FAQs – Problems and Complaints

Find out about out more about our complaints process and when to make a report to CILEx Regulation.

This list shows the different types of legal professionals and firms we regulate.

You can find details of the fully qualified lawyers that we regulate in our Practitioner Directory. You can also view a list of all the law firms that we oversee in our firm directory. If the person you want to report says they are regulated by us, but is not listed in either directory, you can contact us to find out whether we regulate them.

You can also contact CILEX to find out whether any other person, for example paralegal, is a CILEX member.

There are different types of legal professionals. Many of them are overseen by other regulators that may be able to help. Find out what type of legal professional the person is. The Legal Choices website contains a list of the different types of regulated legal professionals and details of who regulates them.

No, CILEx Regulation can only investigate and take action against the people and firms we regulate.

If the person insists the are a CILEX member, you should contact CILEX to explain the situation. CILEX can check whether the person is a member and if they are not, they may contact the person involved and require them to stop referring to themselves as a CILEX member.

You should normally receive a letter which sets out the terms on which the work you want done will be carried out. That letter should also explain how you will be charged for the work. If the amount you have been charged is different from what you expected to pay, you should contact the individual and/or firm that carried out the legal work for you to find out why. If you don’t agree with their explanation, you should raise a formal complaint to the individual and/or firm. They should have a complaints procedure you can follow. Find out When to Report to us.

If the person or firm that has been doing legal work for you is either a Chartered Legal Executive, CILEx Practitioner or regulated law firm and

• they do not respond to you within 8 weeks, or
• you are not happy with their final response,

You may be able to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman will tell us if they take action against a person or firm we regulate so that we can investigate and take if necessary.

No. The person or firm can choose to admit the wrongdoing and apologise if they want to, but we cannot make them do this and it would not be right for us to do so. This is because an admission or apology can sometimes help to show that the person or firm understands why what they did was wrong and that it won’t happen again. This can affect the way we deal with the person or firm’s behaviour and the overall outcome of the case, so any admission or apology has to come from them directly.

Find out more about What We Can Do.

No, we do not have the power to make a person or firm repay you. You should contact the person or firm that dealt with your case to try and resolve the issue first. If you cannot resolve the issue informally, you should complain to the person or firm. They should have a formal complaints procedure you can follow.

If the person or firm is either a Chartered Legal Executive, CILEx Practitioner or regulated law firm and

• they do not respond to you within 8 weeks, or
• you are not happy with their final response,

You may be able to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman will tell us if they take action against a person or firm we regulate so that we can investigate and take if necessary.

You can also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for free advice if you have suffered any loss or damages from the work and want to make a claim.

No. CILEx Regulation has no powers to make a member or firm pay compensation. Find out more about What We Can Do.

CILEx Regulation cannot award compensation through its disciplinary and enforcement processes.

If someone at a firm that we oversee made a mistake that has caused you problems, you may be able to make a claim for negligence to the firm’s Professional Indemnity Insurer. The firm should have a certificate of insurance with details of their insurer.

If you were a client of a firm that we oversee, and someone at the firm acted dishonestly and used your money, or did not repay your money back to you, you may be able to make a claim for compensation from the CILEx Compensation fund. Find out more about the CILEx compensation arrangements.

We can only take action where there is enough evidence to show that the person or firm has broken the CILEx Code of Conduct in a serious way. Any action we take has to be timely and proportionate to the risk posed by the person or firm’s behaviour.

This means that there are some concerns that we cannot take forward, for example, concerns about minor errors, mistakes about the law, poor service and concerns that are more appropriate for another body to deal with. We also cannot take action if you report something that happened more than a year ago, unless there is a good reason for the delay in you reporting it to us.

Find out more about when we may decide to take no action.

