Complaints

Complaints

The SRA does not deal with complaints from members of the public about the service they receive from solicitors and/or law firms, although there are SRA requirements relating to complaints.

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is responsible for dealing with complaints about service made by individuals and small businesses or charities about legal service providers. LeO operates under its Scheme Rules.

Lexcel is the Law Society’s voluntary practice management standard. Lexcel includes requirements relating to your complaints handling procedure and analysis of complaints trends. The requirements of the Lexcel standard should be considered compulsory for firms that have or are working towards Lexcel accreditation; they are not compulsory for other firms although they provide an indicator of good practice.

The framework for managing complaints is therefore much broader than the requirements of the SRA.

Regulatory requirements

Regulatory requirements are set out in Practice Note: Complaints—law firms.

Regulatory requirements in relation to complaints cover five themes:

•
complaints handling procedure—see Practice Note: Handling complaints—law firms and Precedents:
1. ◦
  Internal complaints handling procedure—law firms

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