Complaints – the inside and outside stories

Complaints the inside and outside stories

Peter Johnson and Mike Frith explain the complaints procedures that firms should be operating to comply with Law Society practice rule 15 particularly the requirement to have a procedure that can be given to clients on requestOnly eight out of 237 complaints procedures at law firms checked in recent months by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) were found to meet the current requirements laid down in Law Society practice rule 15.Yet most of the firms told the OSS they believed their complaints procedures were adequate.

This alarming finding highlights the need for practitioners to look afresh and critically at their firms procedures.The requirements of practice rule 15 covering complaints handling were revised, expanded and incorporated into the Solicitors Costs Information and Client Care Code 1999.

The code obliges each firm to have a written complaints procedure and give a copy to any client who asks for it.The intention is that solicitors should be able to deal in-house, competently, with any client complaints about their service.Principally, the requirements of the code mean that the client will need to know who will deal with the complaint, how it will be dealt with and when it will be done.Moreover, the Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors, 1999, eighth edition (Chapter 13.07, paragraph 1) indicates that if a complaint reaches the OSS the firm will have to explain its procedure and how it has been followed.The 229 firms with inadequate complaints procedures revealed, in roughly equal numbers, two principal reasons for this.

First, many are relying on an outdated procedure that is, in any case, tantamount to guidance to the firms staff and inappropriate to give to clients.

This procedure was promulgated some years ago, before publication of the OSS booklet Handling Complaints Effectively in July 2000.

That booklet contains precedents for complaints procedures which comply with professional obligations, and which are suitable for giving to clients, as well as providing a model central complaints register.If a firms procedure pre-dates July 2000, the solicitors should re-examine it as the procedure might now be insufficient to comply with professional obligations, in particular because it is inappropriate to give to clients.

The second reason is that many firms seem to think that because they have a legal funding franchise, they are compliant with rule 15 because the franchise requires them to have a complaints procedure.

But what the Legal Services Commission would appear to accept as a complaints procedure typically does not approach compliance with the code.Commission requirements concentrate on requiring a solicitor to indicate to the client who would deal with any concerns which is a completely separate requirement of the code.The pressure is on.

It is on the OSS to maintain an acceptable level of complaints handling, both in terms of volume and quality, and also on the profession to have adequate systems to deal with service complaints, to prevent them reaching the OSS.

Because of this, the OSS now routinely asks solicitors to demonstrate how they have tried to resolve the complaint by using their internal complaints procedure and to show how they have acted in accordance with its provisions.Providing clients with details of a complaints procedure is one thing.

But what about ensuring that everybody at the firm understands how the practice deals with complaints, what issues are always under consideration and the cultural attitude of the firm?OSS guidelines detailing suggestions on how to handle complaints can be given to staff.

They address issues such as the culture and attitude that needs to be adopted to ensure common sense prevails and, wherever possible, goodwill is retained.The suggested guidelines should not be given to clients.

They can be adapted into an internal procedure and included in the firms office manual or simply distributed internally.

But all partners and staff should treat them as mandatory guiding principles, whether they are adopted as drafted or changed to suit the individual requirements of different firms.Solicitors might recognise some aspects of the guidelines, since these were published some years ago; but they have now been rewritten to reflect current thinking on best practice.Peter Johnson and Mike Frith are from the OSSs client care unit

Specimen complaints-handling guidelines for use within law firmsApproach to complaints handlingOur benchmark must be that when a complaint is made or a concern expressed, it is properly resolved within and by the firm without the need for it to reach the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS).

It should also be a priority to preserve the goodwill of the client, particularly if things have gone wrong.Even those complaints that appear not to be well founded should be treated seriously.

The client believes there is cause for complaint, perhaps because of a misunderstanding.

Anyway, the client is unhappy with our service, and that should be remedied.

We all make mistakes and the partners will expect honesty and realism from any fee earner when that is the case.

In turn, the fee earner should expect and receive support from the partners.All complaints must be dealt with sympathetically, quickly and with an absolute determination to achieve a resolution that our client finds acceptable.

Our reputation depends on this.

It is an integral part of our high service standards.What is a complaint?If a client is upset because it took you half an hour to return a telephone call, that may not amount to a complaint.