If CILEx Regulation cannot deal with your concerns, we will usually tell you who else might be able to help you. For example:

• The Legal Choices website contains details of other regulators that may be able to help if you have concerns about another type of legal professional or firm that we do not regulate.
• If you have concerns about criminal activity taking place, or feel you are in danger, you should contact the police.
• If you are unhappy with the service provided by a regulated lawyer or firm, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman.
• If your complaint relates to mis-use of your personal data, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
• If you think that you want to take a person or firm to court, you can obtain free advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). You can also visit our Practitioner Directory and firm directory if you need a lawyer to help you make a claim.

Please let us know if you have any difficulties communicating with, or understanding us so that we can consider and make any reasonable adjustments to help you. If you cannot do this yourself, we are happy to speak with someone else on your behalf if you need us to. We are committed to ensuring that are fair and flexible and with everyone we deal with and that anyone that needs to access CILEx Regulation can do so easily.

Find out how we deal with Reports.

You should complain to the person or firm first if you can. Many problems are caused by misunderstandings and can be sorted out quickly by telling the person or their firm about your concerns. They must tell you what their complaints procedure is.

We understand that sometimes it may be difficult for you to complain to the person or firm. We do not expect you to approach the person or firm with your concerns if you are unable to do so for fear of harm or if there is a significant risk of evidence being concealed or destroyed.

You should never be charged for making a complaint. This applies whether you complain to a firm, the Legal Ombudsman or to us.

You can do this using our Misconduct Information Form.

Yes. You can do this by sending us a completed Misconduct Information Form with any relevant documents, for example by post to: Room 301, Endeavour House, Wrest Park, CILEx Regulation, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS.

You can also report concerns to us by email, using a temporary email address or alias, and over the phone.

You will need to give us as much information about the problem as you can to allow us to investigate it.  If we cannot easily follow up with you, it may be more difficult to gather enough evidence to take action. We may also be unable to update you with the progress of our investigation.

You should know that we usually tell the person or firm you have reported to us about the concerns raised to give them a chance to respond. So if your report relates to your own personal dealings with the member or firm, it may be possible for them to identify you from the nature of the allegations.

Yes. We usually tell the person or firm you have reported to us about the concerns raised to give them a chance to respond, but we can withhold your name and details from them. However, if your concerns relate to your personal dealings with the member or firm, it may be possible for them to identify you from the nature of the allegations.

There is no limit to the number of reports you can make. However, it is better to make one single report if your concerns relate to the same person or firm, or are linked. If you send separate complaints, it can take longer to deal with them and make a decision.

No, we are impartial and objective. We do not represent CILEX members or complainants but to look independently and objectively at the concerns reported to see if the CILEx Code of Conduct has been broken in a serious way. We do this in the wider public interest and to maintain standards across the profession.

We will not reopen an investigation into a previously closed case unless there is new and substantial evidence to show that the person or firm has breached the CILEx Code of Conduct in a serious way.

We always consider each concern raised with us sensitively and carefully and will protect you by maintaining your anonymity if you need us to. Find out more about how we deal with whistleblowing complaints.

Whether or not you will qualify for legal protection as a worker will depend on the type of wrongdoing you report to us, your reasons for reporting it to us and whether you follow the correct procedure. You should always follow the business’ whistleblowing policies and procedures and report your concerns to them first, if you can. You can get free, confidential advice about legal protection from whistleblowing from ACAS or the charity Protect.

No, you do not have to wait for us to finish our investigation, especially if there is an upcoming deadline for you to take legal action. You should know that we do not get involved in ongoing legal disputes.

If your report relates to a concern that needs to be decided by a court first, for example whether CILEx member has acted unlawfully, we may decide to take no action until the court case is finished.

Yes you can withdraw a complaint. You may do this if, for example, you were mistaken or provided us with incorrect information.

However, as a regulator we are neutral. We do not act for you or for any individual or firm that we regulate. Our role is to uphold standards and protect the public, so if the report you made is true and correct, we will usually continue our investigation if we can do so without further input from you. We will take action if there is evidence to show that the person or firm has broken the Code in a serious way.

