Complaints Procedure

Complaint: any written expression of dissatisfaction by or on behalf of the client towards the lawyer or employees working for the client concerning the realization and the execution of an assignment, the quality of the services provided or the amount of the declaration, not being a complaint if referred to in paragraph 4 of the Lawyers Act

Complainant: the client or his representative who makes a complaint

Complaints Officer: the attorney at law in charge of handling the complaint. If the complaint is directed against this attorney at law, the oldest employee of office, not being the attorney at law in question, will operate as temporary complaints officer

Assignment: actual assignment from the complainant to the firm to provide one or more legal services

This Office Complaint Procedure is applicable to every contract of assignment between the office and a client

The client is requested to, prior to filing a complaint, submit the complaint to the attorney in charge of his or her contract of assignment. If this does not suffice, the complaints officer will take care of the complaint management in accordance with the Office Complaint Procedure Good Law

to lay down a procedure by which client complaints can be resolved in a solution-oriented manner and within a reasonable period of time

to lay down a procedure for establishing the cause(s) of a client complaint

to maintain and improve existing client relationships by handling complaints in a proper manner

to train our employees to responding to any complaint in a client focused manner

to improve the quality of the services by resolving and analyzing complaints

This complaints procedure has been made public. In any engagement letter with a client, the client shall be informed that there is a complaints procedure in place, and that this procedure will apply to the services provided by Good Law

A Complaint can be filed written or per e-mail, provided with a statement of reasons and proof supporting documents

If the client approaches Good Law with a complaint within three months after the complaint has arisen, this complaint will initially be forwarded to the attorney in charge of his or her contract of assignment. If the client and the attorney at law handling the complaint find a solution to the complaint, the office officer will take over the handling of the complaint in accordance with the Office Complaint Procedure

The Complaints Officer informs the person complained about of the filing of the complaint and gives the complainant and the person complained about the opportunity to explain the complaint

Whom is complained about will try to come to a solution with the client, with or without the intervention of the Complaints Officer

The Complaints Officer deals with the complaint within four weeks of the receiving of the complaint or he will inform the complainant of any deviation from this term, stating the term within which an opinion on the complaint will be given

The Complaints Officer will inform the complainant and the person complained about the opinion of the legitimacy of the complaint, with or without recommendations

If the complaint is solved in a satisfactory way, the complainant, the Complaints Officer and the person complained about the opinion about the legitimacy of the complaint

A complaint can lead to the following opinions: well-founded, partly founded or unfounded

The Complaints Officer is responsible for a timely handling of the complaint

The Complaints Officer will inform the complainant about the handling of the complaint

The Complaints Officer will ensure a file on the complaint is kept

The Complaints Officer shall register the complaint, identifying the topic of the complaint

A Complaint can be subdivided into separate topics

The Complaints Officer shall periodically report on the handling of any complaints and shall make recommendations in order to prevent new complaints arising and to improve procedures

Any report and recommendations shall be discussed and submitted for decision making at least once a year