THE LAW Society has decided to give up its control of dealing with client complaints and has recommended that all such complaints should in the future be made to and dealt with by an independent body, the society said.
In a letter from its president, Donald Binchy, it announced the “fundamental change in the society’s position” in order to address the public perception that solicitors should not adjudicate on client complaints against members of the society, as it has done for almost 150 years.
Under the proposed Legal Services Regulation Bill, which was debated in the Dáil this week, a new complaints committee, independent of the legal professions, will be set up, the majority of whose members will be nominated by the Minister for Justice.
The Bill also proposes a legal services regulatory authority, which will be responsible for regulating admission to the profession, legal education and training and drawing up of codes of conduct.
It includes a number of regulatory functions at present carried out by the Law Society, especially with regard to the requirements on solicitors to maintain proper accounts and protect clients’ money.
This new authority is strenuously opposed by the Law Society, which has argued that the nomination of two-thirds of its members by the Minister compromises the independence of the legal profession.
The letter from Mr Binchy does not modify the society’s position on the regulatory authority.
Referring to its concession that the society should give up the handling of client complaints, Mr Binchy said this was “not because of any inadequacies in the existing system, but because of the need to address the public perception that solicitors should not adjudicate upon complaints against member of their own profession.
“The society believes that its complaints-handling has always been conducted to the highest standards of fairness and objectivity.”
He said the society was fully committed to constructive engagement with Minister for Justice Alan Shatter regarding the Bill.