Client Care
Our complaints process
We understand that dealing with legal issues can be daunting and our objective is to make this process as easy as possible for you. We want your experience with Blackadders to be a positive one but we do recognise that occasionally things can go wrong.
The links below contain our policy for dealing with issues and complaints (client and non-client). We are committed to making this process as fair and as transparent as possible to ensure any issues are dealt with fairly and effectively.
Please click on the relevant link below for further information:
I am a Blackadders client with a complaint
If you find that you have a concern about your business or how it is progressing, you should always in the first instance discuss this with the staff member who is working for you. He or she will want to know this, and will be anxious to put your mind at ease, and to give you further information that you may be looking for.
Alternatively, you should raise the matter with the partner who is responsible for your business, either in the appropriate department of the firm, or the partner who is your usual point of contact, if that is different. The responsible partner may or may not have a detailed knowledge of all aspects of your case, but will try to sort out any problem that may have occurred.
If you are still dissatisfied after this, or if for any reason you feel that you cannot deal with the responsible partner, you may wish to discuss your problem with the firm’s Client Relations Partner, who is Ryan McKay, joint Managing Partner. He has been appointed by the partners to ensure that clients who have a justified complaint have their concerns listened to and dealt with by someone who has not been directly involved with the case.
You will be asked to put your concerns in writing. Once he is aware of the nature of a complaint, the Client Relations Partner will make investigations and do what he can to ensure that the difficulty is remedied as quickly as possible, depending on the nature of the problem. This may be immediately in the case of a minor matter, but it may take some time for a client’s concern to be looked into properly. In serious or complex cases, it may be necessary for a matter to be referred to the firm’s Board for a decision.
A meeting will sometimes be useful, but it will often be more appropriate to deal with matters in writing or by telephone.
If after this process is complete you think that the matter has still not been resolved to your satisfaction, you may take the matter further.
You may complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. Their address is:
Capital Building
12-13 St Andrew Square
Edinburgh
EH2 2AF
Phone: 0131 201 2130
Fax: 0131 201 2131
Email: enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk
Website: http://www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk
The SLCC are unable to deal with any complaint until the firm has had a reasonable opportunity to deal with the complaint under its internal procedures.
Any complaint to the SLCC must be made to them within one year (three years where instructions were first given after 1 April 2017) of the service ending or the conduct occurring. However, SLCC will disregard any time it considers that a complainer was excusably unaware of their concerns.
I am not a Blackadders client but have a complaint
Our primary duty is to our own clients, to whom we owe a duty of confidentiality. We have duties to the Court. We also have duties to others, such as beneficiaries in estates we administer, but not to those with whom our clients are in conflict, or who are represented by other solicitors.
If you feel that our obligations have not been properly carried out you may wish to discuss this with the firm’s Client Relations Partner who is Ryan McKay, joint Managing Partner. He has been appointed by the partners to ensure that those who have a justified complaint have their concerns listened to and dealt with by someone who has not been directly involved with any particular case.
You will be asked to put your concerns in writing. Once he is aware of the nature of a complaint, the Client Relations Partner will make investigations and do what he can to ensure that the difficulty is remedied as quickly as possible, depending on the nature of the problem. This may be immediately in the case of a minor matter, but it may take some time for a client’s concern to be looked into properly. In serious or complex cases, it may be necessary for a matter to be referred to the firm’s Board for a decision.
A meeting will sometimes be useful, but it will often be more appropriate to deal with matters in writing or by telephone. The information you provide will be used to deal with your complaint.
If after this process is complete you think that the matter has still not been resolved to your satisfaction, you may take the matter further.
You may complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. Their address is:
Capital Building
12-13 St Andrew Square
Edinburgh
EH2 2AF
Phone: 0131 201 2130
Fax: 0131 201 2131
Email: enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk
Website: http://www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk
The SLCC are unable to deal with any complaint until the firm has had a reasonable opportunity to deal with the complaint under its internal procedures.
Any complaint to the SLCC must be made to them within one year (three years where instructions were first given after 1 April 2017) of the service ending or the conduct occurring. However, SLCC will disregard any time it considers that a complainer was excusably unaware of their concerns.
