complaints handling
- COMPLAINTS HANDLING BY VAN DER STEENHOVEN ADVOCATEN
1.1 INTRODUCTION
One of the priorities of Van der Steenhoven advocaten N.V. is to make sure its clients aresatisfied. The firm's employees will do everything they can to provide you with the best possible service. Nevertheless, you may at some point be dissatisfied about a certain aspect of the services we provide. The following is a description of what we can do in those circumstances.
If you are dissatisfied about the quality of services or about the invoice, we kindly request that you first discuss this with the lawyer involved. However, you can also contact the firm's complaints officer. We deal with complaints in accordance with the procedure described in our complaints mechanism, which is clarified in more detail in section 2 below.
We will consult with you to try and find a solution as soon as possible for the problem that has arisen. We will always confirm the solution we find to you in writing. You can expect to receive our written response to your complaint as soon as possible, but by no later than within four weeks.
1.2 DISPUTES COMMITTEE FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION [GESCHILLENCOMMISSIE ADVOCATUUR]
Our firm is affiliated to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession [Geschillencommissie Advocatuur]. This disputes committee was founded on 1 June 1999 and falls under the responsibility of the Dutch Foundation for Consumer Complaints Boards [Stichting Geschillencommissies voor consumentenzaken] (SGC) and the Dutch Foundation for Professional and Commercial Complaints Boards [Stichting Geschillencommissies voor Beroep en Bedrijf] (SGB) in The Hague.
You can submit the complaint to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession until, at the latest, 12 months after the date of our written response.
If the dispute relates to a commission from a private client, the regulations provide for a binding advice, unless the client decides to submit the matter to the ordinary court within one month after the complaint has been dealt with. In the event of the collection of a claim against a private client, a binding advice will only apply if the client pays the outstanding amount to the Disputes Committee. If the client does not do this, the collection will be subject to arbitration. The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession is authorised to pass judgement on complaints concerning the quality of the services provided by the lawyer and the amount invoiced. You may also believe that you are entitled to compensation. The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession is also authorised to pass judgement on compensation claims up to an amount of € 10,000. You can submit claims for higher compensation amounts to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession if you explicitly limit the amount of the claim to a maximum of € 10,000 and relinquish your right to the rest in writing.
Our firm can itself submit unpaid invoices for collection to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
The Disputes Committee will deal with the case in accordance with the Regulations of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession which apply at the moment at which the complaint is submitted to the Disputes Committee. No appeal is possible against Disputes Committee decisions.
In the unfortunate event that you do not believe that the result has been satisfactory, you can submit a complaint to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession. This is only possible after you have first submitted your objections to us. This option is also open to you if we have not responded in writing to your complaint within four weeks after your objections have been submitted in writing.
You can contact the Disputes Committee as follows:
Secretary of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
Bordewijklaan 46 (2nd floor)
2591 XR The Hague
Tel.: +31 (0)70 - 310 53 10
Postbus 90600
2509 LP The Hague
www.degeschillencommissie.nl
1.3 Lastly
If you have a complaint we would very much appreciate it if you would let us know. You can rest assured that we will include all legitimate complaints in our internal evaluation and will do our very best to prevent any repeat.
- COMPLAINTS MECHANISM OF VAN DER STEENHOVEN ADVOCATEN
2.1 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Complaint
Any verbal or written expression of dissatisfaction, which can reasonably be designated as such, concerning the services provided by one of the lawyers or employees, as communicated by, or on behalf of, the client.
Complainant
The client or its representative that expresses a complaint.
Complaints procedure
Procedure used by Van der Steenhoven advocaten to deal with complaints.
Complaints mechanism
This written description of the complaints procedure used by Van der Steenhoven advocaten.
Complaints official
The person who is responsible at Van der Steenhoven advocaten for dealing with thecomplaint: Mr A.M. Bos.
Complaints registration form
A form to be used internally to implement the procedure recorded in the complaints mechanism.
Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
The committee established by the Dutch Foundation for Consumer Complaints Boards [Stichting Geschillencommissies voor consumentenzaken] (SGC) and the Dutch Foundation for Professional and Commercial Complaints Boards [Stichting Geschillencommissies voor Beroep en Bedrijf] (SGB) to which the firm can submit disputed and unpaid invoices and where price and/or quality disputes and complaints can be brought before a court if the solution provided by the firm is deemed unsatisfactory.
Disputes Regulations for the Legal Profession [Geschillenregeling Advocatuur]
The procedure used by the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession to settle disputes between lawyers and clients.
Regulations of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession [Reglemen
Geschillencommissie Advocatuur]
The regulations detailing the method of working of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
2.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPLAINTS REGULATIONS
* To record a procedure for dealing with client complaints by a reasonable deadline and in a constructive fashion.
* To establish a procedure to determine the causes of client complaints.
* To maintain and improve existing relationships by dealing with complaints properly.
* To train employees in responding to complaints in a client-focused manner.
* To maintain the quality of the services by processing and analysing complaints.
2.3 INFORMING THE CLIENT
The lawyer:
* Informs the client that the office uses complaints regulations.
* Informs the client of the possibility of submitting problems to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
* Notifies the client that the Regulations of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession can be obtained from the committee secretary by writing to the address: Postbus 90600, 2509 LP The Hague, www.degeschillencommissie.nl.
