Conduct and service

OSS powers you might not know

The profession should be aware that when the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) is dealing with a particular complaint it can also act upon any other matter found during its investigations.

The Access to Justice Act 1999 has removed any lingering doubts about this power.This authority is mostly used when a complaint reaches the OSS because it is not resolved in-house.

The OSS then discovers other grounds for complaint that could have been made by an all-knowing client.Such a case arose when Mr Z consulted his solicitors about making a negligence claim against other professional advisers.

The complaint was raised when, seeking to instruct another firm, the client was rendered a bill he thought grossly excessive.The OSS will not usually deal with complaints that require a decision on whether a solicitor's charges are fair and reasonable.

However, here the client's new solicitors quoted Principle 14.10 of the Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors, 1999, eighth edition, alleging the overcharging was so gross that unfair advantage had been taken of the client.Ultimately, the OSS declined to deal with the overcharging complaint deciding, in this case, it would be more properly resolved by assessment on application to court.

However, other matters were revealed which the client could have complained about, had he been aware of the original solicitor's failings.The solicitors had failed completely to provide any of the information required by practice r.15.

No name or status of the fee earner who was to deal with the client's matter, no identity of the person to which the client could address concerns, and no confirmation of instructions or the issues involved was provided.

Even more significant was the discovery there had been no costs information whatsoever given to the client.Unsurprisingly, then, when the client was presented with a bill for 9,000 he was a little perturbed, his disquiet being heightened by the perfunctory description of the billed work.Under these circumstances the solicitors may consider themselves fortunate to have been ordered to pay only 600 compensation.Every case before the compliance and supervision committee is decided on its individual facts.

These case studies are for illustration only and should not be treated as precedents.