Client Grievance Procedure
Part 1621
CONTENTS:
*
How to file a complaint
* Part
1621 - Client Grievance Procedure
I.
GENERAL (overview)
II. Appeal of Applicant's Complaint about Denial
of Legal Assistance
III. Appeal of Client Complaint about Manner or Quality
of Legal Assistance
IV. Client Complaint about Manner or Quality of Legal Assistance
by
Volunteer Lawyer
* Forms
[Para
información en Español]
HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT
When you apply for legal assistance and are denied or found ineligible
to receive legal services, you may make a complaint.
At any time, if you are not satisfied with the services being provided
to you, you may make a complaint.
Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) has a
Client Grievance Policy for making
complaints about the services provided or appealing denials of assistance.
Please ask to talk with the Senior Managing Attorney (of the LANC office
that serves you) about the Client Grievance
Policy.
Also, you may submit your complaint in writing to: Executive Director,
Legal Aid of North Carolina, P.O. Box 26087, Raleigh, NC 27611.
Part 1621 - Client Grievance Procedure
I. General (overview)
Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) has established the following
client grievance procedure in accordance with Part 1621 of the Legal
Services Corporation Act. This procedure is designed to ensure
that LANC will be accountable to those persons it is expected to
serve and will provide legal assistance as required by the Act.
This client grievance procedure is intended for the use and benefit
of applicants for legal assistance and for LANC clients and is not
for the use or benefit of third parties who may have complaints
about LANC. LANC intends for this procedure to foster effective
communication and to help ensure, to the extent possible, the
provision of an effective remedy for resolving complaints.
A. LANC shall establish a Client Grievance Committee,
composed of
3 lawyer members and 2 client members from the LANC
Board of
Directors. In accordance with this procedure, the
Committee will
review appeals regarding complaints by applicants
about the denial of
legal assistance or complaints by clients
about the manner or quality of
legal assistance after attempts
to resolve such complaints by appropriate
staff have failed.
B.
LANC will employ various practical means to
ensure that applicants
denied services and persons who become
clients know their rights
under this complaint process and how a
complaint may be filed timely.
These methods are not
exclusive and management may utilize other
practical means to
achieve this purpose. Such means may include but
are not limited
to:
1. The prominent posting of the notice attached to this
policy
("How to File a Complaint") in the
waiting rooms of
field offices.
This notice will
be in
English ("How
to File a Complaint") and
Spanish ("Como Hacer una Queja") and provide
information to
applicants/clients on
how to file a complaint
about the denial of
assistance and/or
the manner or quality
of legal assistance.
2. The LANC Retainer Agreement will include a statement
informing
clients about their right
to complain to the
Senior Managing Attorney
in a field
office.
3. The posting of a notice about the complaint procedure on
the
LANC website.
4. As appropriate, LANC staff members will, in a timely
manner,
inform applicants or clients orally
or in writing about how to
file a
complaint and the complaint
procedure.
C. All information furnished to LANC by an
applicant for legal assistance
or a client in the course of
representation shall be kept in the respective
applicant or
client file and treated as confidential.
D. Applicants and clients may submit their
initial complaints orally or in
writing to the appropriate
Senior Managing Attorney. Applicants who
have been denied legal
services and wish to file a complaint must do so
within thirty
(30) calendar days after being informed of said denial.
Clients
who have complaints about the manner or quality of legal
services and wish to file a complaint must do so at any time
before a
case is closed or within 30 calendar days after the
case has been closed.
E. Written complaints shall be submitted on
forms provided by LANC
that include a statement waiving
confidentiality of the information
provided. These
forms and instructions will be
available in
English
and
Spanish versions. If any applicant or client refuses to
sign the
waiver included on the complaint forms, then the
complaint will not be
processed under this policy.
F. If the Senior Managing Attorney and/or
local office staff are unable to
resolve the complaint in a
manner acceptable to the applicant or client,
then the applicant
or client shall be informed about this grievance policy
and
provided the attached forms including instructions on how to
appeal to the Executive Director.
G. The Senior Managing Attorney or designee
will document in writing
the nature of the complaint, the steps
taken to resolve the same, and
whether the applicant or client
will appeal to the Executive Director.
This complaint file will
also include any other pertinent written
information related to
the complaint.
H. When the deadlines in this policy refer to
calendar days and the last day
to take action falls on a
designated holiday, Saturday or Sunday, then
the last day to act
will be the following weekday.
