Editor's blog | Building on the foundations

Lawyers are getting away with shoddy service because consumers either do not dare complain or are not aware of their right to complain, according to the latest joint report published last week by the Legal Ombudsman and Consumer Panel.

Worse still, the report says, some firms hide behind what comes across as legal jargon and make it so difficult for clients that they do not take their complaints further.

Reading the report, many will no doubt feel that yet again lawyers are being unfairly picked on. There is certainly an element of finger pointing on the part of the report’s authors. Lawyers are blamed for failing to inform clients about their right to complain, set out a complaints procedure, or act professionally when a complaint is received.

If your firm is among the many that do have a transparent and professional complaints procedure in place, you will feel aggrieved by the thought of being tarred by the same brush as those that don’t.

But there is a more useful way of looking at the report’s findings. The authors themselves say so – and they are right: “Good complaints handling builds reputation and benefits legal service providers”. LeO even says that their previous experience shows that “in many cases complaints are not justified”.

Although this latter comment sits oddly with LeO’s first ‘name and shame’ figures last month, which identified 770 firms investigated following client complaints, the positive outcomes that can flow from client-friendly complaints handling procedures is what firms should reflect on.

It may sound counter-intuitive but complaints handling should be built into the whole of the service offered to clients. Respond to complaints promptly and in a cooperative way and you will retain your client’s respect and trust. And because word of mouth and personal recommendations count for so much when it comes to leads generation on the high street, you need to treat each client with the greatest care possible, including and particularly if they complain.

If you think this is too fluffy, consider this: organisations like Saga or the Co-op will be taking the veneer off the art of law. Their brand could live or die based on the quality of their service, so they will take complaints handling seriously. They will be setting new standards and this will put unprecedented pressure on law firms. I am not convinced that one day law firms will be replaced by supermarkets. Equally, law firms can no longer regard complaints handling as a costly, burdensome and time-consuming process that they would rather ignore.