Complaints Procedure

Chair of Complaints Committee: Mr Julian Allsop

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 0117 930 9000

Introduction

All the barristers and staff at Guildhall Chambers strive to provide you with high-quality advice and standards of service at all times. We recognise, however, that there may be an occasion when you are not satisfied with the service you receive, and you wish to make a complaint. We aim constantly to improve our client service, so take such feedback very seriously and listen to it carefully. Naturally, we hope to retain a good working relationship with you, so we will do all we can to find a solution in each
This document explains how Chambers’ Complaints Procedure works, who is involved, and what you can expect at each stage. Its aim is to ensure that complaints are dealt with efficiently and fairly and resolved satisfactorily.
All complaints will be dealt with in accordance with Chambers’ commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. If at any stage during the complaints process you require a reasonable adjustment, please raise this in writing with the Chair of the Complaints Committee (see the contact details above) who will consider what measures may reasonably be put in place to assist you in in raising and determining your complaint.
Please note that this procedure relates to complaints about service being made by someone who is or was a client of a barrister of Guildhall Chambers. If you are not or were not a client of the barrister, we may be able to resolve your issue informally, but we cannot investigate it formally. If you wish to make such a complaint formally, you will need to contact the Bar Standards Board, the Bar’s regulatory body. Please see the section below titled “Complaints to the Bar Standards board.
If you are making an allegation of professional negligence or professional misconduct by a barrister, we cannot investigate this, whether or not the barrister was working for you. In this instance, you will need to contact the Bar Standards Board, the Bar’s regulatory body. Please see the section below titled “Complaints to the Bar Standards board.
The Legal Ombudsman is the independent complaints body for complaints about the services received from lawyers; it will also only deal with complaints about barristers from those for whom the barrister has worked. You may raise your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with the outcome of our investigation. The Legal Ombudsman has time limits in which a complaint must be raised with it. You must refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman either:
- within one year of when the act or omission about which you wish to complain happened; or
- within one year of when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
- You must also ordinarily refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving our written response to your complaint
We will not usually deal with complaints that fall outside the Legal Ombudsman’s time The Legal Ombudsman can extend its time limits in exceptional circumstances.

Informal Stage

We will always try to deal with complaints promptly and informally where appropriate.
You may wish to make a formal complaint in writing and, if so, please follow the procedure under “Formal Stage” below. However, if you would rather contact us about your complaint to try at first to resolve it informally, then please phone 0117 930 9000 and ask to speak to one of the following, according to the type of work that was carried out for you, or email them:
- Lucy Northeast [email protected] (Practice Director Crime & Sports) for crime, regulatory or sports matters;
- Stephen Arnold [email protected] (Senior Practice Manager, Civil) for all other civil law matters.
If your complaint is about either Mr Arnold or Ms Northeast, please phone or email Mr Julian Allsop, the Chair of the Complaints Committee. If the complaint is about Mr Allsop, please contact the Head of Chambers, Ms Anna Vigars KC.
The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like to have done about it. They will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is resolved they will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome and then email or write to you by post to confirm that you were satisfied with the outcome. You may also wish to record the outcome of the telephone discussion in writing.
If your complaint is not resolved informally, you will be invited to write to us about it, so it can be investigated formally. Communication by email tends to be faster and more reliable, but we will, of course, accept letters by post.

Formal Stage

Please email:
- Lucy Northeast [email protected] (Practice Director Crime & Sports) for crime, regulatory or sports matters;
- Robin Jackson [email protected] (Civil Strtagey Director) for all other civil law matters.

or address your letter to that person at 5 – 8 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HG. Please mark the email or letter as “confidential”. We will, where possible, acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with further details of how your complaint will be dealt with. We are required to provide a written response within eight weeks of receiving a formal complaint and we will confirm this date when we acknowledge your complaint.

Please give the following details in your email or letter:

Your name and address and, if possible, your phone number;
Which barrister or member of staff you are complaining about;
The detail of the complaint; and
What you would like done about it.

Guildhall Chambers has a Complaints Committee to deal with formal complaints. It is chaired by Mr Allsop and made up of experienced Members of Chambers.
Mr Allsop (or his deputy in his absence) will appoint a member of the Committee to investigate it. To ensure objectivity and fairness, this will be someone who is not connected with the complaint or with any party to it.
If your complaint is against Mr Allsop, the Head of Chambers will appoint a member of the panel who will investigate it. In any case, the person appointed will be someone other than the person you are complaining about.
The person appointed will write to you to let you know they will be investigating your complaint. The investigating barrister may also ask you some further questions if they need you to clarify anything to do with your complaint. If, for any reason, the investigating barrister finds that they will not be able to provide you with their written report by the date previously given, they will inform you as soon as possible of the reason for the delay and set a new date. The investigating barrister will send you their written report on the investigation of your complaint, setting out:

The nature and scope of their investigation;
Their conclusion on each complaint and the basis for their conclusion; and
If they find that you are justified in your complaint, their proposals for resolving the complaint.