I. Any client or applicant who fails to comply
with the deadlines set out in
this policy may request that the
Chair of the Client Grievance Committee
waive those deadlines
upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances
substantiated by
proper documentation. Within fourteen (14) calendar
days
of the receipt of such a request, the Chair in its discretion
will
render a decision. The Chair will reduce the decision to
writing and
send it to the client or applicant within five (5)
business days. This
decision is final and cannot be appealed to
the full LANC Board.
II.
Appeal of Applicant’s Complaint About Denial of
Legal Assistance
A. If an applicant disagrees with the Senior
Managing Attorney’s response
to the applicant’s complaint about
the denial of assistance, then the
applicant may appeal by
filing an oral or written statement within
fifteen (15) calendar
days after the applicant has been notified of the
Senior
Managing Attorney’s response. If appropriate, the Senior
Managing Attorney or designee will assist the applicant with
preparing
the written statement or otherwise transcribing the
oral statement to
the
Applicant Complaint about Denial of Assistance form.
B. The written statement will be mailed or
otherwise submitted to the
Executive Director of LANC. The
Executive Director or designee
will confer with the applicant
promptly and render a decision in writing
to the applicant in a
timely manner. The written decision will inform
the applicant
how to appeal the decision to the Chair of the Client
Grievance
Committee and include a statement setting out the deadline
for
filing such an appeal. The appeal form attached to this policy
(Appeal of Decision) will be enclosed with the written decision.
C. If the applicant disagrees with the
Executive Director’s decision, then
the applicant may appeal to
the Chair of the Client Grievance
Committee of the LANC Board by
filing a written statement on the
Appeal of Decision form within
fifteen (15) calendar days of the date
of the decision. If
appropriate, the Executive Director or designee
will assist the
client in completing the appeal form.
D. The appeal will be forwarded to the Chair
of the Client Grievance
Committee, who will apply discretion to
determine if it is practical
for the Executive Director’s
decision to be reviewed. If the Chair
determines that it is not
practical to review the Executive Director’s
decision, then that
decision will be final and cannot be appealed to
the full LANC
Board.
E. If the Chair determines that it is
practical to review the Executive
Director’s decision, then the
Chair will review the appeal by either
conferring with the
applicant or reviewing the applicant’s complaint file.
The Chair
will send a written decision to the applicant within
fourteen
(14) calendar days after receipt of the appeal. The Chair’s
decision is final and cannot be appealed to the full LANC Board.
F. The Secretary of the LANC Board will
maintain a complete record
of each applicant appeal presented to
the Chair of the Client
Grievance Committee.
III. Appeal of Client Complaint about Manner or Quality of Legal
Assistance
A. If a client disagrees with the Senior
Managing Attorney’s response
to the client’s complaint about the
manner or quality of legal assistance
that has been rendered,
then the client may appeal by filing an oral or
written
statement within fifteen (15) calendar days after the client has
been notified of the Senior Managing Attorney’s response.
If
appropriate, the Senior Managing Attorney or designee will
assist
the client in preparing the written statement or
otherwise transcribing
the oral statement on the
"Client Complaint about Manner or
Quality of Legal
Assistance" form (English) or the
"Queja de Cliente sobre La
Manera y La Calidad de la
Asistencia Legal" form
(Spanish).
B. The written statement will be mailed or
otherwise submitted to the
Executive Director of LANC. The
Executive Director or designee
will investigate the complaint
promptly and render a decision in writing
to the client in a
timely manner. The written decision will inform the
client about
how to appeal and include a statement setting out the
deadline
for filing such an appeal. The appeal form attached to this
policy [Appeal
of Decision form ("Apelación
del la Decisión"
form)] will be enclosed
with the written decision.
C. If the client disagrees with the Executive
Director’s decision, then the
client may appeal that decision to
the Client Grievance Committee of
the LANC Board. If the Senior
Managing Attorney and/or local office
staff are unable to
resolve the complaint in a manner acceptable to the
applicant or
client, then the applicant or client shall be informed about
this grievance policy and provided the attached forms including
instructions on how to appeal to the Executive Director.
D. The Senior Managing Attorney or designee
will document in writing
the nature of the complaint, the steps
taken to resolve the same and
whether the applicant or client
will appeal to the Executive Director.
This complaint file will
also include any other pertinent written
information related to
the complaint.
E. The appeal will be forwarded by the
Executive Director to the Chair
of the Client Grievance
Committee who will convene a meeting of the
Client Grievance
Committee within thirty (30) calendar days after
receipt of the
written statement appealing the Executive Director’s
decision.
