We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please contact Mr Ian Townsend, our Client Care Partner.  You can write to him at 11 Park Square, Leeds, LS1 2NG, or by email to: i.townsend@rebian.co.uk.

Please note that whilst we will endeavour to resolve your complaint as soon as possible, you should be aware that we have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.  To ensure that we fully understand the basis of your complaint we may ask you to confirm and explain the details of your complaint.

2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for it.  We will do this as soon as we receive your complaint.

3. If we have asked you to confirm or explain further the details of your complaint we will acknowledge your letter enclosing this further        information within 7 working days of receipt of your letter.

Investigation of complaint

When we receive your complaint, or where we have asked for further confirmation or explanation, upon receipt of this additional information, we will start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, who may undertake one or more of the following steps as part of his investigation:

• Reviewing your file and any accompanying documents;
• Asking the member of staff who acted for you to provide their comments and/or explanation on the matters you have raised in your complaint;

Any other investigations which the Client Care Partner considers to be reasonable in addressing your complaint.  The investigative aspect of the complaint will be handled as quickly as possible but may take up to 28 working days to conclude.

Completion of investigation

Following conclusion of our investigations we will endeavour to respond to your complaint in writing within 21 working days, including any suggestions for resolving the matter.

Where appropriate we may invite you to meet with the Client Care Partner to discuss your complaint.  Within three days of this meeting, the Client Care Partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions which may have been agreed with you.

Review of decision

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner to review the decision of the Client Care Partner.

Where you request a review of the Client Care Partner’s decision we will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

Legal Ombudsman

If at the conclusion of the above process you are still not satisfied with our our attempt to resolve your dispute, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint. 

Before considering your complaint, the Legal Ombudsman will check with you that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.  The Legal Ombudsman service is only available to individuals, members of the public, prospective clients, very small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts.  Please note that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within certain time limits (specifically, within six months from the date of our final response).

If you are unsure as to whether the Legal Ombudsman can assist you with your complaint, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman service at: Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, Telephone: 0300 555 0333, Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside of this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).

General points

• If we have to change any of the time scales referred to in this procedure, we will let you know as soon as possible and explain to you the reason why this is necessary.
• Whilst we hope it goes without saying, for the avoidance of any doubt we can confirm that there will be no charges incurred by you for our handling of your complaint.
• Where the nature of your complaint is likely to impact upon the work undertaken by us on your case, we will notify you immediately setting out the reasons for this and what steps need to be taken.

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

If you are concerned that our behaviour has been inappropriate in some way, or is in breach of the principles or outcomes provided for in the SRA’s Standards and Regulations, the SRA may be able to help.

Visit www.SRA.org to see how you can raise your concerns with the SRA or call them on 0870 606 2555.

Evidence of a new client’s identity will be required in accordance with the Anti Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Regulations. We will also require evidence of the identity of any third party upon whom we are relying to successfully implement your instructions. In addition, we will usually need to make enquiries regarding the purpose of your transaction and the source of any funds being used. We reserve the right to make electronic checks as part of our identity checks and agreement with these terms will be taken as your consent to any such checks being made.

If we have a suspicion of money laundering we are required to disclose this to the National Crime Agency (NCA), overriding our duties of confidentiality to you. In the event of such a disclosure being made we do not accept any liability for consequential damages arising from compliance with the appropriate legislation.

Any personal data we receive from you for the purposes of our money laundering checks will be processed only for the purposes of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, or as otherwise permitted by law or with your consent. You consent to us retaining such data for longer than the five year statutory period, unless you tell us otherwise.

We do not accept money in cash save for money for our fees and disbursements, and then up to a limit of £500 in any 28 day period. If clients circumvent this policy by depositing cash direct with our bank we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks we deem necessary regarding the source of the funds.

In order to assist our clients in the pursuit of obtaining value for money, we are delighted to offer a range of fee structures to suit all cases. We always endeavour to agree fixed rates prior to the commencement of any piece of work, in order to afford peace of mind to you.

It is important to note that we offer all our clients various fee options. As a firm we always try to offer “added value” to the services we provide. We offer a transparent approach to our billing, so that you always know how much you will be charged in advance of any work undertaken.

Fee arrangements

Whilst hourly rates are the usual common denominator for law firms we have largely moved away from charging clients on this basis to alternative fee arrangements which provide you with greater certainty on costs.

Non litigation work

Upon receipt of each instruction, we will provide, along with our usual client care literature, either a fixed fee or capped fee for all the work.  By way of assistance, the distinction between the two types of fees is simply that a ‘fixed fee’ is one which is set and charged irrespective of the actual works undertaken.  Conversely a ‘capped fee’ is a fee which places an upper limit on the fee which will be charged.  Therefore the costs will not exceed this upper limit but where the works can be completed in less time than originally estimated by us, you will only be charged for the actual time spent on the matter, which inevitably is a lower fee.

We believe that this fee arrangement offers a transparency to our fees, which avoids any unpleasant surprises at the conclusion of a case. Our experts approach each case separately and provide advice based on the merits of the evidence to hand being mindful of the need to limit your potential exposure to costs and fees.

