SLCC releases guide to avoiding family law complaints

A new guide to help solicitors avoid the most common complaints in relation to family law has been published by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Based on the SLCC’s experience of real cases, the guide includes anonymised case examples and best practice advice, explaining the most common causes of complaints with suggestions on how to avoid them.

It is the latest in a series of best practice guides for solicitors. Separate guides have been issued covering wills and executries, and criminal law. The SLCC also produces consumer guides and has previously published a consumer guide on family law.

Launching the guide, Jennifer Sinclair, best practice adviser, commented: "Family law continues to account for a significant proportion of the complaints we receive – maybe not surprising given the level of complexity of many cases and the high stakes for clients.

"Our best practice guides are about helping to ensure that we build a culture of learning from complaints to help practitioners to avoid the most common problems.

"We hope that solicitors will find this guide useful in avoiding some of the more common issues in family law such as communication, managing expectations and dealing with third parties."

Click here to access the guides for practitioners.