Looking beyond the horizon

Date: 11 July 2008
Authors: Zahida Manzoor
Issue: Vol 158, Issue 7329
Categories: Opinion

With major changes ahead the Law Society cannot afford to be complacent in its approach to complaints handling, says Zahida Manzoor

The service provided by the Law Society's complaints handling arm—the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)—to consumers and the profession has improved over the last three years. This is in the large part the result of them working to the targets that I set and improvement plans I have required. More acknowledgement letters are now sent within five working days, more consumers are receiving regular updates on how their case is progressing, and more complaints are dealt with (and closed) in under a year. This is good news for the consumer—but importantly also for the profession who pays for this service.

But let's get down to the basics. It is hard to ignore that many of the improvements have been in administrative processes; those that users would rightly expect from any profession's complaint handling organisation. This “process focus” was in part the result of the low level of service the Law Society was providing on complaints in 2004 and against which the targets baselines had to be set. It has taken three years to stabilise the basics and get this far, but, the LCS and the SRA's overall performance is now at a level that provides a solid platform for moving forward and addressing core issues in 2008–09.

As a result, late last month, I announced that despite the Law Society missing five targets and its failure to act in accordance with its 2007–08 Complaints Handling Plan that I will not impose a penalty. Incidentally, my decision to recognise the progress that has been made is an entirely separate issue from the £275,000 penalty I imposed in early June on the Law Society for its 2008–09 Plan. The penalty was about future performance and the Law Society's reluctance to build on past performance, improve and move forward.

The fact that the LCS and SRA are now on the road to where they should be and are travelling in the right direction in terms of improving their quality of service does not mean they have arrived in terms of effective and efficient complaints handling. Progress, yes. Arrival, no.
Changes Ahead

There is also a bigger picture to look at with major changes on the horizon in terms of legal complaint handling.

The new Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is due to open late 2010 and it is likely that the LCS will close at around that time. My office will also close in March 2010. This means firstly, the legal profession and the Law Society is now working within a relatively short timeframe in which to ensure the LCS is effective and efficient. And secondly, one of my priorities in the time remaining is to support this work and ensure that the risk of LCS slipping back on standards is minimised.

The legal profession and consumers cannot run the risk of the LCS allowing backlogs to rise or standards in complaint handling to decline. You may question why it is important to continue the drive to make the LCS as efficient and effective as possible when the Law Society is losing its complaints handling responsibility. Improving LCS efficiency and effectiveness will minimise potential problems for the OLC and, in turn, minimise the financial and reputation risk for the legal profession and protect consumer interests.

In the short term, consumers and legal professionals will be relying on the LCS for probably another two years to provide them with a high quality and consistent complaints handling service.

It is likely in this time another 40,000 consumers could have their complaints handled by the LCS. These consumers must not receive a lesser standard of service as a consequence of the future improvements planned for legal complaints handling. Standards must be maintained and where necessary improved. Each consumer will expect—as should we—that his case will be dealt with effectively and efficiently.

The fact that the OLC will be a new and independent legal complaints handling organisation is to be welcomed. But there are short-term risks that we must all be aware of and be ready to address. My target setting and effective monitoring will help keep the LCS's eye on the ball.

The better the complaints handling performance of the LCS can become, the more we can minimise potential problems for the OLC—including the amount of legacy work it could inherit.

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