Complaining about a solicitor - best way to go about it?

eve824

Sadly I am in the position where I feel the need to formally complain about the competency and behaviour of my conveyancing solicitor.
We are still going through the enquiries now, we've already had a few stern emails crossed and at this point I just want her to do her job and get us exchanged / completed. A combination of us asking on here and googling the enquiries we have has resulted in her asking for the right documents to enable us to proceed (we hope). 
When is the best timing to complain? Is it after completion? Or should we consider starting it now? I don't want any complaint to slow her down or make her more difficult than she has already been.

AdrianC

Where are you wanting to complain to?
To her employer?
To a regulatory body?

What do you want to get out of the complaint?

davidmcn

Assuming it's a large enough firm, passing the file to somebody else might be an easy way for them to keep you happy, in which case complain now.

Thrugelmir

What are you hoping to achieve by complaining?  Takes two to tango. 

steampowered

Have a look at the engagement letter you would have been sent at the start of the transaction, this should tell you how to raise a complaint.

If you are dealing with a firm of solicitors, you could complain to The Legal Ombudsman. However you will need to go through the firm's complaints process first.

If you are dealing with a firm of licensed conveyancers, the complaints process is a bit different.

greatcrested

Step 1 is always to follow the firm'spublished complaints procedure.

Step 2 is the relevant ombudsman (solicitor? Licenced Conveyancer?)

Complaining pre-Completion could further delay things.

But with a large firm, getting allocated a different solicitor might help - or might also delay things as the new guy catches up.

You've not said

* what the issue is other than things are going slower than you feel they should which is very common (ead the threads on this forum!)

* what you hope to achieve - compensation? How much? a faster service? see above. Getting the solicitor struck off? Unlikely.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor

https://www.clc-uk.org/consumers/reporting-problems/

eve824

I already know the complaints route. It's just the timing of it. I will probably wait until after completion unless we cannot actually resolve the outstanding enquiries and in which case I will be forced to ask for a different conveyancer. I am not sure how that would look to the rest of the chain and also whether that would delay things which is why I am resistant to go down that route at the moment.
What do I want to get out of it? I want to ensure that nobody else has to endure the same issues we have. I believe the solicitor requires additional training as she has been borderline incompetent at her job. She has also lied to us about a significant issue (can absolutely prove this). Just - not the sort of service you would expect in a nutshell.
I have not said it's due to her being slow (she hasn't been slow). In my original post I mentioned behaviour and competency as the reasons.

TBagpuss

eve824 said:

Sadly I am in the position where I feel the need to formally complain about the competency and behaviour of my conveyancing solicitor.
We are still going through the enquiries now, we've already had a few stern emails crossed and at this point I just want her to do her job and get us exchanged / completed. A combination of us asking on here and googling the enquiries we have has resulted in her asking for the right documents to enable us to proceed (we hope). 
When is the best timing to complain? Is it after completion? Or should we consider starting it now? I don't want any complaint to slow her down or make her more difficult than she has already been.

Stat now. IF you don't tell them of the issue and how you want them resolved, they can't fix them. 

• Follow the process in the terms of engagement and in your letter of complaint.

• be explicit about the particular issues (e.g. "I sent her document x,y, and z on 10th December, but she asked me for them again in January and indicted that it was causing delay" not "She's disorganized and loses things" )
• Where possible, be clear about how you want them to resolve the issue. e.g. do you want a discount, do you want the file to be transferred to someone more experienced, do you want specific assurances that correspondence will be sent to you within a certain timescale? Set out what you want them to do to fix things. If the problem is that things are not going as fast as you'd like, and you feel that she doesn't know what she is doing, say so, and ask for a breakdown of what the next steps are and what if any further information or documents are likely to be needed, and ask them to keep you better informed.

If you leave it to the end then they are going to be (legitimately) annoyed that you didn't give them the chance to address your issues when they could have done so, you're going to continue to be stressed for the rest of the transaction, and there's not going to be much they can do after the event to resolve things other than potentially offer an apology and a small discount.

Racky_Roo

I would also complain now as if you wait til the end, they won't do much and more things could go wrong between now and completion. I had to complain about mine and from then the rest of the sale and purchase was overseen by a senior Partner which was a good job as the conveyancer later on missed the fact I had 3 leases and not 2 and because of that the buyers solicitor was asking for a deed of variation. It could have lost me my sale had the senior Partner not picked this up

teachfast

Ignore those on here who try to imply it is your fault or dismiss your view. They do it to everyone who has an issue with their solicitor. 

My advice is complain now and, as Tbagpuss says above, keep it factual. Be sure to state the impact it is having on you, your family and your purchase, as well as the potential future implications. 

Even if your complaint does not help you now, it will strengthen your case later. 

When it is over, and depending on the firm's response to your case now and henceforth, consider further legal action. Also remember they run very scared of the review sites (but do not prejudice any case you may bring).

Good luck, and don't let your concerns be dismissed or downgraded. 

macman

It's the British way, isn't it? Suffer poor service in silence, or only complain about it to 3rd parties, who can do nothing to resolve it. Wait until the service or event has concluded, and only then complain to the provider, when the only redress can be financial.
Complaints about holiday accommodation invariably fall into this category too.