Conduct and service

Don't be pedantic

Solicitors are often criticised for the way they approach complaints.

Critics, including the Legal Services Ombudsman and consumer organisations, frequently express disbelief at the attitude shown by many solicitors when faced with a complaint.

Instead of accepting that they have a client who is dissatisfied, identifying the real cause of that discontent and then trying to put things right, many solicitors seem automatically to view any complaint as an attack on the good name of the firm and something to be resisted at any cost.

A common feature of that approach is a tendency to examine every word of a written complaint, searching for opportunities to quarrel with the wording and use errors as justification for dismissing it.

This does nothing to resolve the problem.

Far from building bridges, it leaves the client feeling more alienated and aggrieved than before.

A typical example was when the potential respondent in a divorce case instructed a firm of solicitors.

Matters got off on the wrong foot because the firm misunderstood one element of the instructions.

Had its service from then on been up to scratch it may have not been criticised.

However, the client maintained it then acted against her instructions and delayed the progress of the divorce.

She complained, saying the firm had held onto her petition for four months.

The firm rejected the complaint, pointing out that her husband was the petitioner and, therefore, had the conduct of the case.

In fact, the firm had held onto the acknowledgement of service - the document the client was referring to.

Perhaps it was also indicative of the solicitors' approach that they took six weeks to answer the initial letter of complaint.

But the question remains: what did the firm hope to gain by trying to take advantage of the client's faulty description of her complaint? The solicitors must have known, or should have realised, what she was really referring to.

Had they recognised their shortcomings and dealt with the matter sympathetically, it may never have reached the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.

As it was, the firm's attitude guaranteed that it would.

The booklet Handling Complaints Effectively gives practical advice on how to react positively to complaints.

For a free copy, contact the Law Society's practice standards unit, tel: 01527 883264 or e-mail: jackie.dirkin@lawsociety.org.uk.

Every case before the adjudication panel is decided on its individual facts.

This case study is for illustration only and should not be treated as a precedent