Conduct and service

Complaints and professional judgementA problem that frequently bedevils solicitors trying to approach complaints in the right way is: 'What constitutes a legitimate complaint that should be dealt with under my firm's complaints procedure?'It should be borne in mind that Law Society practice rule 15 requires solicitors to deal with complaints about standards of service, not standards of work.

Consequently, to say the firm did a good job for the client, or achieved an excellent result, is not to answer the complaint.If a complaint is received that - no matter how it is framed - is in essence about the standard of work or quality of advice, it is really an allegation of negligence and the client should be advised to seek independent legal advice.In the same way, clients sometimes seek to complain about the way a solicitor has exercised his professional judgment.

Such complaints are frequently made as a result of the client having been involved in criminal proceedings - criminal law probably being the area in which practitioners are most called upon to exercise their professional judgment.

The exercise of professional judgment is also not something into which the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) will enquire.The principle was illustrated in the case of a client charged with offences involving harassment and stalking.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had withdrawn the allegations.

Three years later the client asked the solicitors for a copy of the complainant's statement.

It transpired that the solicitors had destroyed the papers.

So had the CPS.

Therefore, it was not possible to supply the client with what he wanted.

The solicitors maintained that they had never been supplied with a copy of the statement.

The CPS had not been obliged to supply it as the alleged offences were purely summary in nature.The client then complained about the solicitor's failure to obtain copies of the statement during the continuance of the matter.

The OSS declined to deal with the complaint, explaining to the client that whether or not it was necessary to get a copy of the prosecution witness's statement in circumstances where it was not automatically supplied, was a matter for the solicitor's discretion and that the OSS had no jurisdiction to question the exercise of that discretion.The client took the matter to the Legal Services Ombudsman, who endorsed the OSS's conclusions.l Every case before the adjudication panel is decided on its individual facts.

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