Confidentiality

All conversations and documents relating to the complaint will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed only to the extent that is strictly necessary to investigate your complaint fully. If the complaint is later referred to the Legal Ombudsman or the Bar Standards Board, it is likely that we will be required to pass to them information relating to our investigation.

Our policy

As part of our commitment to client care we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years. Our Management Committee reviews annually an anonymised summary of all complaints with a view to improving Chambers’ services to our clients.

Mediation

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation, other bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and the barrister agree to use such a scheme. One such body is ProMediate. If you wish to use ProMediate, please contact us to discuss this further. Please also note that the time limit for contacting ProMediate is 28 days from the date you received Chambers’ report on your complaint, and, if mediation is used, neither you nor the barrister is required to accept the proposed resolution. If mediation does not resolve the complaint, or either you or the barrister do not wish to use mediation, you may still make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation, and whether or not you have attempted mediation, you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman will not consider your complaint until it has first been investigated by Chambers. Please note the time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, shown at paragraph 6 above.
The Legal Ombudsman may exercise discretion to extend these time limits if, on the evidence, it is fair and reasonable to do so, for example, if the complainant was prevented from meeting the time limit as a result of serious illness.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please:

Visit legalombudsman.org.uk
Call 0300 555 0333 between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday
Email [email protected]
Write to The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Complaints to the Bar Standards Board

If you are not or were not the client of a barrister at Guildhall Chambers or if you are alleging professional negligence or other professional misconduct by a barrister who worked for you, we are unable to investigate your complaint formally. If you wish to raise a formal complaint in these circumstances, please visit the Bar Standards Board’s webpage on reporting concerns about a barrister for further information and an online reporting for, or write to the Bar Standards Board, 289-293 High Holborn, London WC1V 7JZ.

A pdf copy of this procedure is available here.

The Bar’s regulator, the Bar Standards Board, publishes a register of all barristers who are authorised to practise a full range of legal services in England & Wales (including what are known as “reserved legal activities”. The register also records any disciplinary finding made by the BSB against a barrister. This register is available here.

The Legal Ombudsman publishes data, updated on a rolling quarterly basis, about the final decisions it makes in complaints. This data is available here.

For help, please complete the form below.

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Frequently asked questions

If you have any queries about the services offered by Guildhall Chambers you are invited to contact the clerks at:

[email protected] or [email protected]. If you would prefer to telephone then please call 0117 930 9000 (the telephone number for the London office is 020 8087 1621).

For Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence specific enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Employment related enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Court of Protection enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Cost and Litigation enquiries, please email [email protected].

The following are invited to contact the clerks (as above) for our barristers’ services:

Solicitors;
Licensed Access clients, who may hold a licence issued by the Bar Standards Board, or be a members of a professional body which has been recognised by the Bar Standards Board; and
Members of the public who wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme.

We will provide you with a quote as soon as possible and, unless you are informed otherwise, within 14 days. If your matter is urgent please specify this when contacting chambers, and we will work to expedite your query. Guildhall Chambers are used to receiving and responding to work on an urgent basis.

Our barristers act both in advising clients and in representing clients in court. Barristers from Guildhall Chambers appear at all levels of the civil and criminal courts, including the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown Court, the County Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Our barristers act in criminal work for the Crown Prosecution Service (hereafter ‘CPS’) and other prosecuting agencies, as well as for Defendants, at all stages in the criminal justice process.

In civil work, our barristers act for both Claimants and Defendants at all levels of the civil justice system.

We also act for public bodies (particularly in Court of Protection work). Some of our members are members of the Attorney General’s Panel Scheme, which means that they can be instructed to act for the government.

Members of chambers also act for clients in cases heard in the Land Tribunal and in the Employment Tribunal.

If you have any questions about whether a barrister from Guildhall Chambers is able to represent you or has experience in representing clients in a particular area of law, or in a particular tribunal or court, then please do not hesitate to contact the clerks.

Public Access (also known as Direct Access)

If you are a member of the public, the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Law Clients is available here.

This guidance will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly.

Please note not all of our barristers act on a public access basis. Please check with the clerks and on the Public Access page on our website to see which barristers are able to act on a direct / public access basis.

