Rule 15 of the Solicitors Practice Rules requires solicitors to operate some basic client care measures.

Specifically, solicitors must 'operate a complaints handling procedure'.Firms, particularly smaller ones, react to the rule with cries of outrage, suggesting that a vast bureaucratic burden has been foisted on firms that cannot reasonably be expected to cope with it.

It seems that many firms treat a complaints handling procedure as an optional extra, rather than as a requirement.

Yet all that is being asked is the level of customer care expected from any high street store.Solicitors see people who are unhappy.

Perhaps this is why many solicitors argue that people are too ready to complain and that a clear complaints procedure will just encourage unjustified moaning.

In fact, the reverse is true.

Generally, people do not like to complain to those who give poor service.

Most would rather just go elsewhere in the future.

But they will tell their friends about their experience.

For firms that rely on repeat business and recommendation, a dissatisfied client is something they just cannot afford.Remarkably, a dissatisfied client who can be persuaded to complain to a firm directly will probably use it again.

This means that solicitors should go out of their way to encourage complaints.

Remember that people who complain are letting solicitors see things from the client's side of the desk.Firms should value the insights that client complaints give them.

They should keep proper notes of the complaints received and review then regularly.

This information can be used to identify areas where a firm could provide a better service to all of its clients -- not just those who have let it know what's bothering them.In order to make it easy for clients to complain, firms should outline their complaints procedure in their letters to clients when accepting instructions and should display it in the firm's reception.

The tone should be positive, emphasising that the firm wants to hear if clients feel let down.If clients do say that they have concerns, a solicitor should let his or her body language reassure them that they are open to the clients' comments and hear them through without immediate defensive reaction.

It is important to make sure that clients know that they will not be charged for the time they spend talking to a solicitor about their concerns -- all too many people let problems build up because they worry about being charged for the time they spend complaining.Solicitors should always make notes about complaints and let their clients see them doing so (it demonstrates that they are taking the issue seriously).

Let clients talk their problems through in their own words, in their own time.

This is particularly important if they are angry as it lets their anger dissipate.

Only when they are calming down should a solicitor summarise their complaint back to them.

This again reassures them that they are being taken seriously.Try to sort things out as quickly as possible.

If a solicitor realises that this is a problem that he or she is not going to be able to cope with alone, they should involve partners as soon as possible.If the firm is small there may be no one else to turn to; in such circumstances the solicitor might talk to the local law society.

Make sure that complainants have somewhere to turn rather than the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS), but keep things simple.

Complex complaints procedures create more problems than they solve.

Make sure all possibilities for solving the complaint are explored.

Many complaints which are apparently impossible to sort out before the OSS is involved, turn out to be quite simply cleared up once the possibility of external intervention looms.Let complainants know that the firm intends to do, what it actually does and what the result is.

By all means phone or meet with people to talk things through informally but make sure there is written correspondence as well.

Letters reassure complainants, protect firms if a complaint is later made to the OSS and provide a valuable record.Solicitors differ from many other people who deal with the public in that dissatisfied clients have somewhere to turn.

A complaint by a client to the OSS is a real possibility for firms that do not encourage people to complain to them first.

Clients will avoid a confrontation over a complaint, often finding it easier to pass the whole thing over to the OSS.I have spoken to a client who was unhappy about the conduct of an assistant solicitor and complained to the SCB (as it then was) before even mentioning the problem to the firm's senior partner.

The client's behaviour was not unusual.

He may have been foolish -- but that did not spare the firm quite unnecessary embarrassment because it had not worked hard enough to get the client to complain to it first.

Good complaints handling is just part of the whole business of being open to a client's comments and ensuring that communication is a two-way business.If solicitors truly care about their clients as people, they will want to know if their clients are unhappy.

Handling client complaints will be a natural part of their business.

If they do not truly care about their clients, clients will leave.

It really is that simple.