The Committee will determine whether to conduct a hearing
on the
matter or issue a decision based on the written statements and
other information included in the client complaint file. If no
hearing is
held, then the Committee must render a decision
within fourteen (14)
calendar days after its meeting date. The
Chair will reduce the decision
to writing and send it to the
client promptly. This decision is final and
cannot be appealed
to the full LANC Board.
F. If the Committee elects to convene a
hearing, then the client and
affected LANC staff persons may
present oral or written statements
about the complaint. The
client may be accompanied by another person.
At its discretion,
the Committee may elect to hear statements from
the client
and/or staff by telephone. If any members of the Client
Grievance Committee are unable to attend the hearing, then the
LANC
Board Chair will designate other Board Members to attend
the same.
The Committee must render a decision within fourteen
(14) calendar
days after the hearing is closed. The Committee
Chair will reduce the
decision to writing and send it to the
client promptly. This decision is
final and cannot be appealed
to the full LANC Board.
G. The Secretary of the LANC Board will
maintain a complete record
of each client appeal presented to
the Client Grievance Committee.
IV. Client Complaint about Manner or Quality of Legal Assistance
by
Volunteer Lawyer
A. Clients who are referred to volunteer or
contract attorneys through
LANC Private Attorney Involvement
Program or its Volunteer Lawyer
Program will be informed in the
initial referral documents about their
rights under this
complaint process and how a complaint may be filed
timely.
B. Clients who are represented by volunteer or
contract attorneys through
LANC Private Attorney Involvement
Program or its Volunteer Lawyer
Program and wish to file a
complaint about the manner or quality of legal
assistance
provided by a private attorney may do so at any time before
the
volunteer or contract attorney closes the case or within 30
calendar
days after the case has been closed. ["Instructions
to File a Client
Complaint or Grievance about the Manner or
Quality of Legal
Assistance Provided by a Volunteer or Contract
Attorney"]
C. Clients may submit their initial complaints
orally or in writing to the
local PAI or VLP coordinator. The
coordinator and/or the local
Managing Attorney/Senior Managing
Attorney will attempt to resolve
the complaint in a manner
acceptable to the client.
D. If local management and staff are unable to
resolve the complaint in a
manner acceptable to the client, then
the client shall be informed about
this grievance policy and
provided the appeal form including instructions
on how to appeal
to the Assistant Director of Advocacy and
Compliance.
E. The Senior Managing Attorney or designee
will document in writing the
nature of the complaint, the steps
taken to resolve the same, and
whether the client will appeal to
the Assistant Director of Advocacy
and Compliance. This
complaint file will also include any other
pertinent written
information related to the complaint.
F. If a client disagrees with the local
response to the client’s complaint
about the manner or quality
of legal assistance that has been rendered,
then the client may
appeal by filing an oral or written statement within
fifteen
(15) calendar days after the client has been notified of the
response. If appropriate, the Senior Managing Attorney or
designee
will assist the client in preparing the written
statement or otherwise
transcribing the oral statement on the
Appeal of Decision form
("Apelación
del la Decisión" form).
G. The written statement will be mailed or
otherwise submitted to the
Assistant Director of Advocacy and
Compliance who will investigate
the complaint promptly and
render a decision in writing to the client in
a timely manner. This decision is final and cannot be appealed to the
LANC
Board.
H. A record will be maintained of all such
client complaints involving
private or contract attorneys
through LANC’s PAI or VLP programs.
_____
FORMS:
ApplicantComplaint_DenialofAssistance.doc
...Form and instructions. (MS Word document)
ApplicantComplaint_DenialofAssistance.doc
...Form and instructions. (MS Word document)
Complaint_MannerOrQuality_LegalAssistance.doc
...Form and instructions.
(MS Word document)
AppealofDecision.doc
...Form. (MS Word document)
Complaint_MannerOrQuality_LegalAssist_byVolAttorney.doc
...Instructions. (MS Word document)
HowtoFileAComplaint_June07.doc
...Notice, forms and instructions for clients to use if
desire to file a complaint
(MS Word document)
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are for information and educational purposes only and do not
constitute legal advice.
Also please note that Legal Aid of North Carolina does not
provide legal assistance by E-mail. Contact your Legal Aid of
North Carolina office or a private attorney if you need to speak
to an attorney regarding your particular situation.
See our
complete disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.