Complaints Policy

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 us with the details.

In the first instance we would point out that you should not feel obliged to use this formal complaint procedure – you can tell us about a problem informally and we will do our best to put things right. If that is the case, then we would ask that you raise this with the fee earner who had conduct of your matter (or their supervisor). They will attempt to settle any dispute that you may have.

If you do find yourself in the position of wishing to raise a formal complaint then please send us details of your complaint by either email, letter, or telephone. We will never charge you for the time it takes us to handle your complaint.

What will happen next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to one of our Directors (Emails: john.hilton@nmhcosts.co.uk and ben.nethercott@nmhcosts.co.uk), who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. Both John and Ben are Regulated Costs Lawyers (see the Costs Lawyer Standards Board section, below).

Either John or Ben will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We will do this within fourteen days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Within three days of the meeting, John or Ben will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed with you.

If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible, John or Ben will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within twenty one days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

Please be aware we have eight weeks to consider your complaint and provide you with a final written response.

Legal Ombudsman 

If, after having exhausted our complaints procedure, you still remain dissatisfied with the outcome you should direct your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman, contactable at PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH or by telephone on 0300 555 0333 or by email at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint, and not later than one year from the date of the act or omission you are complaining about, or one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint.

Please note, some clients may not have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman but this will be explained to you if applicable to your matter.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

There are also alternative dispute resolution schemes that exist such as the ADR Group (Churchgate Lakes, Rectory Lane, Battlesbridge, Rettendon Place, Essex SS11 7QR, Web address: www.adrgroup.co.uk, E-mail address: info@adrgroup.co.uk, Phone: 020 3600 5050) should we both wish to use such a scheme.

Costs Lawyer Standards Board

If the work was undertaken by a Costs Lawyer, who is regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB), then they (CLSB) can investigate complaints about that Costs Lawyer’s professional conduct.

The CLSB will consider complaints made within twelve months of the date on which the matters giving rise to the complaint occurred or the date on which you first became aware that you had grounds for the complaint. This period can be extended in exceptional circumstances. It should be noted that the CLSB will usually expect you to allow us to try and resolve your complaint first. The CLSB can be contacted at PO Box 4336, Manchester M61 0BW or by telephone on 0161 956 8969 or by email at enquiries@clsb.info.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

This procedure was last updated on 2 October 2026.