We have barristers who are able to provide services on a public access basis including in the following areas:

What are the levels of fees to be charged for Public Access work?

Guildhall Chambers provides further information on the likely level of fees to be charged for specific areas of work if the barrister is instructed on a Public access basis. We provide this information in relation to work on a Public Access basis for:

Summary only motoring offences;
Employment tribunal work (in relation to unfair and wrongful dismissal cases);
Inheritance Act advices (where the value of the estate is less than £300,000);
Winding-up petitions

Please click on the relevant area to find out more information about the likely level of fees for the services of our barristers in these areas. This information is also available in hard copy format.

Please note that all of the above indicative fee information is still dependent upon the usual factors which may increase (or in some circumstances decrease) the likely cost of the barrister’s services.

Please read this information when considering the range of likely fees in these areas of Public Access work. For the most accurate information on the potential fees involved in your case, please contact the clerks.

If I instruct a barrister on a Direct Access basis, will there be any additional costs to pay or just the barrister’s fee?

It is also important to note that in relation to direct access work there may be costs, fees and/or charges which you will have to pay in addition to the fees which are payable to the barrister. In order to find out more about what (if any) additional costs arise, it is sensible to discuss this with the clerks (or the barrister who you instruct) at the outset.

Examples of additional charges which may be payable in addition to the direct access barrister’s fee include:

Court fees. Whether a court fee is payable (and how much that court fee will be) will depend on the circumstances of your case albeit in many (but not all) cases the value of the remedy which you are seeking will be a key factor;
There may occasionally be charges for photocopying and/or bundle preparation;

Barristers in the following teams most often charge on the following basis for the following areas of work (in each instance please contact the clerks to check that this system of charging will be applicable for your case):

Administrative and Public Law work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Court of Protection work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Clinical negligence and personal injury work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Commercial work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Costs and litigation funding work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Criminal work on a private basis (where the client is not eligible for legal aid) is normally charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate fixed fee.
Employment and discrimination work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate for advisory work. Representation in court is most often charged on the basis of a fixed fee.
Insolvency work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
International and offshore work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Property and estates work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Regulatory and disciplinary work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Sport law work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.

Please note that this is guidance for the approach which is taken in most cases in the relevant area of work. It does not preclude the barrister from charging fees on an hourly rate or a fixed fee basis (as appropriate) where the circumstances of the case, the work which the barrister is required to undertake, and the nature of the instructions best suit that model.

All fees are charged exclusive of VAT (where applicable).

Please contact the clerks in the first instance for information about fees and fee quotes because they will be able to provide you with the clearest information about what the services from barristers at Guildhall Chambers may cost. The clerks will also be able to provide you with information about what may cause any fee quote or estimates to vary. The clerks can only provide you with a quote based on the information which you provide to them, so please endeavour to provide a written summary of the important aspects of your case.

All quotes will be provided within a reasonable time, and in any event the clerks will aim to provide a quote within 14 days. If you require work urgently, please inform the clerks about this when seeking a quote.

We will always aim to set out quotes clearly, but if you receive your quote and there is something that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact the clerks. There is also an enquiry form on our website which allows you to provide the clerks with information for the purposes of generating a quote for your case.

Barristers in chambers can charge on an hourly rate basis or on the basis of a fixed fee. However, unless a fixed fee is set when a barrister initially receives instructions to undertake work on your behalf, then the barrister will work on an hourly rate basis.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers work on a “no win, no fee” basis? Can I fund my case with legal insurance?

Our barristers will also accept instructions under conditional fee arrangements (colloquially known as ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements) however the barrister is not obliged to agree to work on this basis and will have to enter into a written agreement to that effect in order to do so. Please contact the clerks in order to discuss whether this is an arrangement which you would like to explore in the circumstances of your case.

If you have any queries about whether you have legal insurance available to you to cover your costs and/or provide funding in relation to your legal costs then please read the guidance provided by Legal Choices at https://www.legalchoices.org.uk/legal-choices/money-talks/after-the-event-insurance/.

Do any of the barristers at Guildhall Chambers work without requiring a fee?

Some barrister will work without requiring a fee from their client (this is referred to as “pro bono” work). However, barristers are not required to act on this basis. If this is something which you are interested in for the purposes of your case, then please contact the clerks. Please note that pro bono work is normally provided through the Pro Bono ‘Advocate’ Scheme. For more information on that scheme please follow this link https://weareadvocate.org.uk/ or call 020 7092 3960.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency?

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers do provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency. If you are unsure whether you are eligible for legal aid then please see the legal aid eligibility calculator at https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid.

