Key Regulatory and Complaints Information

We use “I”, “us”, “my” and “our” to refer to David Barton Solicitor Advocate Limited.

The company is registered in England and Wales and under number 7404230. The Registered Office is Flagstones, High Halden Road, Biddenden, Ashford, Kent TN27 8JG.

I am the sole director and I am a solicitor. I qualified in December 1982.

In 2002 I was granted the Higher Courts (All Proceedings) Qualification which enables me to appear as an advocate in all Courts in England and Wales.

The company VAT number is 807134255.

David Barton Solicitor Advocate Limited is a ‘recognised body’ authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and practices in accordance with the SRA’s rules, regulations and codes of practice. The SRA number is 553879 and the Regulations may be found at www.rules.sra.org.uk.

I have compulsory professional indemnity insurance of £3 million, each and every claim, in place and further details are available to clients from me.

I am committed to promoting equality and diversity in all my dealings with clients and third parties. I am a signatory to the Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter.

Cyber Fraud

Please be aware that fraudsters are targeting law firm clients. By hacking into clients’ IT systems and using social engineering techniques, fraudsters can gain access to confidential e-mail correspondence and trick clients into sending funds to the wrong bank account.

If you receive an e-mail that purports to come from me informing you of a change to my bank account details, this is almost certainly fraudulent. Please telephone me as soon as possible (using the contact details on my website or my letter paper) and do not take any steps to send funds to the nominated bank account in the meantime. Before sending any funds to me please double check that the bank details are correct.
I will not accept responsibility if you send money to the wrong bank account.

Complaints Information

I want to know about problems and put them right if I can, promptly, fairly and effectively. I value feedback from my clients and want to learn from it.

If at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service I have provided then you should inform me straight away, so that I can do my best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance please telephone or send me an email telling me what your concerns are and I will do my best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read my full complaints procedure here.  Making a complaint will not affect how I handle your case.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about my professional conduct. You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

What to do if I cannot resolve your complaint:

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

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with me 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 and

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.

Contact details:

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email:
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