What We Do

Client Complaint Procedure

Updated: June 2007

Any person who has been refused service by LAF and any person who has a complaint about the way service was provided to him or her is entitled to have that complaint reviewed in accordance with the following rules. LAF will send a copy of these procedures to any person indicating they have a complaint as described above.

1. In each office of LAF, notices shall be prominently posted informing persons of the complaint procedures. The notices will contain the name, address, and phone number of the office Supervisory Attorney and the Executive Director.

2. In the case of applicants who are denied service, it shall be the duty of employees of LAF to inform those applicants that they may complain about decisions to deny them legal assistance and have their complaint reviewed. In the event an office/project Supervisory Attorney is unable to resolve the complaint, it is the responsibility of the Supervisory Attorney to notify the person that the complainant has the opportunity to confer with the Executive Director, or his or her designee, and, to the extent practical, with a representative of LAF’s governing body.

3. In the case of clients LAF undertakes to serve, it shall be the duty of employees to inform those clients, that they may complain about the quality of the legal assistance we provide, and have their complaint reviewed. In the event an office/project Supervisory Attorney is unable to resolve the complaint, it is the responsibility of the supervisor to notify the complainant that he or she has the opportunity to have the Executive Director, or his or her designee, review the complaint. In the event that the Executive Director is unable to resolve a complaint, it is the duty of the Executive Director to notify the person that he or she may have the complaint reviewed by a Board Complaint Committee, consisting of two lawyers and a client-eligible Board member. The procedures for the complaint will (1) allow the complainant to submit an oral or written statement, which may be done in person, by teleconference, or through some reasonable alternative; (2) permit the complainant to be accompanied by another person who may speak on the complainant’s behalf; and (3) provide that, upon the request of the complainant, LAF shall transcribe a brief written statement of the complaint, dictated by the complainant, for inclusion in LAF’s complaint file.

4. All complaints will be reviewed within a reasonable period of time after they are made, but no longer than 60 days.

5. Every written complaint and a statement of its disposition shall be preserved for examination by the Legal Services Corporation. The Supervisory Attorney, or whomever is the last LAF party disposing of the matter, shall be required to send a copy of this information to the Executive Director who will retain a central file of all written client complaints. The file shall include any written statements submitted by the complainant or transcribed by LAF from a complainant’s oral statement.