Complaining
about a solicitor
If you would like to complain about a solicitor, you should first raise
your complaint with them. We recommend that you complain in writing,
If you don't receive a detailed reply from your solicitor within a reasonable
time (we suggest 28 days) or you are not happy with the solicitor's
response you may complain to the Consumer Complaints Service within
six months of the end of the work which the solicitor did for you, or
within six months of the solicitor's final response to your complaint,
whichever is later.
Consumer
Complaints Service
The Consumer Complaints Service
(formerly the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors) is the part
of the Law Society which deals with complaints from consumers who think
the service they got from their own solicitor is not good enough. The
aim is to help agree a way forward, but they can also investigate complaints
more formally and order solicitors to put things right, sometimes by
the payment of compensation. The CCS also provides the main helpline
service for any member of the public, whether they wish to enquire about
something a solicitor has done, make a complaint about their solicitor’s
service or report a solicitor for misconduct. If
you are not happy with the service the CCS provided or you are not happy
with the outcome of your case you can ask the Legal Services Ombudsman
to review your case. You
will need to contact the LSO within three months of the CCS final response
to your complaint.
The
Law Society
Victoria Court
8 Dormer Place
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire
CV32 5AE
Enquiries:
0845 6086565
Phone: 01926 820082
Fax: 01926 431435
www.lawsociety.org.uk |
They
have a resolution form to complain about a solicitor available
from their helpline
CCS
complaint leaflet
|
Legal
Services Ombudsman
The Legal Services Ombudsman
oversees the handling of complaints about solicitors in England and
Wales. The LSO will investigate the way that your complaint was dealt
with by the CCS. The LSO can widen their investigation to include your
original complaint to the CCS. However, the LSO's role is not to look
at every case as if it were an appeal against the decision of the CCS.
If the LSO believes that a complaint has not been investigated properly,
they will probably recommend that the CCS looks at the matter again.
What the Ombudsman will do is check that all your complaints were addressed
and that this was done within a reasonable time. They will want to be
satisfied that the CCS reached a reasonable decision, and they will
also look at any other complaints you might have about the professional
body.
You can’t
appeal against the Legal Services Ombudsman’s decision, your case
can only be re-opened in exceptional circumstances. These circumstances
could include where there was a fundamental mistake in the case or some
important information was missing, and this throws doubt on the Ombudsman’s
final decision. However the LSO's decision is open to judicial review.
This involves making an application to the court,
