We aim to provide the highest quality of service possible and take pride in the levels of our clients’ satisfaction with our work.
Perfection is our goal, but we are only human!
Therefore, if we slip up and you have any complaint about the service which we have provided, please let the individual dealing with your file know about it.
If the issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, please telephone Advocate Rui Tremoceiro setting out the nature of your complaint. If you remain dissatisfied, or prefer to make a formal complaint, it would help us to deal with your complaint if you use the procedure set out below.
We take the matter of complaints very seriously, hence every effort will be made to deal with the complaint promptly.
In the event that the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction the matter can be referred to the Jersey Law Society by contacting the Secretary, whose contact details appear below.
TREMOCEIRO ADVOCATES – COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you wish to make a complaint
Our aim is to give you a good service at all times. However, if you have a complaint about some aspect of the service that you receive you should let us know as soon as possible. Tremoceiro Advocates is fully committed to ensuring that all users of our complaints procedures are treated fairly, with respect and without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion or belief.
Introduction
The Law Society of Jersey usually requests lawyers to investigate any complaints before they do. This is because many complaints can be dealt with successfully by good communication between lawyer and client at the outset of a problem.
Making a complaint – time limit
It is important that you let us have your complaint as soon as possible after the date of the event you want to complain about. This is so that we can investigate your complaint promptly and in the interests of fairness to all those concerned.
We encourage you to raise the issue with the member of staff with whom you normally deal. Please explain clearly the nature of the problem and the action that you would like this firm to take to resolve it. The member of staff concerned should agree with you a time within which you should receive a response.
If you are not satisfied with our initial response please direct a formal complaint to Advocate Rui Tremoceiro (or, if the complaint is against Advocate Tremoceiro, to another member of our team).
To enable us to investigate your complaint please fill in the Complaint Form which will be supplied to you upon request. If you have difficulty or require assistance in completing this form then you should inform us of this. If we do not receive your complaint within 6 months of the matter you want to complain about, we may decide that we can no longer deal with it. In deciding whether to deal with a complaint which is more than 6 months old, we will bear in mind:-
- The seriousness of the complaint
- Any exceptional circumstances which justify investigation of it in the light of the fact that it is more than 6 months old.
Making your complaint
Please note the following when making your complaint:
- Formal complaints should be made to Advocate Rui Tremoceiro
- The complaint should be made in writing and the required form completed.
We can only investigate complaints formally once you have completed the Complaint Form. Receiving the complaint in writing will enable us to maintain an audit trail. If you wish to pursue your complaint please address your letter to Tremoceiro Advocates, 4th Floor, Union House, Union Street, St Helier, JE2 3RF, Jersey. Your envelope should be marked “Complaint” and include a copy of the completed Complaint Form.
When using the Complaint Form please ensure that you use the space provided to explain as clearly and precisely as you can the nature of your complaint.
By making a written complaint to Tremoceiro Advocates you are agreeing to the investigation of your complaint in accordance with the procedures and terms set out below.
Investigation Procedure
Once your complaint is received, an Investigator (who will not be the person you are complaining about) will be appointed by Tremoceiro Advocates and will write to you within 2 working days after receipt of your Complaint Form to acknowledge receipt of the complaint and let you know that he or she has been appointed.
The Investigator will carry out an investigation of your complaint and will report on your complaint within 30 days of Tremoceiro Advocates having received your Complaint Form. If the investigation is delayed, the Investigator will set a new date for completion of the investigation and will inform you of that date. In these circumstances you should receive a considered response within a maximum of 40 days from receipt of your Complaint Form.
The Investigator will set out:
- The nature and scope of the investigation;
- The conclusion that the Investigator had reached on each matter of complaint and the reason for that conclusion; and
- If your complaint has been found to be justified, proposals for resolving it.
During the Course of the investigation, the Investigator may need to disclose the fact of your complaint, and the details of it to:
- The person or persons about whom you have complained;
- Those whom he feels can assist him in any investigation of the relevant facts to your complaint;
- The insurers of Tremoceiro Advocates; and
- The Law Society.
The Investigator will not however disclose the fact of your complaint or details of it to anyone outside the law firm unless he decides that it is necessary to do so in the interests of a full and fair investigation or if he otherwise feels obliged to do so.
The Investigator does not have the power to hear oral evidence either in support of your complaint or in response to such a request. Any request he may make for information and any response to such request will be made in writing and a record retained.
The Investigator’s report will be sent to you, to Advocate Rui Tremoceiro and to the person you complained about.
All persons to whom your complaint is disclosed pursuant to the above will be required to keep the fact of your complaint and the details of it, and all conversations and documents relating to it, confidential.
Complaints to the Law Society of Jersey
If you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation, you may take your complaint to the Law Society of Jersey. As stated above the Law Society does not usually consider your complaint until it has first been investigated by the law firm in question.
If the Law Society feels that your complaint is very serious, it can refer the complaint to the Attorney General.
Complaints to the Law Society should be written to the Secretary of the Jersey Law Society at the following address:
Jersey Law Society
P.O. Box 493
St Helier
Jersey
JE4 5SZ
Tel: +44 (0)1534 613920
Website: http://www.jerseylawsociety.je