Litigation (Court cases)

We are extremely conscious that disputed matters resulting in litigation (disputed in Court) can be expensive and that such costs are often a bar to clients seeking to enforce their rights.  To address these concerns we offer a range of fee arrangements, including;

• Fixed fees
• Capped fees
• Traditional Hourly rates

We take great pride in offering all our clients a straight forward, open & transparent approach to our fees and all our experts are happy to discuss the costs and fees involved in any particular case with no obligation. Our team is friendly & approachable whatever the query or concern a client may have.  As panel solicitors for a number of leading insurers, we are also able to facilitate arrangements with them in order for you to obtain “After the Event” policies should the need arise. We will always try to find the most suitable form of funding, regardless of whether that happens to be an added extra of your own home insurance or one of our partner’s options.

Claims in the Employment Tribunal

Under current rules set by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority we are required to provide details of our potential legal costs in either bringing or defending a claim brought in the Employment Tribunal.

The likely costs vary on a case by case basis and there may be various matters which may affect these costs.  However  are by way of example of potential costs:-

Simple case: £5000.00-£7000.00 (plus VAT)

Medium complexity case: £7500.00 – £10,000.00 (plus VAT)

High complexity case: £10,000.00 – £15,000.00 (plus VAT)

The nature of each case will determine which category as case falls into, however by way of example, cases having a discrimination or whistleblowing element are likely to fall into the medium of high complexity category, whereas a straightforward unfair dismissal case is likely to fall in the simple category.  Given that each case is different we will provide you with an estimate upon instruction.

We charge based on an hourly rate which varies  depending on the member of staff dealing with your matter.  As a senior solicitor and Partner, the employment specialist in the firm, the usual hourly rate for Rebecca Townsend is £220 plus VAT.  However we will always provide you with an estimate of likely costs before undertaking any work on your case.

Please note that VAT is charged in addition to the amount of the fees referred to above at the rate of 20%.

Factors that could make your claim or defence more complex are:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim.  This may be called the provision of further and better particulars.
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person.  These claims can be more time intensive due to the lack of formal representation
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether a claim or defence has been brought in time, whether an individual is entitled to bring the types of claim they wish or whether for example, a claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties).
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• If there is an application for interim relief in a whistleblowing claim
• If there are allegations of discrimination or other claims which are linked to the dismissal
• If there is a vast amount of paperwork relating to the matter
• If there are a number of preliminary issues or hearings
• If one party acts unreasonably (though we would seek to recover costs at the end of the claim if this were the case by way of a costs application)

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs which are payable to third parties who may assist us on your case.  This may a court fee, the costs of instructing a Barrister or an expert witness.  We handle the payment of the disbursements on you behalf to ensure a smoother process.  to assist in that process it is our practice to request the payment of disbursements in advance of us incurring the costs of the disbursement.

Counsel’s fees may be incurred in addition to our fees and these normally include an initial brief fee which can vary from £1,000.00 plus VAT to £5,000.00 plus VAT (depending on experience of the advocate and the complexity of the case).    This covers initial preparation for the hearing and day one in the tribunal.  Please note that VAT is charged in addition to the amount of the disbursement at the rate of 20%.

There is also a daily rate thereafter estimated between £750.00 plus VAT – £2,000.00 plus VAT per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for actual attendance at a Tribunal Hearing (including any other preparation time)

Please note that we will obtain an estimate of the Barrister’s fees for you prior to instructing the Barrister to represent you at the hearing.  We will provide you with further details of such costs upon instruction.

We will keep you appraised of any costs and payment dates in this regard should you choose to instruct a barrister. We request payment of all barristers fees on the account and prior to any hearing commencing

Key Stages

The fees referred to above, will usually cover the following key stages of the claim:- 

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation (or ACAS Early Conciliation) where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from the other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• preparing a bundle of documents
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including the preparation of full instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced.  You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have advice in relation to some of the stages.  This can also be arranged on your individual needs. 

How long will my matter take?

The time is takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of the case will largely depend on the stage at which it is  resolved.  For example if a settlement is reached during the pre-claim conciliation stage of your case, then it is likely to be resolved within a six week period.  However if your claim proceeds to a final hearing, your case is likely to take between six to eight months.  However in some more complex cases, the matter may take between 12 – 18 months to reach a final hearing.

Please note that the above timescales are guides only and much will depend on the complexity of your claim and the availability of hearing dates at your local Employment Tribunal.  However we will be able to provide a more accurate timescale once we have more information about your case and as the matter progresses. 

Insurance

You may also have insurance which may fund your claim or defence.

You should check any policies that you may have which include legal expenses cover or LEI.  Please contact your insurer if you do have this on your policy. We are able to act under the insurance policy and can assist you with this if you need help.

If you are insured then we take on the claim or defence and your insurer will normally cover the costs of us so doing providing that the claim or defence has 51% prospects of success (normally gauged by the insurers’ independent barrister).  You remain responsible for all costs which are incurred prior to the insurer implementing cover under your policy (eg: a review of papers) and by way of example these normally do not exceed £1000.00 plus VAT and are often less.

If you do have an insurance policy and require assistance in communicating with the insurer directly please contact us.

‘No Win, No Fee’ & Damaged Based Agreements

Please note that we do not conduct work on a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement, or under a damage based agreement.

For details of our current Privacy Policy, click Privacy Policy (Rebian – May 2020)pdf

We have in place compulsory professional indemnity insurance, as detailed below.