Complaints Procedure
Trust is the foundation of the client relationship, and we take seriously any indication that we have fallen short of your expectations. If you are unhappy with our work, our communication, or the outcome, tell us — we want to put things right directly, transparently, and without unnecessary formality.
How your complaint is handled
A direct conversation
Contact Edmund Hartley directly — by letter, email, or telephone. We acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days.
Internal review
We look carefully at the circumstances of your case and, as a rule, respond within 4 weeks — with a clear assessment of the situation and a concrete proposal for resolving it.
The Legal Ombudsman
If no satisfactory resolution is reached within 8 weeks, you may turn to the Legal Ombudsman, the independent body that resolves complaints about legal services in England and Wales.
A complaint is not a conflict — it is an opportunity to put things right. We respond to every complaint personally and within defined timeframes.
Questions about the complaints procedure
We acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days, and we typically provide a substantive reply — assessing the situation and proposing a resolution — within 4 weeks. Where a matter is more complex and needs additional time, we will let you know separately.
No. The form of your complaint does not matter — you are welcome to write a letter, send an email, or arrange to speak with us. What matters is that we can clearly understand the substance of your concern and reach you if we need to clarify anything.
No. Your complaint is handled entirely separately from the conduct of your case, and raising it has no bearing whatsoever on the quality or priority of the work we carry out for you.
If our internal review does not produce a satisfactory outcome, or we have not resolved your complaint within 8 weeks, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at it. You normally need to do so within six months of our final response and within one year of the problem, or of when you became aware of it. Concerns about a solicitor's professional conduct can also be reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We will provide the contact details on request.
Ready to tell us what went wrong?
Write a brief note explaining the substance of your concern — we will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days and come back to you with a response.
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