Dear Mr Stalker, [8]Lawscot
Foundation
 

Thank you for your email via whatdotheyknow.com which was received on 7 June 2018. The subject line indicates that you intended
lodge a Freedom of Information request. I would like to clarify that the Law Society of Scotland is not a public body and as such
is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. As an open and transparent organisation however we will
respond to requests for information where it is practicable for us to do so.

Firstly I understand we received correspondence from you intimating expressing your desire to raise a complaint against one of
our member firms in mid-May 2018. As per Section 33 of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland Act) 2007 we are required by
law to forward all complaints about the conduct or service of a Scottish solicitor and all accompanying materials to the Scottish
Legal Complaints Commission, which acts as the single gateway for all complaints against Scottish solicitors. Your letter has
therefore been forwarded to the SLCC and you have been informed of this by letter, sent in early June 2018. Please refer to this
correspondence for further details or contact our public communications team via [1][Law Society of Scotland request email] or on 0131 226 7411
(option 1) if you wish to discuss your individual complaint and the actions we have taken further.

Turning to your specific questions, we do not hold records of the volume of individual correspondence sent to us intimating
complaints. As per the above note, under Section 33 of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland Act) 2007 we are required by
law to forward all complaints about the conduct or service of a Scottish solicitor and all accompanying materials to the Scottish
Legal Complaints Commission. We do however hold figures on complaints referred to us by the SLCC for investigation.

The Law Society investigates conduct complaints against Scottish solicitors, but is not in a position to take further action
until such time as a complaint is referred to us for investigation by the SLCC. Information on the volume of conduct complaints
investigated annually is published in our annual report. The 2017 annual report is available via the following link:

[2]https://www.lawscot.org.uk/about-us/stra...

I believe the most relevant figures from this report are that 318 new investigations were opened in the 2017 operating year, 238
were closed, 131 suspended and there were 360 active investigations at year end. Over the operating year, 134 complaints were
rejected and 25 alleged cases of misconduct were referred for prosecution under the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal.

We recognise that regulation of legal services and the consumer experience of complaints could be significantly improved and that
the current system needs an urgent overhaul as it is overly complex, expensive and lacks proper oversight. For these reasons we
have pressed for a review of the legislation underpinning the regulation of legal services and have proactively engaged in the
review since it was commissioned. More information on our proposals, including a call for both the Law Society and the SLCC to be
able to accept complaints directly, can be found via our website at:

[3]https://www.lawscot.org.uk/research-and-...

Regards,

Tim Mouncer
 
Public Affairs Manager

The Law Society of Scotland

DD: 0131 476 8186

M: 07575 269470

[4]Description: APstandard_Email

From: Gordon C Stalker [mailto:[FOI #489777 email]]
Sent: 07 June 2018 9:31 AM
To: lawscot
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Self Regulation

Dear Law Society of Scotland,
At present you have the privilege of self regulation with regards to regulation of solicitors in Scotland. This is a public
responsibility. My experience is that you do not acknowledge letters or investigate complaints and are therefore not complying
with your public responsibilities.
Please advise how many complaints regarding Scottish solicitors you receive annually?
Of these what percentage do you reply to?
Of these what percentage result in any action being taken against a solicitor.

Yours faithfully,

Gordon C Stalker

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