Regulatory and Complaints Information
Regulatory Information
Barristers’ Register
Members of chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.
You can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board’s website.
This shows (1) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate, and (2) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings, which are published on the Bar Standard Board’s website in accordance with their policy.
Professional liability insurance
All of our members of chambers have professional liability insurance provided by the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund. The minimum cover which barristers must have is £500,000 although many members of chambers have cover in excess of this figure.
Complaints Information
Complaints Procedure
Statement of Policy
Apex Chambers is committed to openness in the receipt and investigation of complaints. It has a clear process for handling such complaints including an investigation into the root cause and ensuring that appropriate action is taken, where necessary. It aims to communicate with the complainant in a clear and timely manner.
As part of our commitment to client care we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of two years from the date of closure. Chambers Management Committee inspects the complaints register periodically with a view to improving services.
Chambers views a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard and quality of service provided by Chambers, its members or staff, arising from their action or lack of action affecting an individual, organisation or group.
Making a complaint
You can make a complaint by telephone or in writing.
Informal Procedures
Complaints are more easily resolved if dealt with at an early stage. Apex Chambers advocate for informal resolution via direct conversation in the first instance.
Telephone
If you wish to make a verbal complaint please contact Craig Mansfield (Senior Clerk). However, if the complaint is about the Senior Clerk himself, please contact Miss Clare Wilks, Head of Criminal Team. A record will be made of the details of your complaint. Your concerns will be discussed with you with the aim of resolving the complaint. If the complaint is settled, a record will be made of the outcome.
If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone you may be invited to write to chambers within the following 14 days, so it can be investigated formally and you may be asked to complete a complaints form to help us understand the details of your complaint and how you would like the complaint resolved.
Writing
In making a complaint in writing, please include the following details:
• your name and address;
• which barrister or member of Chambers’ staff is the subject of your complaint;
• the detail of the complaint.
Please address your letter or email to Craig Mansfield (Senior Clerk). If the complaint is about the Senior Clerk himself, please address your correspondence to Miss Clare Wilks (Head of Criminal Team). We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three days of the date of receipt and will provide you with details of how your complaint will be handled. You may be asked to complete a complaints form to help us understand the details of your complaint.
Timescales
Complaints will be dealt with promptly and in accordance with this procedure. All formal complaints will be acknowledged within three days of receipt. Any investigation will be completed within 28 days of receipt, unless there are good reasons for the delay.
Chambers will provide an update on the progress of its investigations, if these are expected to extend beyond 14 days. Investigations will be conducted in accordance with standards of natural justice. Where possible, two members of chambers not directly involved in the complaint will undertake the investigation.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality will be maintained as far as possible and appropriate to the circumstances.
All conversations and documents relating to a complaint will be treated as confidential and will only be disclosed to the Head of Criminal Team, Senior Clerk and to anyone involved with the complaint or the administration of the complaints procedure within chambers generally. This will include the barrister or member of staff complained about.
Periodical reviews of all complaints, for the purpose of improving quality of service, are conducted by the Management Committee of Chambers.
Chambers is obliged to comply with requests from the Bar Standards Board in the exercise of its monitoring and/or auditing functions.
Data Protection Complaints
In accordance with the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, with effect from 19 June 2026, where you, as an individual believe that Apex Chambers may have infringed data protection legislation in the way we have collected, used, stored, shared, retained, protected, or otherwise handled your personal data, or the personal data of someone you are authorised
to act for, you may make a Data Protection complaint to us. Specific examples where possible data protection infringement may have occurred, include:
• Suspected data breaches
• Inappropriate use or retention of personal data
• Concerns about automated decision-making or AI
• Problems with responses to subject access requests or security measures
If you wish to make a Data Protection complaint, you should follow the guidance in this Procedure, in terms of contacting Apex Chambers.
A Data Protection complaint may be made by someone acting on behalf of another person, such as a family member, solicitor, representative, advocate, or relevant not-for-profit organisation. In these cases, we will check that the person making the complaint is authorised to act on the other person’s behalf. This may require evidence such as an
appropriate power of attorney or a signed letter of authority from the person they are acting on behalf of.
In the absence of appropriate evidence, Apex Chambers will not investigate the complaint. To understand how we will process your personal data, please read our Privacy Notice published on our website. If you are not satisfied by the response you receive from us, you have the right to escalate your Data Protection complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) How to make a data protection complaint to an organisation | ICO or call its helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Contacting Apex Chambers
Formal complaints should be made in writing and addressed to;
Apex Chambers
32 Park Place
Cardiff
CF10 3BA
Or emailed to Craig@apexchambers.net
Verbal complaints should be made to Craig Mansfield, Senior Clerk on 029 2023 2032
Complaints to the Bar Standards Board
This complaints procedure is not designed to deal with complaints which, if proven, would amount to serious professional misconduct by a barrister. The Bar Standards Board (BSB) investigate complaints where a barrister may have broken the rules or acted in a way that might damage the public’s ability to trust barristers or other people that they regulate. If your complaint against a barrister clearly alleges serious professional misconduct, then you are entitled to refer your complaint to the BSB.
You can contact the BSB by email at contactus@barstandardsboard.org.uk or by post to: The Bar Standards Board, 289-293 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7HZ. Further information can be found at Reporting concerns about barristers (barstandardsboard.org.uk).
Possible Outcomes of Complaint
Having raised a complaint, if you are satisfied with the response Chambers has provided, it will close the complaint, retaining details on its system for six years. Chambers will make every effort to conclude its investigations and respond to your complaint within 8 weeks of receipt. However, at the conclusion of the investigation you will be informed that you are entitled to refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied.
Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman will not consider a complaint until it has first been investigated by Chambers.
The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted at;
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Telephone number: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
The Legal Ombudsman applies a timeframe for referral of complaints which is set at:
a) Six years from the date of the act/omission
b) Three years from the date that the complainant should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint (if the act/omission took place before the 6 October 2010 or was more than six years ago)
c) Within six months of the complaint receiving a final response from chambers, if that response included prominently, an explanation that the Legal Ombudsman was available if the complainant remained dissatisfied and the provision of full contact details for the Ombudsman and a warning that the complaint must be referred to them within six months.
Useful Links
The Legal Ombudsman publish data about the final decisions made by ombudsman.
Ombudsman decision data | Legal Ombudsman
The Barristers’ Register shows all barristers currently authorised to practise. A separate tab shows disbarred or unregistered barristers with a current disciplinary finding.
The Barristers’ Register | Check Authorised Barristers & Disciplinary Records | BSB
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) mission is to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals. It rules on eligible complaints, give guidance to individuals and organisations, and takes appropriate action when the law is broken.