Law Society notices

Referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for breach of rule 15 of the Solicitors Practice Rules 1990 - issued by the Law Society's compliance boardCompliance by solicitors with Law Society practice rule 15, Solicitors Practice Rules 1990, and any code promulgated pursuant to that rule is critical to the effective regulation of the profession:l Clients are more satisfied when a solicitor resolves the complaint direct rather than by the involvement of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS);l Solicitors must accept responsibility for the resolution of complaints made against them;l Resolution by the solicitor is quicker and more cost effective for all concerned;l Failure to comply with a practice rule which is central to effective client care is damaging to the reputation of the profession.The Law Society's compliance board has therefore resolved, without fettering its discretion (or the discretion of adjudicators) in any individual case, that a serious breach of rule 15 or of the code is liable to be referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) either on full adjudication of the substantive matter (in which case standard rights of appeal will apply) or on a fast-track basis in clear cases (in which case there will be no right of appeal against the decision to refer the case to the tribunal).

A serious breach includes, but is not limited to:l Persistent failure to have a written complaints handling procedure;l Persistent failure to operate the complaints handling procedure;l Persistent failure to reply (or to reply adequately) to client complaints within a reasonable time or a serious failure to reply in one case, such as, but not limited to, where the case is sensitive or there is failure to reply to repeated contact from the client;l Failure to give a client a copy of the complaints procedure on request;l Failure to provide a client with any information about costs;l Provision to a client of seriously inaccurate or misleading information about costs;l Persistent failure to provide the name and status of the person dealing with the client's matter or clients' matters in general;l Failure to deal (or to deal adequately) with a client complaint referred to the solicitor by the OSS within a reasonable time of the referral.A solicitor's conduct may be referred by an adjudicator to the SDT on a fast-track basis where:l There is clear documentary evidence, or an admission (which may be inferred from silence in the face of a prima facie case) of a serious breach; l The solicitor has been formally requested to provide an explanation in writing; l The formal request to the solicitor includes notice that his or her conduct may be referred to the SDT on a fast-track basis without further notice; and,l The solicitor has failed to provide any explanation or, in the judgment of the adjudicator, failed to provide an explanation which is sufficient and satisfactory.

(An explanation is sufficient and satisfactory in this context only if it demonstrates that there has been no serious breach of rule 15).