Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance is committed to the highest standards in its service to clients and in all its business dealings. If at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service that the Firm has provided, and you would like to make a complaint, then please contact the partner responsible for your matter or your relationship partner who will be happy to discuss the matter with you. If you are still dissatisfied, you may invoke the Firms complaints handling procedure. Complaints can be sent to complaints@cliffordchance.com and we will endeavour to respond to your message within 48 hours or as soon as possible. You will not be charged for the handling of your complaint.
Clifford Chance is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA). Complaints (such as reporting someone's behaviour) may also be made directly to the SRA. See www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page for more details.
Jurisdictions specific guidance:
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Romania
- Spain
2. United Kingdom
If the matter is still not resolved, you may be entitled to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. Details on how to contact the Legal Ombudsman and further information can be found at https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/
3. Australia
If you wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact the Compliance, Risk & Office Manager, Ground Floor, 235 St George's Terrace, Perth (ph: 08 9262 5555) or Level 24, Brookfield Place, 10 Carrington Street, Sydney NSW 2000. We will assess your complaint and respond to you as soon as reasonably practicable. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
4. Belgium
For unresolved complaints about the quality of service and fees, the Dutch-speaking bar (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij de Balie te Brussel) provides a conciliation procedure chaired by the president of the bar. Provided both parties agree, it also provides an arbitration procedure.
For unresolved complaints about fees, the French-speaking bar (Secrétariat de l'Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles) provides conciliation, mediation and arbitration procedures. For complaints about the quality of service, it provides a conciliation procedure.
Details of both procedures can be obtained by contacting the following:
Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij de Balie te Brussel
Gerechtsgebouw
Poelaertplein
1000 Brussel
orde@baliebrussel.be
Tel: 02 508 67 62
Fax 02 514 22 66
http://www.baliebrussel.be
Secrétariat de l'Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles
Palais de Justice
Place Poelaert
1000 Bruxelles
Tel. 02 508 66 59
http://www.barreaudebruxelles.be
5. Czech Republic
In the event of an unresolved dispute, clients may complain to the Czech Bar, details of which are accessible through this link: www.cak.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=39
6. France
The Paris Bar Association (Ordre des Avocats á la Cour de Paris) provides various procedures for dispute resolution. Details of the procedures can be obtained from the Paris Bar, at http://www.avocatparis.org (exercice de la profession/textes sur la profession/décret no.91-1197). For information about disciplinary procedures which can be launched by the Bar at the suit of any interested person.
7. Germany
Non-judicial dispute resolution procedures for Lawyers/Solicitors (see also section 191 et seq. BRAO which includes solicitors):
For client-attorney disputes, the local Rechtsanwaltskammer (law society or bar association) of our German offices or the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (www.brak.de) provides non-judicial dispute resolution procedures (see also section 191 et seq. BRAO, section 73 BRAO). Further details can be found on the Frankfurt Chamber of Lawyer's website at: www.rechtsanwaltskammer-ffm.de,
Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt, Bockenheimer Anlage 36, 60322 Frankfurt am Main
Düsseldorf office: www.rechtsanwaltskammer-duesseldorf.de, Rechtsanwaltskammer Düsseldorf, Freiligrathstrasse 25, 40479 Düsseldorf
Munich office: www.rak-muenchen.de, Rechtsanwaltskammer für den Oberlandesgerichtsbezirk München, Tal 33, 80331 Munich.
8. Italy
For information about disciplinary procedures which can be initiated by the bar council, upon the request of the Public Prosecutor appointed at the local Ordinary Courts or the local Court of Appeal, or upon the application of the individual concerned, see the following:
Bar Council (Milan):
www.ordineavvocatimilano.it/
Bar Council (Rome)
www.ordineavvocatiroma.it/
National Council of Lawyers:
www.consiglionazionaleforense.it/
9. Luxembourg
An independent Ombudsman, created by the board of the Luxembourg Bar Association (Conseil de l'Ordre des avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg), is available to resolve issues arising between lawyers and their clients. Details about the procedure can be obtained from the Luxembourg Bar Association:
45, Allée Scheffer
Boîte Postale 361
L-2013
Luxembourg
Tel: +352 46 72 72-1
Fax; +352 22 56 46
info@barreau.lu
10. Netherlands
Services provided by the advocaat in the Netherlands are subject to the regulations and standards of the Netherlands Bar Association (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten). If a client should feel it necessary to make a formal complaint regarding such services we will therefore follow the complaints procedure prescribed by the Dutch professional rules. A Dutch version of this procedure may be requested from the Amsterdam Compliance Officer.
If a client should feel it necessary to make a formal complaint regarding services provided as belastingadviseur in the Netherlands, such complaint may be referred to the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers (Nederlandse Orde van Belastingadviseurs).
If a client should feel it necessary to make a formal complaint regarding services provided by the (kandidaat-)notaris in the Netherlands, such complaint may be referred to the Royal Dutch Association of Civil Law Notaries (Koninklijke Notariële Beroepsorganisatie).
11. Poland
Under the rules applying to any adwokat (advocate) and radca prawny (legal adviser), dissatisfied clients may file a complaint with the local Bar Council; if the complaint is justified the Bar Council may take disciplinary action against the advocate.
Advocates:
Warsaw Bar Council: www.oirpwarszawa.pl/
Legal advisers:
National Bar www.kirp.pl
Warsaw Bar Council: www.oirpwarszawa.pl
12. Romania
See "Complaints procedure", above.
13. Spain
For information about deontological complaints against our lawyers, and the related administrative dispute resolution procedures, see the following:
https://web.icam.es/en/the-public/complaint-procedures/#client
https://www.icab.es/en/servicios-a-la-ciudadania/reclamaciones/
