How much do law firms care about complaints?

[Notbuiltforheat]

I used a solicitor for a big standard transaction. Then turns out there was a complication in the transaction that should have been spotted, so it was handed to a different department, and handled by a senior associate. He was awful, terrible comms, refused to enact perfectly reasonable instruction in a time bound situation and I felt I had been left legally exposed. I complained formally, a partner wrote to me admitting that their service had fallen well below expected standards.

So I asked them to consider their bill, which, having sent for my client file, included me being charged for time that my solicitor was in a disciplinary meeting about my case!

The law firm revived my complaint 5 months ago. I went to the LeO in between and started a case with them. Law firm wrote back 2 months ago admitting they’d been slow to look into things, but they’d have it sorted by last week. They’ve finally responded today asking for another month to investigate! I’ve already copied them in on all my LeO correspondence but they’d seem not to give a stuff! Is this normal for law firms? They know the LeO has a massive backlog and their bill was only a few grand but they’ve left me with an unresolved issue.

Anyone?

well general professional standards seem to be on the floor

And billing you for someone’s disciplinary meeting is absolutely insane.

I helped somebody complain about the service she got from a solicitor, conveyancing, and she did get a substantial chunk of her fee back. However, the firm closed down, so they obviously knew everything was falling apart.

The partner has admitted that they have fallen below standards so I would say that you should focus on communicating with that person and tell them you expect a speedy resolution. What is the resolution you want? I presume it’s as much money back as realistically possible.

could you escalate this to the SRA?

editing to add - i’ve had more dealings with solicitors than I would like over the last couple of years through no fault of my own. One was really good, but there is a lot of arse covering and just generally really low standards going on. It doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the law at all. We’re in a really weird place in the UK where nobody seems to do their job and systems are all built to defend industries but not customers.

You should complain to the Legal Ombudsman https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/how-to-complain/

@ChilliPotato if you read her post, you will see she has already done this.

Oh yes 😂

OP, have you actually paid the bill or is it outstanding? Is the legal issue now resolved?

Agree. Complaints are seen as paperwork to process and close, rather than data about areas of improvement. Escalation to the LeO is hit and miss, though I think they do try.

The SRA won't care as they'll consider it a service, not a conduct issue.

OP the partner admitting service wasn't up to scratch is a good thing, but similar to a PP above I have helped a few people with complaints. The process is long, and concessions are given reluctantly. I hope the outcome is good for you, but you'll probably still feel short changed by the end given the amount of time and work involved in complaining!