Making a complaint against a solicitor

Most people consulting a solicitor are satisfied with the service that they receive. Occasionally, this is not the case and people wish to make a complaint.

If you are not satisfied with a solicitor or a solicitor's firm, you need to raise your concerns with the firm in the first instance. Solicitors' firms have a client relations partner who will listen to your problem and try to resolve it. This is usually the quickest and most effective way of sorting out the problem.

You can contact the firm and ask for the name of the client relations partner or contact the Registrar's Department of the Society on 0131 226 7411 for that information.

The client relations partner has an important role in clarifying and explaining any possible misunderstandings and working to resolve your problem. It may be that a different client relations partner could step in if the problem relates to the client relations partner.

If the problem is not resolved with the client relations partner, you may submit a formal complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission which is the gateway for all complaints against solicitors in Scotland. The Society cannot receive complaints directly.  This applies irrespective of whether the solicitor was acting for you and the type of work being undertaken.  It applies to solicitors who may be acting as insolvency practitioners.  The Commission decides if a complaint relates to the service provided or the conduct of a solicitor and whether the Commission or the Society or both should investigate the matter.

The Commission can be contacted at:
The Stamp Office
10-14 Waterloo Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3EG
Telephone: 0131 528 5111
Website: www.scottishlegalcomplaints.com
Email: enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk

Further information

It is important to us that the Society's information is open to all. We can send you a hard copy of our information leaflets and can, on request, provide them in different formats such as Braille, large print, on cassette or in other languages.

You can also use the textphone service, so if you have hearing or speech problems we can talk with you using this service. Our textphone number is 0131 476 8359.

Making a complaint about the Law Society of Scotland

If you are unhappy with the way we dealt with your complaint about the conduct of a solicitor then you can of course raise this directly with our staff team.  If you remain unhappy then you can make a handling complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

More information is available via the Commission's website.

If your complaint does not relate to a complaint about a solicitor then please visit complaining about us.