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  1. Home
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  5. 2023-24 Annual Report Our statistics

Our statistics

We analyse statistics on our caseload to monitor and report on our performance and to identify and share trends in complaints.
Complaints about lawyers and law firms

How many complaints did we receive and how many complaints did we close?

Group:

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Complaints still open from previous year

554

486

388

New complaints received

1385

1281

1159

Complaints reopened

38

70

72

Complaints closed at all stages

1318

1183

1158

Complaints open at end of year

659

587

459

*There are some complaints that may be opened or closed for other reasons, this is why the numbers here to do not reconcile completely.

What process stage were complaints closed at?

Stage:

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Prematurity

118

133

162

Eligibility (including accepted conduct)

734

701

646

Mediation

89

57

80

Investigation

245

203

137

Determination

132

123

133

Who were the complaints about?

Solicitors or firms of solicitors

  • 1359 complaints we received were about solicitors or firms of solicitors (1263 in 2022/23)
  • 567 complaints we accepted for investigation were about solicitors or firms of solicitors (490 in 2022/23)
  • 563 complaints we did not accept for investigation (including at prematurity stage) were about solicitors or firms of solicitors (563 in 2022/23)

Advocates

  • 12 complaints we received were about advocates (14 in 2022/23)
  • 9 complaints we accepted for investigation were about advocates (4 in 2022/23)
  • 8 complaints we did not accept for investigation (including at prematurity stage) were about advocates (10 in 2022/23)

There were no complaints against commercial attorneys (members of the Association of Commercial Attorneys).

Outcomes at eligibility stage

Once a complaint has been made to us, we will then assess whether or not it is a complaint that we can accept for further investigation. We may also be able to negotiate a settlement between the complainer and the lawyer or firm before a formal decision to accept or reject – if the complaint doesn’t raise serious conduct issues.

How many complaints did we accept, reject or resolve at the eligibility stage? 

Eligibility outcome

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Complaints accepted for investigation

664

491

496

Complaints rejected for investigation

147

182

222

Complaints resolved before a decision to accept/reject

301

284

252

Complaints withdrawn or discontinued before a decision to accept/reject

99

107

54

Chart summarising the table grouped by eligibility outcome with bars for each sub-type

(FVTWM stands for ‘frivolous, vexatious or totally without merit’).

What kind of complaints did we accept for investigation?

Accepted type

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Service complaints accepted for an investigation by the SLCC

417

291

324

Conduct complaints accepted for an investigation by the Law Society of Scotland or the Faculty of Advocates

153

127

113

Hybrid complaints where the service parts are investigated by the SLCC. The conduct parts are investigated by the Law Society of Scotland or the Faculty of Advocates

103

73

59

What formal, appealable decisions to reject complaints for investigation did we make?

Reject type

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

The whole complaint was made after the time limit

16

16

21

The whole complaint was ‘frivolous, vexatious or totally without merit’

91

112

146

Some parts were after the time limit. The rest were ‘frivolous, vexatious or totally without merit’

6

13

8

The complaint wasn’t about a regulated legal practitioner in Scotland

34

41

45

What complaints were closed before a decision to accept or reject?

Close type

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Resolved (see below for details)

301

284

252

Withdrawn (see below for details)

59

79

33

Discontinued (see below for details)

40

28

21

What these terms mean/accepted service complaints

Chart summarising the outcome service and hybrid complaints, grouped by stage.  The bars are individual outcomes within each process

Outcome

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Both sides agreed a settlement at a meeting with the help of an independent mediator

66

40

67

Both sides agreed a settlement with the help of the SLCC’s mediation co-ordinator

21

17

11

A further 2 complaints were closed at mediation stage.

How successful were mediations?

Outcome

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Both sides agreed to a mediation meeting

26%

27%

40%

The mediation meeting was successful

66%

67%

76%

How were complaints settled at the investigation stage?

At investigation stage, an SLCC investigator will work with both parties to agree a settlement to the complaint.

