Office Complaints

Article 1: - Definitions

In this office complaints procedure, the following definitions apply:

complaint: any written expression of dissatisfaction by or on behalf of the client vis-à-vis the lawyer or the persons working under his responsibility with regard to the conclusion and performance of a contract for services, the quality of the services or the amount of the invoice, not being a complaint as referred to in paragraph 4 of the Lawyers Act (Advocatenwet);
complainant: the client expressing a complaint or his representative.
complaints officer: the lawyer charged with handling the complaint;
the lawyer: Mr. T. Roos

This office complaints procedure applies to any contract for services between the lawyer and the client.
The lawyer shall take care of complaints in accordance with the office complaints procedure.

The objectives of the office complaints procedure are:

recording a procedure to handle complaints from clients in a constructive manner within a reasonable period;
recording a procedure to establish the causes of client complaints;
maintaining and improving existing client contacts by properly handling complaints;
to train employees in a client-focused approach in responding to complaints;
to improve the quality of services by means of complaints handling and complaints analysis.

This office complaints procedure is made public by publication on the website of Tim Roos Advocatuur. Before entering into the contract for professional services, the lawyer will inform the client that the office has a complaints procedure and that this is applicable to the services provided, and will send this to the client if necessary.
1. Complaints as referred to in Article 1 of this office complaints procedure that have not been resolved after treatment shall be submitted to the Dean of the Rotterdam District. Dutch law is applicable.

If a client approaches the firm with a complaint, the complaint will be forwarded to the lawyer, who thereby acts as complaint officer.
The lawyer shall give the complainant the opportunity to comment on the complaint.
The lawyer will try to reach a solution together with the client.
The lawyer shall settle the complaint within four weeks of receipt of the complaint or shall notify the complainant of any deviation from this term, stating the term within which a ruling shall be given on the complaint.
The lawyer shall inform the complainant in writing of the decision on the merits of the complaint, whether or not accompanied by recommendations.
If the complaint has been dealt with satisfactorily, the complainant and the lawyer shall sign the decision on the merits of the complaint.

The lawyer shall observe secrecy in handling complaints.
The complainant does not owe any compensation for the costs of handling the complaint.

The lawyer is responsible for the timely handling of the complaint.
The lawyer will keep the complainant informed about the handling of the complaint.
The lawyer maintains the complaint file.