Please note that barristers cannot do legal aid work unless they have been instructed by a solicitor. However, just because your case is eligible for legal aid funding does not mean that you cannot choose to proceed under Public Access scheme.

Timescales for a case may vary depending on factors such as the availability of the barrister, the type and the complexity of the case, the approach of the other side and court waiting times. Whilst all barristers will aim to complete any written and/or advisory services required on a case within 28 days this will not be possible in all cases. If there is a particular deadline then this must be raised and agreed with the barrister when any instructions are given to the barrister.

Please note that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic many cases (both civil and criminal) have been delayed and there are significant backlogs in the system. Whilst this will not usually alter the timescales for the services which barristers at Guildhall Chambers will provide, it may mean that timescales given in relation to the progress of your case through the courts will be affected.

Whether the fees are to be charged on an hourly rate or a fixed fee basis there will be certain factors which may increase the level of work involved, and therefore the fees which are likely to be charged (or the number of hours involved). Those factors include:

The seniority of barrister required for your case. The more experienced the barrister (which is normally calculated on the number of years since they were called to the bar) the higher the likely level of fees to be charged.
The number of papers involved in the case and/or the complexity of the factual issues involved.
The time in which you require the work to be turned around and/or the services to be provided. More urgent work will often involve a higher level of fee (for example if this involves the barrister working over a weekend or prioritising your case over other work).
The amount of time that your case will require the barrister to be in court.
The amount of travel time required for the barrister to get to and from court. Travel time is usually charged at half the barrister’s hourly rate.
The complexity of the legal issues involved.
The significance of the case more generally, for example if the case has wider ramifications for the client generally and/or public or legal significance.

If you are concerned about the level of fees which may be involved in your case please inform the clerks at the earliest opportunity who will be able to discuss with the barrister how costs can be managed on the case.

Please not that fee indications are (unless expressly agreed otherwise) not “caps”, and if a barrister is required to do work on the case, then they will charge accordingly. We will always aim to inform you if the fees on the case are likely to exceed the fee quotes or estimates previously provided.

The best way to manage the level of the fees is to discuss the circumstances of your case (including any issues regarding fees) with the clerks when initially seeking to instruct a barrister.

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (hereafter ‘BSB’). You can contact the BSB at 289-293 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7HZ or by telephone on 020 7611 1444. Please follow this link to the BSB website:
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk.

If you are interested in seeing: (i) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate or (ii) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings (which are published on the BSB website) then you can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board website.

What is the complaints procedure at Guildhall Chambers, and do I have any further rights of redress if I am unhappy with how my complaint has been handled?

If you have any complaint about the services provided by a barrister at Guildhall Chambers, then please read our complaints procedure or download a pdf copy

Guildhall Chambers have premises in both London and Bristol. Please find the addresses for our offices below:

Bristol offices:

5-8 Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2HG

London office:

Thanet House
231-232 Strand
Temple
London
WC2R 1DA

It is advisable to contact the Bristol offices in the first instance, because Guildhall Chambers do not have a permanent staff presence at the London office (although calls will be forwarded from the London office). This does not inhibit barristers from Guildhall Chambers from representing London clients or in appearing very frequently in the courts in London.

Complaints Procedure

Introduction

Informal Stage

Formal Stage

Confidentiality

Our policy

Mediation

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

A pdf copy of this procedure is available here.

The Legal Ombudsman publishes data, updated on a rolling quarterly basis, about the final decisions it makes in complaints. This data is available here.

For help, please complete the form below.

Frequently asked questions

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers work on a “no win, no fee” basis? Can I fund my case with legal insurance?

Do any of the barristers at Guildhall Chambers work without requiring a fee?

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency?

Guildhall Chambers

Expertise

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Complaints Procedure

Introduction

Informal Stage

Formal Stage

Confidentiality

Our policy

Mediation

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

A pdf copy of this procedure is available here.

The Legal Ombudsman publishes data, updated on a rolling quarterly basis, about the final decisions it makes in complaints. This data is available here.

For help, please complete the form below.

Frequently asked questions

How do I contact chambers and your clerks?

What services do barristers from Guildhall Chambers provide?

What is Public Access (Direct Access)?

How are fees calculated for different areas of work?

How do quotes and fees at Guildhall Chambers work?

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers work on a “no win, no fee” basis? Can I fund my case with legal insurance?

Do any of the barristers at Guildhall Chambers work without requiring a fee?

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency?

Do you have timescales for the services which you provide?

What will increase the level of fees to be paid on a case?

Who regulates the barristers at Guildhall Chambers?

What is the complaints procedure at Guildhall Chambers?

Where is Guildhall Chambers based?

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