Misconduct most frequent complaint against solicitors and barristers, report finds

Allegations of misconduct by solicitors and barristers continue to be the most common complaint levelled against legal practitioners in Ireland.

Between March and September this year, 11 complaints of misconduct were upheld and 24 rejected by a committee tasked with examining those particular allegations.

The data was published by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority on Thursday.

During the period, its complaints and resolutions unit received 778 complaints, of which 759 related to solicitors and 19 to barristers.

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Most complaints – 521, or 67 per cent – alleged misconduct, while 228 (29 per cent) related to allegations of an inadequate standard of service. A further 29 (4 per cent) came under the category of excessive costs or overcharging.

Complaints relating to alleged misconduct continue to be the most common, having accounted for 70 and 66 per cent of complaints in the previous two reports.

Practitioner standards

The LSRA began investigating complaints about solicitors and barristers in 2019 and this is its sixth report. It is responsible for the regulation of legal practitioners and also for the maintenance and improvement of standards.

“There have recently been a small number of instances where the LSRA has made a determination in a complaint and issued a statutory direction to a legal practitioner, and the practitioner has chosen not to comply with the direction,” said chief executive Dr Brian Doherty.

Where this occurs, the LSRA can apply to the High Court for an order for compliance. Two such orders have been made, with more under consideration.

“Where the LSRA makes a determination in a complaint and issues a statutory direction, I strongly advise legal practitioners to take action before we take them to court,” Dr Doherty said.

The main areas of legal services and costs that attracted complaints were litigation, family law, probate and conveyancing.

Of all the recent complaints made, 294 (39 per cent) were dealt with before a decision was made as to whether they were admissible – including being withdrawn or resolved.

A further 340 complaints were deemed inadmissible by the LSRA while 70 were closed by the complaints committee dealing specifically with alleged misconduct.

In upheld complaints relating to inadequate services and excessive costs, the LSRA made directions for payments by legal practitioners of compensation to their clients of between €615 and €3,000. The total amount of compensation was €22,865.