1. Legal Profession (2):
Complaints,
Reform & Fusion

2. Five minutes. Five
Questions.
How many can you answer?
1. Can you name at least five of the core topics
which must be covered in the academic stage?
2. Can you name one difference between a
training contract and pupilage?
3. Can you identify one recent change to improve
training to be a lawyer?
4. Can you explain identify the difference
between the initial rights of audience for a
barrister and a solicitor.
5. Can you explain what an ‘instruction’ is and why
a solicitor may want to prepare one.
Starter:

3. Have no direct contact
with the client
Can appear in all courts But through access schemes e.g. Bar Direct, they
may be directly approached in certain areas of
the law
Specialists Office work But increasingly can and do specialise e.g. larger
commercial firms
Direct contact with client Cab-rank But increasingly can appear in courts on behalf of
clients and depends on their specialism, some will
not appear in court
Individual Client based But they work together with the solicitor who is
instructing them on the case, and the chambers
who receive the work
Appear in lower court General Practice But they can avoid this through selection etc.
Work in firms Advocate But solicitors may obtain higher rights of
audience and barristers must qualify for them
Comparing Professions...
Can you match up the points?
Have no direct contact
with the client
Can appear in all courts But through access schemes e.g. Bar Direct, they
may be directly approached in certain areas of
the law
Specialists Office work But increasingly can and do specialise e.g. larger
commercial firms
Direct contact with client Cab-rank But increasingly can appear in courts on behalf of
clients and depends on their specialism, some will
not appear in court
Individual Client based But they work together with the solicitor who is
instructing them on the case, and the chambers
who receive the work
Appear in lower court General Practice But they can avoid this through selection etc.
Work in firms Advocate But solicitors may obtain higher rights of
audience and barristers must qualify for them

4. Should the two professions be more closely linked?

5. Generally, there
are four reasons
you might
complain:
Breach of contract
Negligence
The service you
have received (this
may include the bill
for solicitors)
Professional
misconduct

6. Complaint One:
Contractual
In instructing a solicitor you entering
a contract
Why is this so important?
If you don’t pay... they can sue you for
them
But
You may also have the right to take action
for breach of contract whether you are
the client, or are affected by the actions
of the solicitor
Griffiths v
Dawson (1993)
White v
Jones (1995)
Because a member of the public
does not ordinarily instruct a
barrister, there is no
contract between the client and
the lawyer.
Who should you complain to?

7. Negligence
You have to prove that you were owed a duty of reasonable care and skill, that the
duty has been breached and that you have suffered loss and damage as a result.
Hall v Simon 2000
Examples:
Missed time limits
Incorrect advice
Wrong drafting of documents
Inadequate service or bad advice
Solicitors Barristers
Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell
Co 1980

8. “Service Given”
Legal Services Act 2007
Student Task:
Read the enclosed articles, the leaflet and
answer the following questions in as
much detail as you can.
1. Who now oversees complaints about
lawyers?
2. Who should you complain to first
before going to the ombudsman?
3. What are the time limits on making a
complaint?
4. What type of thing can you complain
about?
5. What sort of thing can’t you complain
to them about?
6. What are their powers?

9. What have they got to say for
themselves?

10. What sort of issues do they actually cover?
Here’s a case example from the LeO to show you…
They’ve got better puns than Miss H!

