The SLCC at a glance

Our mission is to resolve complaints, prevent the common causes of complaints, and enable quality improvement. Our vision is that ‘every client receives a professional service, and every lawyer adheres to professional standards’

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 2020 – 30 June 2021.

(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
Prematurity 11%
Conduct 9%
Resolved at elgibility 23%
Closed before accept/reject decision 5%
Rejected at eligibility 18%
Service/hybrid - closed at Mediation 7%
Service/hybrid - closed at Investigation 13%
Service/hybrid - closed at Determination 11%
Ongoing 3%

Chart visualising data in the table. The columns are prematurity, eligibility, service/hybrid complaints and ongoing.

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 2021-22 year:

Area of law % of complaints
Residential conveyancing 24%
Executries, wills and trusts 23%
Family law 15%
Litigation 11%
Personal conduct 7%

Here are the top five subject areas we received complaints about in our 2021-22 year:

Complaint about Percentage
Communication 22%
Failure to act in the best interests of the client 18%
Trust & Personal Integrity 9%
Delay 8%
Failure to advise adequately 8%

We resolve complaints throughout our process and make final binding decisions on service complaints at the end of our process.

  • £240,586.78 compensation for inconvenience and distress
  • £112,487.52 compensation for financial loss
  • £68,728.89 in fee reductions and fee or outlay refunds.
CEO’s introduction
Our annual report
A year of change and more to come

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