Conduct and service

A tale with two moralsSolicitors are doubtless familiar with the requirement, at the outset of the retainer, to give a client adequate costs information, the name and status of who will deal with the matter, and details of who will deal with any concerns the client may have.

But do you appreciate that the requirements of the Solicitors Costs Information and Client Care Code 1999 (rule 15) go much further?In a recent complaint to the Office for the Supervision of solicitors (OSS), the client maintained she had never received a client care letter at the outset of her matter.

The solicitors' response was that they had sent it.

They duly produced a copy.

This contained information about the solicitor's costs, the fee-earner who would be dealing with her matter and the name of the partner to whom she could refer any problems.When it had been raised internally, the firm had dismissed the complaint.

In view of the evidence produced by the firm, the OSS caseworker was intrigued as to why the client complained.When asked, the complainant said she had never received any proper guidance or had properly explained to her any of the courses of action that may have been available.Examination of the file bore this out.

The solicitors had either ignored or forgotten their duty to indicate clearly the issues involved in the matter and how it was proposed to deal with them and to consider whether the potential benefit to the client justified the cost.It was the absence of this information that had prompted the complaint.

It had left her with the impression that she never really knew what was going on.

This shows the need to be alive to all the information a client should be given at the outset of the retainer.This tale also illustrates how complaints aren't always as expressed by the client - dismissing them at face value does not solve the problem.

In this instance, a little bit of further enquiry would have revealed the true nature of the problem.If a client complains about service, make sure you understand its cause.

This is best achieved by talking to the client, rather than insisting on doing everything in writing.

It really can be good to talk.l 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.