LEGAL NOTICE

Our Regulatory Information

Smithfield Partners is a limited liability company registered in England and Wales registered number 06754735 and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority number 499315. The address of the registered office is Hart House Business Centre, Kimpton Road, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 0LA

Our Name

Smithfield Partners is a legal practice carried on by Smithfield Partners Limited. References in this Legal Notice and elsewhere on this website to Smithfield Partners mean Smithfield Partners Limited, its affiliates, and the other entities or practices authorised to use the name “Smithfield Partners” or describe themselves as being in association with Smithfield Partners, as the context may require.

Our Partners

The term “partner” refers to a member of Smithfield Partners Limited or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications or to an individual with equivalent status in one of Smithfield Partners Limited’s affiliates. A list of members of Smithfield Partners Limited and of non-members who are designated as partners, and their respective qualifications, is open to inspection at our registered office.

Before 30 December 2008

Before 30 December 2008, Smithfield Partners was known as Fleet Street (1) Limited.

Further Information and Complaints

All requests for further information or any complaints about Smithfield Partners (including complaints concerning our fees and charges) should be addressed in the first instance with your client partner or head of your local office, failing which they should be addressed to our Managing Director at our registered office.

Client Verification

When first taking your instructions, we are required to identify both our client and (if relevant) the ultimate beneficial owner of our client, and to verify that identity in a number of ways. We may need your assistance to satisfy these requirements. Without compliance with these obligations, we will not be able to act for you.

You consent when you become a client to our conducting those searches we deem necessary for identification and risk management purposes and so that we can act for you.

Equal Opportunities

Smithfield Partners is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all employees, and to creating a workplace environment where all employees are treated with respect and dignity by their colleagues. It is against our policies and against the law to discriminate either directly or indirectly on the grounds of race, colour, religion, belief or political opinion, disability, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or sex or marital status at any stage of the recruitment process, or during the course of employment. A link to our Equality and Diversity policy is here.

Interest on Client Account

For further information please see paragraph 6 of our Terms of Business.*

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We maintain compulsory professional indemnity insurance with AmTrust Europe Limited London of 10th Floor Market Square House, Saint James’s Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG1 6FG. This insurance covers all of our practice which is carried on from our offices located in England and will extend to acts or omissions wherever in the world they occur.

Complaints Handling Procedure

OUR COMPLAINTS POLICY

Smithfield Partners is committed to providing a quality legal service. If you believe something has gone wrong or are dissatisfied with our service, we have a procedure to assist the early resolution of the problem. Our aim is to uphold the quality standards we have set ourselves and improve upon them by learning from mistakes and from what our clients tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

THE PROCEDURE

Although it is not essential, in making your complaint it would be helpful if you could provide details of your concerns in writing. All complaints should be sent to: Managing Partner, Smithfield Partners Limited, Hart House Business Centre, Kimpton Road, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 0LA.

What happens once I have complained?

1. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 2 days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

2. Your complaint will be recorded in a central register for monitoring and management information purposes and a separate file will be opened.

3. We will investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to a Director of the firm supervising the member of staff who dealt with your matter. They will review the matter and speak to the member(s) of staff who acted for you.

4. You will not be charged by the firm for our investigation of your complaint.

INVESTIGATING YOUR COMPLAINT

• If appropriate, the relevant Director will telephone you or invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. The Director will do this within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

• Within 5 working days of the meeting the Director will write to you or email you to confirm what took place and any solutions they agreed with you

• If a meeting or telephone call is not possible will send you a written or email reply to your complaint, including their suggestions for resolving the matter within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

RESOLVING YOUR COMPLAINT

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome you should contact us again and we will arrange for an alternative Director to review the decision. We will write to you within 21 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position of your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman at P.O. Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ to consider your complaint. Normally you need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within 6 years of the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining (or 3 years of the date you should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint if the act or omission was more than 6 years ago). Please note the Legal Ombudsman will not accept complaints about issues that took place before 6th October 2010.

For further information you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or refer to www.legalombudsman.org.uk If we have to change any of the time scales above, we will let you know and explain why.

SRA

If you are unhappy about our conduct as opposed to our service, for instance you think we have been dishonest, taken or lost your money, or breached other SRA guidelines then you may contact our regulatory body, the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Follow this link: https://www.sra.org.uk/