Bar slams solicitors

The failure of some solicitors to co-operate with the bar's complaints commissioner could lead to a rule change making assistance obligatory, it emerged last week.

The commissioner - Michael Scott - made his unhappiness at the failure of some solicitors to co-operate with his enquiries known in his annual report.

Mr Scott said that over the five years he has done the job, while some solicitors have been 'absolutely marvellous', he has also found from others 'an astonishing inadequacy, even to the extent of completely failing to respond to our letters'.

Mr Scott said he has adopted a policy in the last year of disclosing solicitors' comments to complainants, and added that any evidence of a 'lack of co-operation will be highly valuable'.

He said the Bar Council's head of professional standards was liaising with the Law Society to discuss whether a new solicitors' practice rule compelling assistance, or more informal guidance, should be introduced.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said: 'It is clearly good practice for solicitors to co-operate with the bar complaints commissioner.

The Law Society is considering the extent to which it should be a professional obligation to co-operate.'

Overall, the number of complaints made against barristers by members of the public rose by 3% last year to 469.

Elsewhere in the report, Mr Scott criticised tit-for-tat complaints made by barristers against one another, and warned that direct access to the bar by the public would cause a huge increase in complaints.

Jeremy Fleming