Reed Smith LLP is registered as a limited liability partnership in England and Wales with registered number OC303620 licensed and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA ID 389662) for the provision of legal services and information on the regulations of the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales can be found under SRA Standards and Regulations on its website.
Certain lawyers based in the UK are subject to regulation by the Bar Council of England and Wales as they are not admitted as solicitors. There are also lawyers practising in the UK but admitted as members of a profession elsewhere who may also be subject to regulation in their place of admission.
For further information about the qualifications of a Reed Smith lawyer contact us.
Reed Smith LLP is registered for VAT purposes with VAT registration number VAT registration no: GB 243 9826 37.
Beaufort Trust Corporation Limited and Independent Pension Trustee Ltd provide pension and trustee services in the UK. Beaufort Trust Corporation is registered as a limited company in the UK with company number 01940667. Independent Pension Trustee Limited is registered as a limited company in the UK with company number 02413688.
Reed Smith Corporate Services Limited provides company secretarial services and ancillary services. It is registered in the UK with company number 1865431.
Complaints Resolution Procedures
We are committed to providing the highest quality of service. If you are a client and you have any concerns or complaints about any of the services we provide to you (including our bills), we would like to discuss them with you and try to resolve them as soon as possible. Initially, we suggest that you contact the person named as your client relationship lawyer in our engagement letter. If you do not wish to do so, or if your discussions with that person do not resolve your concerns, you can contact our internal legal department in writing, addressing any correspondence to our General Counsel EMEA, at Reed Smith LLP, 1 Blossom Yard, London, E1 6RS.
Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman and SRA for England and Wales
The Legal Ombudsman can resolve complaints about legal services. Generally, the Legal Ombudsman can consider a complaint if you are an individual, small (micro enterprise) business or if you fall within certain other categories. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (a) within six months of the date of our final response to your complaint and (b) no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or no more than one year from the date when you should have realized that there was cause for complaint. For more information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman.
If you have a complaint about your bill, then you may be able to refer this to the Legal Ombudsman or you may have the right to challenge our bill by applying to Court to assess the bill under Part 111 of the Solicitors Act 1974.
If your concern relates to our conduct or behaviour, you may wish to make a complaint to the SRA. Please refer to the SRA’s website for more details.
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (‘FSMA’) and regulation
Like most law firms, we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (the 'FCA') under FSMA. We can provide investment-related services (including insurance mediation activities) if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide, if they can reasonably be regarded as a necessary part of our professional services or if we are otherwise permitted to provide them under FSMA. For the purpose of insurance mediation activities (broadly, advising on, selling and the administration of insurance contracts), we are included on a register maintained by the FCA and are permitted by the FCA to carry on insurance mediation activities. This register can be accessed via the FCA website.
Nothing we say or do should be construed as an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activities, nor as advice on the investment merits of acquiring or disposing of particular investments.
Compulsory Insurance
All Reed Smith offices have professional indemnity insurance cover which is in excess of any local compulsory requirements. In respect of Reed Smith (UK) we meet our obligations for minimum insurance cover under the Solicitor's Indemnity Insurance Rules 2009 under a policy held with Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited, whose registered office is at 20 Fenchurch Street, London, United Kingdom, EC3M 3AW. This insurance coverage is for claims brought against the insured entity wherever arising and is not therefore subject to territorial restriction.