2.4 THE INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
* If a client contacts the office in any way with a complaint, the lawyer or employee concerned must be informed accordingly.
* The lawyer or employee concerned will try to find a solution together with the client, possibly after consulting the complaints official.
* The lawyer or employee concerned or the complaints official will ensure that the complaint is dealt with properly with due regard for the present complaints regulations.
* Confidentiality must be guaranteed in all circumstances.
* The decision on the complaint will be communicated to the client.
* If the client is not happy with the (proposed) solution, the issue will be submitted to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
2.5 COMPLAINT REGISTRATION AND CLASSIFICATION
* All complaints are to be registered in accordance with the complaints registration form.
* The complaints official registers and classifies the complaint.
* The complaint is classified
according to method of submission as:
A. Verbal
B. Written
according to the nature of the complaint based on the following classes:
I. Complaints regarding the method of working of/treatment by the lawyer.
II. Complaints regarding legal/content-related aspects of the services provided.
III. Complaints regarding financial aspects of the services provided.
IV. Complaints regarding practices in general.
* A complaint can be allocated to various classes.
* If the complaint has been dealt with satisfactorily, the lawyer concerned or the complaints official will approve the complaints registration form.
2.6 RESPONSIBILITIES
* The lawyer concerned and thereafter the complaints official are responsible for processing and dealing with complaints.
* The complaints official is responsible for ensuring that the complaints registration form is filled in completely.
* The lawyer concerned will update the complaints official on the further processing of the complaint.
* Van der Steenhoven advocaten will process the complaint within four weeks.
* The complaints official will arrange for a response to be sent to the complainant.
* The complaints official will update the complaints dossier.
3) COMPLAINTS REGISTRATION FORM
VANAF HIER VERDER OPMAKEN
Date of receipt of complaint
Name of party that received
the complaint
Client name
Nationality
Address
Email address
Telephone number
Mobile telephone number
Fax number
Case dossier number
Lawyer involved
Description of complaint
Discussed with
lawyer involved on
Submission of complaint [ ] verbal [ ] written
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPLAINT
Class I: Complaints regarding the method of working of/treatment by the lawyer.
[ ]
Incorrect or offensive language
[ ]
Slowness, laxness, spending insufficient time on, and paying insufficient
attention to, the case
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[ ]
Insufficient/incorrect information regarding progress/consequences of the
case
[ ] Non-submission or late submission of documents, providing incorrect details
[ ]
Insufficient defence of interests/preparation for the hearing/not being
present at the hearing (on time)
[ ]
Acting without permission/consultation
[ ]
Conflict of interests
[ ] A violation of duty of confidentiality, forwarding of information to third parties/the
media, misuse of knowledge
[ ]
Influencing/misleading counterparty/third parties/the court
[ ]
Correspondence between colleagues/settlement negotiations/submitting other
documents to the court
[ ] Fraud, forgery, other (incitement to) unlawful acts/bribery
[ ] Complaints relating to a case being taken over by a different lawyer
[ ] Intimidation, blackmail, threats
[ ]
Wrongly refusing to provide legal assistance/withdrawing from the case
[ ]
Non-fulfilment or frustration of agreements
[ ]
Direct contact with the client of the counterparty/third parties
[ ] Other
Class II: Complaints regarding substantive legal aspects of the services provided
[ ]
Taking no or insufficient legal measures, failing to observe deadlines
[ ]
Making errors relating to content, achieving an unsatisfactory result
[ ] No or incorrect advice/having insufficient knowledge
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[ ]
Ignoring client advice/instructions
[ ]
Unnecessary litigation/performing pointless work/causing unnecessary costs for
the complainant
[ ]
Wrongly taking (other) legal measures
[ ]
Wrongly seizing/filing for bankruptcy
[ ]
Other
Class III: Complaints regarding financial aspects of the services provided
[ ]
Excessive expense claims
[ ]
Wrongly claiming expenses/charging/setting off advances or court registry fees
[ ]
Insufficiently specifying bills
[ ]
Claiming expenses despite counsel having been assigned
[ ]
Other expense claim issues
[ ]
Giving the client no or insufficient opportunity to use
legal aid financed by the government
[ ]
Failing to fulfil financial obligations with respect to the counterparty/third parties
[ ]
Other issues relating to the assigning of counsel
[ ]
Other
Class IV: Complaints regarding practices in general
[ ]
Being impossible to contact/not answering telephone calls and letters (on time)
[ ] Not releasing dossier/losing documents
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[ ]
Other
Date of entry
complaint file
Referral to
complaints official [ ] Yes [ ] No Date:
STEPS TO BE TAKEN
By the lawyer involved
By the complaints official
Date of written response
to client
EVENTUAL CONCLUSION OF THE COMPLAINT
Signatures
Lawyer involved: Complaints officer:
• The complaint must be submitted to the firm within three months after the client
became aware, or reasonably could have become aware, of the action/omission
by the lawyer which gave rise to the complaint.
• A complaint can be allocated to various classes.
• The firm must have dealt with the complaint in writing within four weeks after its
submission.
• The client can submit the case to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
up to twelve months after the firm has dealt with the complaint in writing.
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