The Law Society's complaints-handling operation is, in parts, more efficient and better performing than a year ago, but 'there is still much to do', the government watchdog warned this week.

Unveiling annual reports for her separate roles of Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) and Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC), Zahida Manzoor said that while there have been improvements in the way most professional bodies handle complaints, there continue to be unnecessary delays, poor communication, and unreasonable decision-making.


As LSO, Ms Manzoor deals with consumers who are unhappy with how a legal regulator has handled their complaints against individual lawyers. As LSCC, she is charged with overseeing the Law Society's complaints-handling operation.


The Society received 18,299 new complaints in the year to 31 March 2006, a 7% increase on the previous 12 months, from which it had a backlog of 6,492 cases.


Over the period, the Society closed 18,840 cases, and Ms Manzoor said there was an improvement in the speed with which this was done. The number of cases referred to her as LSO soared by one-third to 1,701, and she was satisfied with the Society's handling in 66.4% of cases, up from 62%. The target, however, is 70%, and she added: 'I consider the overall performance to still be well short of where a modern consumer-focused organisation should be.'


Ms Manzoor said the Society 'is slowly moving in the right direction, if not at the pace I would like', but pointed out that it failed to meet four of the seven targets she set as LSCC. Ms Manzoor is still deciding whether to levy a fine for these failures.


Professor Shamit Saggar, chairman of the Law Society's Consumer Complaints Board, said he was pleased to see the acknowledgment of an overall improvement in complaints-handling, adding that the board 'has put in place ambitious plans that will bring further improvements in our service delivery and improve the customer experience'.


Neil Rose