Solicitors and barristers ordered to pay €45,000 in compensation in past six months

Legal clients who had complaints about services and costs upheld by the regulator for solicitors and barristers received more than €45,000 in compensation in the past six months, according to a new report.

In a report examining complaints about inadequate legal services, excessive costs and alleged misconduct, the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) said it had received 637 complaints from September 2nd to March 1st, with 796 complaints closed.

Both those figures are largely in line with the previous six months, when the LSRA had closed 671 complaints and received 655 complaints.

Overall, legal practitioners were directed by the LSRA to pay a total of €45,111 in compensation to their clients in the reporting period.

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A total of 607 complaints related to solicitors and 30 to barristers, reflecting the higher number of solicitors and their greater level of contact with consumers.

Six in 10 complaints were about alleged misconduct, while 20 per cent related to legal services of an inadequate standard.

A total of 796 complaints were closed in this reporting period. These included 414 inadmissible complaints and 131 complaints resolved with the assistance of the LSRA, while there were 69 complaints upheld and 72 that were not upheld.

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Seven complaints of alleged misconduct were referred by the complaints committee of the LSRA to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

The report also details High Court enforcement activities against solicitors who did not comply with its directions or determinations in complaints made against them.

These included a total of 15 pre-action letters that were issued to legal practitioners seeking their compliance with LSRA directions or determinations within a set period, failing which High Court proceedings would issue.

Three enforcement proceedings were issued seeking orders from the High Court directing compliance by legal practitioners with LSRA directions and determinations.

Six enforcement proceedings against legal practitioners came before the High Court. Of these, four matters concluded within the reporting period, with the legal practitioners complying with the LSRA’s directions or determinations.

LSRA chief executive Dr Brian Doherty said the report highlighted “once again” the small number of instances where a High Court enforcement order has been granted and legal practitioners have still not complied.

“In these instances, the LSRA has had to resort to applying to the High Court for leave to issue orders of attachment or committal, which in effect puts legal practitioners at risk of being put in prison unless they comply with the High Court,” he said.

“These court applications and the resulting cost would not be necessary if the legal practitioners concerned would just comply with the directions or determinations made by the LSRA in the first place.

“No benefit is gained by a legal practitioner through not complying, and by not doing so they are simply putting the LSRA to further effort and expense, and for the complainant they are adding to the mounting frustration.”

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