11. What sort of issues do they actually cover?
Here’s a case example from the LeO to show you…
Adding insult to injury
Mr A tripped over a paving slab in the street and fell, hurting his knee badly and scarring his face. His accident
also left him feeling distressed and shaken up. He felt that he had fallen because of the wonky paving.
So he went to a solicitor to see if they could give him advice. He'd not used a solicitor before, so he told them
what happened and trusted them to keep him updated.
Mr A contacted his solicitor's office regularly to see if he needed to do anything and find out what was happening.
Over time he realised he hadn't heard anything from his solicitor for a long time. He didn't think too much about it
as they said they would get in touch when they needed to.
Two and a half years passed, and Mr A received a call from his solicitor. But instead of giving him an update, Mr A
was told that his file was 'misplaced' and, because of this, no work had been carried out on this case.
Mr A was upset and worried that he had lost his chance of seeking compensation for his injuries – instead of
things all being in hand, a long time had passed and he no longer had any of his evidence to support his claim. He
had taken some photos after his fall with an old mobile phone, and these were on the file. And the pavement had
since been repaired by the council.
He went a new solicitor to see what his options were. They advised that while they would try to pursue his claim, it
would be very hard without the evidence that had been gathered at the time of the accident.
Mr A complained to the first firm of solicitors. They admitted that they should have kept him up to date and
offered him £600 to acknowledge this. Mr A then came to us as he didn't feel that his first solicitor had
understood the impact of losing his file on him and his case. We looked into it, and, as a result, the first firm
acknowledged that the lack of work on Mr A's case had caused him a lot of distress. After speaking to us they
offered Mr A £750 in recognition of the impact their delays had had on him – and better still, after some hunting,
also managed to locate his file with original photographs, which would be forwarded to his new solicitor.

12. Professional Misconduct
For solicitors, this means a
breach of the ‘principles’...
For barristers, this means a
breach of the code of conduct
Firstly:
What kind of thing do you think is covered by this?
Secondly:
Please note that you can follow these routes even if the lawyer
is not yours
Thirdly:
There is a different route depending on the type of lawyer you
are (and you need to know both!)

13. Solicitors
1. Always start by
complaining
to....
2. Complete the
form.. With
evidence etc.
3. You may never
hear anything
more!
Refer to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
(Mix of lay and experienced solicitors)
Take actions against the individual or firm (including
shutting it down!)
Make payments if lost out due to dishonesty

14. Barristers
1. Contact them
within 12 months
2. Complete the
complaints form!
3. They assess it,
and let you know
what they think.
4. If necessary, will
carry out a
formal
investigation
Council of Inns of Court
Members including barristers,
judges and at least one lay member
Three or five members

15. So this is the summary of
complaints about a barrister...
Student task:
Can you produce a similar one for
the process of complaining about
a solicitor?

16. Can you apply your learning?
Reason your response using what you have learnt this lesson.
Your Great Aunt Betty has died. You were told that she had left
you her house, and have a letter which she sent to her solicitors
saying this, but her will was not updated.
Do you have an action?
You were involved in a nasty car accident. You instructed your
solicitor to take action, and they said that they would with a
maximum fee of £2000. However, they have sent you a bill for
£10,000 for work done.
Do you have an action?
You discover that the barrister who accepted instructions has no
experience in this complicated area of the law and is unfamiliar
with it. You have lost your case.
Do you have an action?
Your solicitor has asked a barrister for advice on the possible
submission of key evidence in your claim. The barrister
concluded that it was not valid. You have lost the case, but
discovered that the evidence was legally vaild.
Do you have an action?

17. Legal Services Act 2007
Reform of the law
In 2004, the Clementi report was published, which looked at how to update the legal profession,
to make sure it offered clients a better deal. It also looked at how to provide a clearer, more
independent complaints system. The LSA implemented some of those changes.
What did it propose?
Create an independent complaints service supervised by the Legal Services Board to supervise the
regulation of lawYERS.
New independent ombudsman heading the Office for Legal Complaints. (Now known as the Legal
Ombudsman)
The representative and regulatory functions are to be separated.
Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDP) & Alternative Business Structures [‘Tesco Law’] (ABS)

18. One recent development:
Alternative Business Structures
Allows lawyers and non-lawyers to set up businesses together.
Licence given out by BSB or SRA, and recommended to Lord
Chancellor
Will replace Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDP)
Student Task:
Read the enclosed article, use
your brain and answer the two
questions:
1. What is Tesco law?
2. What are the arguments for
and against the change to the
current structure?
Aim for at least three for each side.

19. Are each of the following
statements true or false?
Bonus: Can you tell me what the false
ones should say?
 You can only sue for breach of contract if
you signed the contract.
 The case which held that barristers are
liable for a bad job in court is Hall v Simon.
For negligence, the lawyer has to have
done something wrong.
 A barrister can be sued for breach of
contract
There are four ways to complain about
lawyers.