Legal and Regulatory Information
Perkins Coie (International) LLP (Perkins UK), a limited liability partnership established under the laws of the State of Washington, trades in the United Kingdom and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA), with SRA number 8007083. The SRA Standards & Regulations 2019 are the applicable professional ethical rules and obligations (including the SRA Codes of Conduct and SRA Accounts Rules) and can be viewed at www.sra.org.uk.
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000
Some investment-related activities (including insurance distribution activities) of Perkins UK are regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
Like most UK law firms, Perkins UK is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under FSMA but because it is authorised and regulated by the SRA, Perkins UK can provide investment-related services if they are an incidental part of the professional services provided, if they can reasonably be regarded as a necessary part of professional services, or if otherwise permitted to provide them under FSMA. For the purpose of insurance distribution activities (broadly, advising on, selling and the administration of insurance contracts), Perkins UK is included on a register maintained by the FCA and is permitted by the FCA to carry on insurance distribution activities. This register can be accessed via the FCA website: www.fca.org.uk/register.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Perkins UK’s professional indemnity insurance covers the professional services provided worldwide and the SRA mandated primary layer professional indemnity insurance is provided by Mosaic Syndicate 1609 – contact details are available on their website.
Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint about Perkins UK, in the first instance, please contact the person with whom you are working or corresponding to set out your concerns. That person will endeavour to resolve any issues at this stage and, if applicable, will confirm our complaints handling procedure in writing (which is available to clients at any time on request).
If you are not satisfied with Perkins UK’s attempt to handle and resolve matters, you may be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the issue - write to:
- PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ; or
- email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk; or
- phone 0300 555 0333.
If you do wish to refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, it should be done within six months of Perkins UK’s final response to your complaint and within one year of the act or omission that caused the complaint or, if outside this period, within one year of when you should reasonably have known about the relevant act or omission.
The Legal Ombudsman may refer your complaint to the SRA if they are not the correct body to consider the matter, as the Legal Ombudsman’s services are only available for certain types of complaints and complainants.
If your complaint is about Perkins UK’s invoices, you may also apply to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974. If all or part of any bill remains unpaid, Perkins UK may be entitled to charge interest.
VAT Registration
Perkins UK is registered for VAT purposes under number 463 3209 06.