News
Complaints about solicitors are being handled more quickly but concerns about the quality of complaints handling continue to rankle, says legal services complaints commissioner, Zahida Manzoor.
In her third annual report—Cycle of Change—covering the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007, the commissioner says there has been mixed performance against the plan she laid down for the Law Society’s Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) this year.
She says: “It concerns me that some complaints are not being handled in line with the Law Society’s own policies. It is important that quality accompanies timeliness, and any shortcomings here are improved to impact on the overall service being provided to the consumer and the profession.”
On 12 June the commissioner told the LCS and the SRA that they had missed a number of the targets she had set for 2006–07. She also advised them of her provisional decision that they have not handled complaints in accordance with the plan submitted to her. Both bodies now have an opportunity to present their version of events to the commissioner before she decides whether or not to levy a penalty.