This can be the settlement recommended by the investigator in a detailed investigation report, for example, to uphold the complaint, to pay compensation or refund fees, or a recommendation to not uphold the complaint and take no action.

The investigator can also help agree a settlement before they’ve written the report.

Other times, a settlement is agreed after the investigation, but on different terms to the investigation report.

Outcome

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Settlement agreed before the investigation report

59

63

44

Settled as recommended by investigation report

107

85

48

Settlement agreed after the investigation report on different terms

46

36

16

Withdrawn by complainer or discontinued by the SLCC due to lack of contact from the complainer

33

19

29

How were complaints decided on at the determination stage?

If one or both of the parties don’t agree to the investigation report, the complaint will be passed to a determination committee. This is a committee of three of our Commissioners, which looks at the complaint and makes a binding decision on whether it should be upheld as inadequate professional service.

Outcome

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

Whole complaint was upheld by the determination committee

12

28

17

Parts of the complaint were upheld by the determination committee

42

40

49

None of the complaint was upheld by the determination committee

78

55

67

What were the outcomes of appeals against the SLCC’s decisions at the eligibility and determination stages?

Decisions to accept or reject complaints at eligibility and determination committee decisions are appealable to the Court of Session.

Outcome Eligibility Determination Total
In progress at the start of the year

3

1

4

Received

11*

6*

17

Won

8*

4*

12

Lost

1

1

2

Conceded

2

0

2

In progress at year end

3

2

5

*We received two appeals that were about both the eligibility decision and the determination decisions. These have been counted as separate appeals for recording reasons.

Other types of complaints

What happened with handling complaints about the professional bodies?

We also receive complaints about the way the professional bodies carry out conduct investigations.

Outcome Law Society of Scotland Faculty of Advocates Total
In progress at the start of the year

2

1

3

New

19*

0

19

Rejected - with reason

4

0

4

Closed on report

3

1

4

Directed by determination committee

5*

0

5

In progress at the end of the year

9*

1

9

*There were two groups of 5 complaints from the same two complainers affecting these numbers.

What were the outcomes of complaints about our service?

We received 21 complaints about the way we’d handled a complaint made to us. These ‘service delivery complaints’ are dealt with by a manager who has not been involved with the case. If these aren’t resolved, or the person complaining isn’t happy with the response at ‘stage 1’, they are escalated to a senior manager for ‘stage 2’.

 Service delivery complaint outcomes

Outcomes Stage 1 Stage 2
Upheld

3

Partly Upheld

2

1

Not upheld

11

4

Total SDCs

16

5

Freedom of Information and data protection

How did the SLCC deal with Freedom of Information enquiries made?

We are a public authority under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. We received 16 requests for information during our year.

Requests and responses

Outcome Number
Requests received in year

16

Requests responded to on time in year

16

Requests dealt with in year

Outcome Number
Disclosed all information

8

Disclosed some information

2

Information not disclosed

4

Refused to confirm or deny whether the information was held

1

We didn’t hold the information

1

Exemptions used in year

Exemption Number of times used
The information was otherwise accessible

2

Disclosure prohibited under another enactment (e.g. section 43 of our legislation)

2

Substantial prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs 2
Third party personal data

1

Reviews of our responses to Freedom of Information requests

  • There were 2 FOISA reviews.

Data protection

We received 14 Subject Access Requests.

2023-24 Annual Report Our contribution to national performance
Our annual report
2023-24 Annual Report CEO’s closing remarks

Additional

In this section

  • 2023-24 Annual Report Chair Foreword
  • 2023-24 Annual Report CEO’s introduction
  • 2023-24 Annual Report The SLCC at a glance
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our 2020-24 strategy
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our Board
  • 2023-24 Annual Report SLCC Consumer Panel
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our performance and improvement
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our customer service and accessibility
  • 2023-24 Annual Report You said, we did
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our oversight and outreach work
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our work on policy and reform
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our organisation
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our people
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our contribution to national performance
  • 2023-24 Annual Report Our statistics
  • 2023-24 Annual Report CEO’s closing remarks
  • Previous annual reports
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