More than 100 complaints of excessive legal costs upheld by regulator
More than 100 complaints of excessive legal costs, most relating to family law and litigation costs, were upheld by the legal services regulator last year.
A 14 per cent rise in complaints about legal practitioners to the regulator last year was largely due to a high volume of complaints by banks alleging failures by solicitors to comply with undertakings, the report of the
Legal Services Regulatory Authority
(LSRA) for 2024 also disclosed.
Published on Thursday, the report said 143 of the more than 1,400 complaints finalised against legal practitioners last year were upheld, while more than 40 per cent were inadmissible.
Of the complaints upheld by the regulator's complaints committee, 107 related to legal services and excessive costs, of which more than 60 per cent related to costs of litigation and family law. The remaining 36 of those upheld related to alleged misconduct.
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Fifty-seven complaints of alleged misconduct were referred by the committee to the separate Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal because the authority cannot itself make findings of misconduct against legal practitioners.
The LSRA has since 2020 received and investigated three types of complaints about solicitors and barristers – relating to alleged misconduct, inadequate legal services and excessive costs (overcharging). Some are mixed complaints and the vast number are against solicitors, reflecting the higher number of solicitors and their greater level of contact with clients.
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It received 1,476 complaints last year, up 14 per cent on the 2023 figure, of which 1,410 related to solicitors and 66 to barristers.
More than half, 762 (52 per cent), alleged misconduct only, 350 (24 per cent) alleged inadequate standards of legal services, mostly relating to litigation and conveyancing, and 23 (1 per cent) were from clients relating to excessive costs (overcharging).
The remaining 341 complaints (23 per cent) were complaints on mixed grounds, of which 262 included an allegation of misconduct, 328 of inadequate services and 147 of excessive costs.
Most complaints, 600 (41 per cent) concerned legal professionals practising in Co Dublin, 146 (10 per cent) related to Cork-based legal practitioners, 66 to Limerick and 53 to Kerry. Multiple complaints may be brought against an individual practitioner.
Of the 1,474 complaints closed last year, 621 (41 per cent) were closed on inadmissibility grounds. A total of 143 complaints (10 per cent) were upheld and 182 (12 per cent) were not upheld.
A further 324 complaints were resolved between the parties, including 62 with assistance of the LSRA's mediators. The LSRA made 18 successful applications to the High Court for orders to enforce its directions in complaints against legal practitioners.
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The authority's chief executive Dr Brian Doherty said it was 'encouraging' more than one in five of all closed complaints were resolved between the parties, including with assistance of the regulator's complaints staff and trained mediators.
While informal resolution may not be appropriate in every type of complaint, the evidence is that informal resolution 'can be a very effective and efficient way for both parties to work through their issues or disputes', he said.
The report noted continued growth in 2024 in partnerships of solicitors seeking to operate as Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs). A total of 26 LLPs were authorised by the LSRA during the year, bringing to 509 the number authorised since November 2019 when LLPs were introduced.
The number of barristers continues to increase. A total of 3,071 barristers were on the Roll of Practising Barristers by the end of 2024, up 20 on the previous year. Of these, 2,134 were members of the Law Library and 937 were practising outside of the Law Library.
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