the best possible service. We are also prohibited from commenting upon your Fee Earner’s professional opinion with respect to the legal strategy and advice provided to you unless if this falls below a standard expected of a reasonably competent professional. Our investigation is therefore limited to issues relating to the service you received.

After reviewing the documentary evidence, in line with the agreed timescales, we will provide you with a detailed written reply to your complaint including suggestions for resolving the matter.

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another individual within the firm to review the decision.

We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a further review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If you are still not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, or if we have not resolved it within eight weeks, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman (see below) to consider the complaint. Contact details are as follows: PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH, telephone: 0300 555 0333  email address: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk  and website www.legalombudsman.org.uk     

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

• No more than one year from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

10. If we have to change any of the above timescales, we will let you know and explain why.

Complaints about your bill

The above complaints procedure also applies to complaints arising concerning our bill. There may also be a right to object to the bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974; and that if all, or part, of a bill remains unpaid, the firm may be entitled to charge interest.

Raising concerns with our regulator

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. You can find information about raising your concerns with the SRA at www.sra.org.uk in the ‘For the public’ section.

Last updated: 10th June 2025