What type of service will I
get?
Who will work on my case?
How will you communicate with
me?
What do I need to do?
How long
will my claim take?
What about
confidentiality?
What if I
am unhappy with the service?
What if I
wish to end the agreement?
What type of service will I get?
We are committed to providing you with the high quality
service you expect and we will make sure that we understand what
you want to achieve in order to do this for you. We always work as
quickly and efficiently as possible and hope you find us friendly
and approachable every step of the way.
Who will work on my case?
You will know from an early stage who will be
working on your case and we will make it clear if they are a
partner, solicitor or legal executive and whether any assistants
will be working on some aspects of your case. We will always try to
avoid changing the people who are handling your work, but if it
becomes necessary at any stage to transfer the day to day conduct
or overall supervision of your case to another person within the
firm, we will notify you quickly of the change and the reason
behind it.
We aim to keep you informed of the progress of
your case at all times. We will explain to you the issues raised
and advise you of any significant delays we may incur and the
reasons behind them. When documents are prepared on your behalf, we
will check these with you. We will also advise you whether the
likely outcome of your case will justify the likely charges and
expenses and risk involved, from time to time, as necessary. In the
following pages you can find comprehensive details about working
with us which should answer any questions you may have. This is an
important document, so please do keep it in a safe place for future
reference.
How will you communicate with me?
We will try to communicate with you by
whatever method you request. When appropriate we will contact any
involved parties by email or fax, as long as consent has been given
for us to do this. However, please note that we cannot be held
responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent
by e-mail or fax.
Our office is open from 9:30am to 5:30pm,
Monday to Friday although we are often contactable outside these
hours. If the person dealing with your case is unable to take your
call, you can leave a message on our voicemail service and we will
deal with any enquiry as soon as we can. Alternatively you can fax
or email us at any time.
If you wish to see the person dealing with
your case in person, please make an appointment before coming into
the office to make sure that they are available to see you. We can
meet with you outside normal office hours and at your home if that
would be more suitable for you. Just contact us and let us know
that this is your preference and we will arrange this.
What do I need to do?
There are a number of actions that you will
need to undertake during the course of your case. This could be for
example signing court documentation. We will let you know as soon
as possible, if and when this action is required. You will also
need to agree that we can approach such third parties as may be
appropriate for information that we consider necessary or desirable
to deal with your affairs.
In order to conduct your case we will need you to co-operate by
providing all information which may be needed for us to fulfil our
obligations under money laundering regulations. Please ensure you
keep receipts of any expenses you have as a result of your injury
(e.g. prescriptions, travel to and from hospital) and any expenses
around the home. It would also be beneficial to keep a diary of the
help you need from other people and changes in your condition to
assist with your claim.
How long will my claim
take?
The nature of legal work, particularly court
work, makes it difficult to estimate how long it will take to
complete. But when we discuss your requirements with you at the
outset, we will also give you an indication of time scales. We do
attempt to meet these and are sometimes able to beat them.
Unfortunately, the speed at which we work
can often be affected by the level of co-operation we receive from
other people, which is outside of our control. You can help
facilitate the process by providing us with any documents and
information requested promptly. As a general guide, some
straightforward claims can be settled in around one to two years,
but larger or more difficult claims requiring court action are more
likely to take longer.
What about confidentiality?
Information passed to us is kept
confidential and we will not disclose it to third parties unless
authorised by you or required by law. We do reserve the right to
disclose our files to regulatory bodies, including our auditors, in
the exercise of their powers. We observe the professional rules and
guidelines of the Law Society and accept instructions to act for
you on the basis that we will act in accordance with those rules
and guidelines.
We will destroy any papers that we
hold relating to your case after a reasonable time, (this will
include any papers that legally belong to you) unless otherwise
agreed with you. In compliance with the Law Society Guidelines,
this will not usually be until at least six years after we complete
your case.
What if I am unhappy with the service?
If you have any problems or queries over the
way in which your matter is being handled or there is any way in
which you feel our services can be improved, please contact us.
Please do raise any concerns or queries and
we will do our utmost to address these in order to provide the
standard of service you require. If any of your queries or concerns
are not resolved in this way, you may use our formal complaints
handling procedure, a copy of which can be supplied on request (in
accordance with law society rules).
What if I wish to end the agreement?
We may decide to stop acting for you, but
would only do so with good reason. Please refer to the terms of the
conditional fee agreement legal expenses insurance policy or legal
services funding arrangement for further information. If at any
time you are unhappy with our service you may terminate your
instructions to use us at any time. You must do this in writing.
Please bear in mind that we do have the right to charge you for all
work done including expenses and can retain your file of papers
until our bill is paid. You will be entitled to ask the court to
assess the reasonableness of any fees we charge you.