Complaints procedure
If a solicitor or conveyancer fails to deal with a complaint to the satisfaction of the consumer, or does not respond within a reasonable time (say, 28 days), the Law Society Consumer Council can consider the complaint.
The Law Society Consumer Council Consumer Complaints Service deals with:
- Complaints from clients about poor service
- Applications for remuneration certificates (where they check if a solicitor's bill is fair)
- Reports about professional misconduct by solicitors.
The service can only consider the complaint if it is referred within six months of the work which is the subject of the complaint, or within six months of the solicitor's final response to the complaint - whichever is later.
The Consumer Council cannot deal with:
- Allegations about a solicitor's conduct (behaviour) outside his/her legal practice
- Disputes between solicitors and their employees, and disputes between partners in a firm
- Allegations about solicitors not paying professional agents' or experts' fees
- Allegations of a conflict of interest in current or future court proceedings
- Allegations about a solicitor failing to return deeds to lending institutions
- Complaints between solicitors
- Complaints over six months old (see above) and
- Complaints where a lay person (a person with no legal training) has an alternative legal remedy.
The Consumer Council has few powers to deal with complaints in relation to solicitors employed by other persons. Its helpline provides advice on this problem.
How to complain
Telephone the Law Society Consumer Council helpline on 0845 608 6565. Lines are open from 9- 5, Monday to Friday. Consumers may then be asked to put the complaint in writing. A complaints form is available, or consumers can write to:
CCS
Victoria Court,
8 Dormer Place,
Leamington Spa,
CV32 5AE
What happens next?
The Consumer Council will:
- Provide advice on how long it will be before the complaint can be looked at
- Allocate complaints to one executive or advise when another person takes over
- Provide regular updates (at least once a month) on the progress of the complaint
- Aim to sort out 75 per cent of complaints within six months of receiving them
- Tell the solicitor who is being complained about that the complaint has been made. This may include copying the letter or complaint form directly to the firm
- Whenever possible, conciliate complaints from clients about the service they have received from their solicitor.
Decisions and outcomes
- Where conciliation is not possible, the Consumer Council can order the solicitor to pay compensation for the stress, inconvenience and financial loss caused by the poor service up to £15,000
- The service can also reduce the solicitor's bill
Complaints about inadequate professional service often overlap with professional negligence claims. This can lead to confusion about which jurisdiction is appropriate. Guidance can found on the Law Society's website. For licensed conveyancers, there is a separate complaints system which is explained on the Council for Licensed Conveyancers website.
Complaints about the Law Society Consumer Council
If a consumer feels that the Consumer Council Complaints Service has not handled their grievance properly, complaints should be addressed to the service, which will deal with them within 20 days of acknowledging the complaint.
If the complainant is still not satisfied, they can ask the Legal Services Ombudsman to review their file within three months of the Council decision not to take further action on a complaint.
Contact details for the Legal Services Ombudsman
Web: www.olso.org
Lo Call No: 0845 601 0794 (Charged at local rates - available nationally)
Tel: 0161 839 7262
Fax: 0161 832 5446
By Post:
Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman
3rd Floor
Sunlight House
Quay Street
Manchester M3 3JZ
What can the Legal Services Ombudsman do?
The Legal Services Ombudsman is a lay person appointed by the Secretary of State to oversee the handling of complaints against members of the legal profession. The Ombudsman deals with complaints about professional bodies including the Law Society Consumer Complaints Service.
The Ombudsman will:
- Request the file from Consumer Complaints Service
- Request more information if necessary
- Write explaining what is being done and how long it will take, or explain why the complaint cannot be taken further
- Keep the consumer informed on progress, and send the report to the consumer, the solicitor and the Consumer Complaints Service. The Ombudsman's report will summarise the complaint to the professional body, and will look at how well it has been dealt with.
The Ombudsman's report will then say whether the professional body's decision was reasonable.
The Ombudsman may decide that the Consumer Complaints Service:
- Did not investigate the complaint properly (or didn't investigate it at all), and will recommend that they reconsider some or all aspects of the complaint
- Caused unnecessary distress or inconvenience because of the way they handled the complaint and may decide that they should pay compensation. The Ombudsman would also do this if the consumer had suffered some loss because the case had been handled so badly
- Took too long to deal with the complaint and should pay compensation
- Should reconsider its decision and pay compensation.
The Ombudsman can also formally criticise the professional body.
Unusually, the Ombudsman can also widen the investigation to look at the original complaint, and may make a recommendation against the individual lawyer. However, the Ombudsman does not have powers to discipline lawyers, and prefers to recommend that the professional body reconsiders the complaint.
