Complaints Commission reports rising resolution success rate
Increasing numbers of complaints against Scottish lawyers are being settled without a formal determination, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission records in its annual report for 2014-15, published today.
The report, for the year from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015, also reveals that although the total number of complaints received during the year fell slightly from 1,024 to 1,009, the number accepted as eligible (for service and/or conduct) rose from 319 to 424. Only three of these related to advocates. Nearly 200 were resolved or withdrawn before an eligibility decision was taken; 56 were resolved at mediation, a success rate of 76%; at investigation stage 60 were resolved by report and 21 by conciliation, with 30 being withdrawn; and 132 – down from 210 the previous year – went to determination, of which 109 were wholly or partly upheld.
A total of £401,340 was agreed or awarded in compensation, fee refunds and reductions to Scottish consumers for inadequate professional service by Scottish lawyers during the year.
The number of complaints in hand at the end of the year was dowm from 487 to 473.
Property top
Residential property transactions remain the most common source of complaint, at 29%, followed by litigation (20%), family law (16%) and executries, wills and trusts (15%). The most frequent types of complaints concern failures to communicate; failures to advise; delays; failures to provide information; failures to follow instruction and failures to prepare adequately.
The data are now being used to help educate the profession and the public to ensure a better experience for consumers. During the year the SLCC published a guide for consumers on family law, and it has since followed this with others on buying and selling a home, making a will, and dealing with an executry.
In addition, the SLCC drew on five years of conduct complaints data to produce a trend report with six recommendations for the Law Society of Scotland on improving its complaint handling, and published a guide for advocates on complaint handling.
In a year in which the levy on legal practitioners remained unchanged, the SLCC's total income rose from £257,000 to £273,000, but expenditure was up from £2,757,000 to £2,780,000, which after allowing for an actuarial deficit on the pension scheme produced a net deficit for the year of £27,000, down from £41,000.
Standards
Chair Bill Brackenridge commented: “It has been a year of performance in handling complaints and ensuring consumers get redress from their lawyers if they’ve received an inadequate service. The annual report also shows that we’re using complaints data to improve professional standards across the wider regulatory system.
"A personal highlight was our successful lobbying for the power to convene a statutory consumer panel, which is now informing our plans for the future and the quality of our day to day work.
"We were also delighted to recruit Neil Stevenson as our new chief executive, charged with leading a longer term plan for the organisation to ensure we deliver value to consumers and to the sector.”
Mr Stevenson added: “We’re in a great position and now we’re looking ahead to the next four years to make sure that the SLCC continues to make a difference for consumers and the profession. We are looking forward to going out to public consultation in January on an exciting new four year plan. Our plan will consider how consumers select and experience legal services and their needs when things go wrong with a service, rather than just looking at the system from a perspective of regulations and institutions.”