Law Society launches tough inspection regime

Law firms with poor complaints records face being targeted by a new inspection team and undergoing disciplinary measures - which will be publicised - if they do not improve fast enough, the Law Society announced last week.The first update on the Law Society's 'blueprint for change', which aims to raise solicitors' standards, revealed an annual programme of regular visits to firms, initially focusing on 'serial poor performers'.The inspection team is set to be part of the new practice standards unit.

It will agree a programme of action with firms, with failure to comply in time resulting in fast tracking to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for 'flagrant breaches' of the client care rule.

Less serious cases will involve the imposition of conditions on practising certificates, such as having to produce six monthly accounts reports or a ban on taking trainees.

This will add to the 900 solicitors who currently have conditions on their practising certificates, imposed by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.In a move to give the public an informed choice when selecting a solicitor, the Law Society plans to give access to details of solicitors with black marks on their records.

It will publicise the availability of the information, and will work with Citizens Advice Bureaux and the Community Legal Service to enable them to check solicitors' credentials on behalf of clients.The Law Society is also set to issue clients with checklists, providing a ten-point measure of performance, as well as a launching a legal information service consisting of basic guides detailing what consumers should expect in the most common types of legal work, such as buying a home, writing a will, and dealing with employment disputes.Law Society chief executive, Janet Paraskeva said she hoped to see greater transparency in the profession and the Law Society itself.'We want to be open about the changes and activities that are going on,' she explained.Paula Rohan