At Richard Pearlman LLP we aim to provide the highest standards of service to our clients and to operate our business to the professional standards which others affected by our conduct have the right to expect. Dealing effectively with complaints is part of that service. If you believe our service to you as a client has fallen below these standards we want you to raise the matter so that it can be thoroughly investigated and any necessary action taken to resolve it to your satisfaction.

Set out below are our procedures for dealing with any problems. They are published internally and all staff are familiar with them.

Procedure for clients
The following applies only to our clients. If you are not a client of the firm then a different process applies. Other parties to litigation or other dispute resolution procedures in which one of our clients is a party should usually raise the matter in the relevant proceedings. Otherwise please see the final section below.

In the first instance please raise any problems with the person responsible for the day-to-day conduct of the matter. Please provide us with full details of your concerns on the telephone or, if you prefer, at a meeting. We will take a careful note of your concerns and will investigate the matter.

We will do all we can to resolve the matter to your satisfaction. If we fail to do so, you will be advised to contact our Senior Partner. They will either oversee an investigation and further response to you from the Client Partner, or if the Client Partner has already been involved, will investigate and respond personally.

At each stage we will do our best to:

• investigate the problem thoroughly;
• ensure that any necessary remedial action is taken as quickly as possible; and
• keep you informed throughout of the progress and result of our investigation and the action being taken.

We will record in writing the nature of the problem, our investigation of it and the remedial action taken and you may also wish to make your own written record of events. You may be asked to confirm in writing if the problem has been satisfactorily resolved.

If after we have done everything we can to resolve matters ourselves, you are still not satisfied or at any stage if you prefer, please contact the Legal Ombudsman. It may be that the Legal Ombudsman is unable to deal with your complaint. If in doubt, please refer to the Legal Ombudsman at:

Procedure for non-clients
If you are not a client we will only be able to deal with your complaint if you are alleging that we have acted in breach of the Solicitors Code of Conduct. We will ask you to specify the alleged breach before we deal with your complaint. Please send your complaint for the attention of our Senior Partner. We will tell you as soon as reasonably possible if we consider that we agree there has been a breach and apologise if so. If you are not satisfied, or at any time if you prefer, you may ask the Solicitors Regulation Authority to investigate our conduct.

Professional Indemnity Insurance
In accordance with our regulatory obligations we confirm that Richard Pearlman LLP has professional indemnity insurance in place well in excess of the compulsory minimum level for users of our services in England and Wales. Details will be provided in response to any qualifying enquiry.