Every year we receive over a thousand complaints about legal practitioners in Scotland.
This could be a complaint about:
- A solicitor
- A firms of solicitors
- An advocate
- A commercial attorney
Normally we will only look at a complaint where the complaint has already been made to the lawyer, and they’ve had a chance to respond (there are some exceptions).
Our process is a mix of dispute resolution such as conciliation/mediation with formal, legally binding arbitration.
So what happens to complaints made to the SLCC?
Let’s see what happened to the complaints made to us in our previous annual report year: 1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020.
(Due to complaint timescales, not all of the complaints received in this annual report year have been concluded yet, so last year’s number give a more detailed picture).
Outcome | % of cases |
Closed as Premature(and not reopened) | 11% |
Conduct | 12% |
Resolved at Eligibility | 19% |
Rejected at Eligibility | 18% |
Discontinued/Withdrawn at Eligibility | 7% |
Service/Hybrid – closed at mediation | 5% |
Service/Hybrid – closed at investigation | 15% |
Service/Hybrid – closed at determination | 9% |
Ongoing | 3% |
What types of things do people make complaints to the SLCC about?
Here are the top five areas of law we received complaints about in our 2020-21 year:
Area of Law | % of cases |
Residential Conveyancing | 26% |
Executries, Wills and Trusts | 19% |
Family Law | 17% |
Litigation | 15% |
Crime | 4% |
We resolve complaints throughout our process and make final binding decisions on service complaints at the end of our process.
- £218,826.28 compensation for inconvenience and distress;
- £98,111.14 compensation for financial loss;
- £36,860.78 in fee refunds and reductions and ;
- £49,168.22 in other settlements.
.