Complaining about a legal practitioner

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

If you want advice about making a complaint about a legal practitioner, there are several possible steps depending on your situation.

Before going through these steps, you might want to read the Standards for solicitors guide on the Law Society of Scotland website.

Internal complaints procedure

Before you can make a formal complaint, you must use the internal complaints procedure of the legal practitioner’s firm. You should contact the firm or practitioner in writing. It's likely to take at least 4 weeks for the firm to reply.

All legal complaints are handled in the first instance by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC).

You can make a complaint using the online complaint form on the SLCC website. You can also download and complete the form offline.

It's important that you sign the form, because your signature gives the SLCC permission to get information from the legal practitioner and/or relevant professional body.

Discrimination

As a public body, the SLCC must not discriminate against someone because of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Read more about discrimination.

Who can a complaint be made about

You can make a complaint to the SLCC about:

  • solicitors and advocates

  • commercial attorneys

  • qualified conveyancers

  • will writers.

Complaints about the conduct of a sheriff or judge should be made to the Judicial Office for Scotland. There's information about how to complain about a judge on the Judiciary of Scotland website.

Is the complaint eligible

The SLCC must take into account several factors to decide if the complaint is eligible and can be investigated.

There's more information about eligibility on the SLCC website.

Time limits

There are strict time limits as to when the SLCC can accept complaints. The time limits that apply depend on what type of complaint you're making.

There's more information about time limits on the SLCC website.

How complaints are dealt with

If the complaint is eligible, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) will decide if the complaint is about:

  • the service you received - known as a service complaint

  • the conduct of a legal practitioner - known as a conduct complaint

  • the way a previous complaint was handled - known as a handling complaint.

Service complaints

If the SLCC decides that the complaint is about the service provided, it investigates the complaint using its service complaints process.

To resolve a complaint about service, there are 3 steps the SLCC can take:

  1. mediation

  2. investigation

  3. determination.

The determination is legally enforceable but it can be challenged - this is called an appeal.

There's more information about the service complaints process on the SLCC website.

Mediation

Mediation is a way for 2 sides to resolve a complaint without the need for formal investigation. Both the complainer and the legal practitioner must agree to take part in mediation before it can take place. If one side doesn't want to mediate, the SLCC refers the complaint to an investigator.

There's more information about mediation on the SLCC website.

Investigation

When the SLCC passes a case to an investigator, they'll contact both sides to explain what approach is being taken.

The investigation can take several months. Throughout, the SLCC will look for opportunities for the complaint to be resolved. If this isn't possible, the investigator writes a report detailing their recommendations and any proposed settlement. If the 2 parties accept the report, the complaint is resolved.

There's more information about investigation on the SLCC website.

Determination

When a complaint hasn't been resolved by either mediation or an investigation, the SLCC refers the complaint to its board members to make a decision about it. This is called a determination.

There's more information about determination on the SLCC website.

Appeal

If either side disagrees with the decision, they can appeal to the Court of Session. You should get legal advice if you want to make an appeal.

There's more information about appeals on the SLCC website.

Conduct complaints

If the SLCC decides that the complaint is about the conduct of a legal practitioner, it refers the complaint to a regulator. The current regulators are:

  • the Law Society of Scotland

  • the Faculty of Advocates

  • the Association of Commercial Attorneys.

There's information about how the Law Society of Scotland handles complaints on the Law Society of Scotland website.

There's information about how the Faculty of Advocates handles complaints on the Faculty of Advocates website.

There's information about how the Association of Commercial Attorneys handles complaints on the Association of Commercial Attorneys website.

Handling complaints

The process for a handling complaint depends on whether the original complaint was a service complaint or a conduct complaint.

There's more information about handling complaints on the SLCC website.

Money laundering

If you think a solicitor might be involved in money laundering, you can report your concerns anonymously to the Law Society of Scotland via a confidential phone line or an online form. This is different from the complaints procedure explained above.

The confidential phone number is 0330 0947935.

You can find the online form on the Law Society of Scotland website.