You play an important role in assisting us to ensure that the standards we set for those we regulate are being followed. When you report a concern to us, we will liaise with you to

• get a better understanding of your concerns and the key issues and assess these against the CILEx Code of Conduct and disciplinary rules
• adjust our processes, if necessary, to help you report a concern and communicate with us;
• act courteously towards you;
• respond to your correspondence/requests in a timely manner; and
• act fairly and respectfully towards you in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

We believe that it is in the public interest for our resources to be used effectively and efficiently. We try to ensure that a small number of vexatious or repetitive complaints, or the behaviour of a minority of complainants, doesn’t undermine our ability to progress other matters. We also have a responsibility under employment law to protect our staff from abuse and harassment and to ensure a safe working environment. Therefore, as a complainant, you must:

• ensure the information you provide is correct and true to the best of your knowledge;
• act courteously towards our staff and not act in an abusive, threatening or intimidating manner;
• respond to correspondence and requests for information in a timely manner;
• articulate your concerns clearly and succinctly if you can;
• not make excessive demands on the time/resources of CRL staff through lengthy and/or overly frequent correspondence/telephone calls that provide little or no new information/evidence;
• not make complaints about CRL staff or demand the escalation of your concerns to senior managers without good cause;
• not raise vexatious complaints; and
• not raise repetitive complaints.

We will always let you what action we have taken in relation to your report. However, investigations are managed by staff in the Enforcement Team. This includes deciding what enquiries to make and what action to take.

Your role is an information provider. We may ask you for more information about the concerns you reported to help us decide what action to take.

We will usually tell the person or firm you have reported to us about the case to give them a chance to respond. We may ask you to comment on their response, or any other information we gather during our investigation, if we decide that it will help with the case.

We may ask you to provide a formal witness statement. You may also be asked to attend a disciplinary hearing to give evidence based on your witness statement. We will provide more information about this if and when we need a formal statement from you.

Find out more about how we deal with reports.

If you have provided information about a case, we may ask you for a formal witness statement, for use in our disciplinary hearings.

If the case ends up at the Disciplinary Tribunal (DT), you may be asked to attend a hearing to answer questions based on the contents of your witness statement. It is your choice whether to attend, however if you do not attend when asked, it may be more difficult to prove the allegations against the CILEx member or firm.

We have different types of disciplinary panels. Complainants cannot attend PCP meetings as they are held in private.

All Disciplinary Tribunal hearings are open to the public except, where it is decided that the circumstances of the case outweigh the public interest. Many Appeal hearings are also public. You can choose to attend any hearing that is being held publicly by contacting info@cilexregulation.org.uk for permission.  View details of upcoming hearings.

For an investigation to be fair, it needs to be thorough. We need to research all the facts and give the individual or member enough time to answer the allegation. Although we always aim to conclude cases as quickly as possible, it can take from six months for a straightforward case to more than a year, depending on how complicated and strongly contested a case is.

If another regulatory body or law enforcement is involved, then this may make the timescale much longer. Find out more about our investigation timescales.

If we decide to take no action in relation to a report you have made to us, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed by the PCP.

You may do this if, for example, you believe we have not applied our rules or reviewed the evidence correctly.

You have to request a review in writing within 21 days of our decision to take no action. You cannot review or appeal a case that is settled, or any decision made by a disciplinary panel.

If you are unhappy about how we have dealt with you, or handled the case, you can complain about us under our Service Complaints Policy. For example, if you think we have not been polite, or have taken too long to deal with a report you raised with us.

If you complain about us, we may wait until the case is finished before looking at your complaint. This is to ensure that it does not delay the investigation into the person or firm, or affect the outcome of the case. Please note that the policy cannot be used to challenge decisions made by a disciplinary panel.

We publish all adverse findings against those we regulate, unless a disciplinary panel decides we should not. We publish on our website and in the CILEx Journal. We also notify the person’s employer and other regulators.

You can check our published disciplinary records.