You should be perfectly capable of turning this around without further repercussions.

But if a client says you continually delay in returning calls, or you dont return calls at all, that is a complaint.We call them formal complaints and treat all of them in the same way, even if an individual complaint may appear to be based on an unrealistic expectation of what we can do.Clients are notified at the outset who to contact if they have a problem with our service.

If they do, they must immediately be told that the matter will be considered, where a fee earner is involved, by the head of department.

If the matter concerns a head of department, the client will be told who will investigate the complaint usually it will be the partner in overall charge of the firms complaints-handling procedure.How the complaint will be handledThe partner investigating the complaint will immediately send the client a copy of our complaints procedure timetable.The partner will then look at the file and ask for full details from the client, either in writing or by interviews.

The fee earner will also be seen.

The objective is to ensure that the client:l Is satisfied that the complaint is being dealt with seriously;l Receives prompt responses;l Is assured that the complaint is being properly considered and in detail, and;l Is told, in line with the notified timetable or as soon as possible thereafter, of the outcome.The client might not be lost to the firm if it is possible to agree with only some elements of the complaint and if the client can be assured that efforts will be made to remedy the problem.

When considering the complaint and how best to resolve it, it is vital that we not only identify any service failing on our part but also the effect it has had on the client for example, inconvenience, distress or anxiety.

Any sum of compensation or fee reduction we contemplate should take account of both cause and effect.Fee earners must understand that whatever is done it is not intended to undermine their position.

What we are seeking to achieve is a situation where we have more satisfied clients.Remedies that may be offered to the client:l An apology from the firm and an assurance that it wont happen again and that we will try to do better;l A reduction of the bill;l Total abatement of the bill;l Offer to do some free legal work, for example, to make draft a will.Independent legal adviceIf all our reasonable efforts to reach an agreed resolution with the client fail then the client should be told of the right to refer the complaint and our handling of it to the OSS.What happens after a complaint?We hope the client will be satisfied and the fee earner will continue with the file.

In some circumstances, if the solicitor/client relationship has broken down, it may be better for another fee earner to take over.

If the fee earner does continue with the file, every effort must be made to repair any damage to the relationship with the client.Central register of complaintsAll complaints must be notified to the partner in overall charge of complaints handling who keeps a central register of complaints received.

The notification should outline the complaint and attach the original of any letter from the client.Heads of department should send that partner all substantive correspondence and documents relating to the complaint, and details of how the matter was dealt with.Corrective and preventive actionPartners, fee earners and others about whom a substantiated complaint is made can expect some form of corrective action.

This may be a short informal word from that persons supervisor, or a formal note on the personnel file where the matter can be expected to be raised during an appraisal.Any action taken is primarily intended to identify how the firms standards of service can be improved.

To that end the partner in overall charge of the firms complaints handling and heads of department (and any quality team) will consider whether changes in procedures are necessary, or whether the training needs of the staff member or partner should be looked at.The partners will use the lessons learned from every complaint to identify where corrective and preventive action needs to be implemented to avoid a repetition.Options include revision or amendment of relevant quality procedures or induction procedures, staff appraisals, staff meetings, supervision, the checking of incoming and outgoing post and training.The last wordRemember most clients concern and unhappiness can be turned into a constructive experience for us and for the clients.

Our philosophy is that if we must have the last word, it should be sorry.

Action checklistPartners responsible for ensuring a firms adherence to Law Society practice rule 15 should get a copy of the free OSS booklet Handling Complaints Effectively from Jackie Dirkin on 01926 822196; fax 01926 431435 or DX 292320.The booklet is written in plain English.

Even if a complaints procedure is legal, solicitors will find it contains handy tips on dealing with clients who have concerns about service.

The information is also on the Law Societys Web site at: www.clientcare.lawsociety.org.ukIf the firms current procedure dates from before July 2000, consider whether the practice needs to replace or supplement it with one of the specimen procedures in Handling Complaints Effectively.These are not set in stone and can be adapted to suit an individual firms requirements, but they do meet all the obligations on the profession.Solicitors should not make the assumption that because their firm has a legal funding franchise that the procedures it has in place are adequate.Those responsible for complaints handling should examine the suggested internal guidelines, adapt them to their firms circumstances, and consider how to communicate them to all staff.