Client Charter

What You Can Expect Of Us

You will always be dealt with and looked after by a fully qualified, specialist family law solicitor or barrister. We aim to provide a rigorously professional yet reassuringly approachable and friendly service.

We are a member of and abide by the principles of Resolution (formerly known as the Solicitors Family Law Association), an organisation that is committed to the constructive and amicable resolution of family disputes.

We promote equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients and third parties.

Asher Broomfield Ltd is authorised by The Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA Number 495555.

Standards

You can expect to have your own solicitor who will personally deal with every aspect of your matter. If your case is particularly complex or you require a specialist advocate in Court, we will instruct a barrister whose skills match your specific needs.

We will try to achieve a satisfactory outcome for you as swiftly and cost effectively as possible. If appropriate we will refer you to other organisations that may assist with the progress of your case (for example, Relate or the National Family Mediation Service), even if this leads to a reduction in the work we can do for you.

We will try to return telephone calls and emails as soon as possible on the day that they are received.

Charges

Our charges, like those of all solicitors, are based on a number of different factors, which include:

the time spent on your matter
the skills and specialised knowledge required in handling the matter
the complexities and difficulty or novelty of the questions involved
the circumstances in which the business involved is transacted (for instance, situations requiring urgent action or the consideration of an unusually large amount of documentation).

The most important of these factors is the amount of time spent in dealing with your case.

Our current hourly rate for family law work is £200 plus VAT.

PRICE MATCH PROMISE

If you find a lower hourly rate for the same service provided by another solicitor of the same level of qualification we will reduce our hourly rate to £20 per hour less than the lower rate

As well as the charges made by this firm, incidental expenses such as the fees of any barristers or experts and court fees may be incurred.

In cases that involve negotiations and/or court proceedings it is difficult to forecast the amount of time that will be spent and therefore the costs of any individual matter. Much will depend upon the attitude of the other person and their solicitors, the volume and complexity of the documents disclosed and the time required for preparation and in court.

We will always try to give our best estimate of the costs involved in your case.

Bills

Unlike most other solicitors’ practices, we do not ask for ‘payments on account’ (in anticipation of work to be done), but only charge for work already undertaken. It is our standard practice to deliver regular interim bills throughout your matter.

Public Funding

We do not have a contract with the Legal Services Commission to provide publicly funded legal services. You may however be entitled to some financial assistance with your case and you are recommended to contact a firm of solicitors that undertakes publicly funded work in order to find out whether or not you are eligible.

Financial Services

We are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. However, because we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, in certain circumstances we are able to offer a limited range of investment services to our clients.

Money Laundering and the Proceeds of Crime

In order to comply with the law on money laundering we must have strict identification and reporting procedures in place. Although solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of their clients confidential, this duty is subject to a statutory exception: recent legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing directs that in certain circumstances solicitors are to disclose information to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. These obligations notwithstanding, please be assured that we will deal with all information you provide in accordance with our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Resolving Problems

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, then we will provide you with our written complaints procedure. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