Recent proposals by the Legal Complaints Service to publish the complaints records for solicitors firms have been attacked by the Law Society as being ineffective, unfair to solicitors and misleading for clients.
The Law Society, now acting in its representative role as trade union for solicitors, has condemned the argument that publication of complaints will improve public confidence in the profession. It claims that the proposals undermine the positive work done by solicitors in improving service and resolving complaints more effectively and advocates devoting more resources to training.
If publication is to go ahead, the Law Society argues that any information on the firm's performance should be meaningful and enable the client to compare like for like.
Figures from last year indicate that there were only 597 cases upheld at adjudication. This represents less than seven per cent of the 8,926 firms across England and Wales.
Without information relating to the other 93 per cent of the firms, clients may find it difficult to make an informed choice.
The Law Society insists that publication should only go ahead on condition that a long list of contextual information is published in addition to brief details of the complaint. This includes overall number of matters handled by the firm, size and type of firm, areas of law undertaken, attempts made to resolve the complaint as well as whether it is subject to an appeal.
The fact remains that a firm dealing primarily with private client work is, however slick its client service, more likely to attract complaints than a commercial firm.
However, for 597 adjudicated complaints per annum is it worth the effort (and expense) to compile all this additional information? Those firms whose image suffers as a result of published complaints have the answer in their own hands either pay up as soon as they receive a complaint, a la Marks & Spencer, or alternatively improve their service.
However keen the Law Society is to support its members it must be realistic. We are entering a new era of professional regulation.
The chairman of the new Legal Services Board, David Edmonds, has just been appointed. As regulator of all legal services he has already stated his intention to put the citizen first and to make regulation transparent, analytical and propitiable. Is the Law Society fighting a losing battle to prevent the publication of 597 complaints per annum?
* Jayne Willetts is a solicitor advocate and partner with Townshends in Birmingham and a specialist in professional regulation.
