Legal Personnel

 Legal personnel deal with all sorts of very sensitive issues and people have to trust them. Regulation helps to protect the public and ensures that legal personnel behave in an appropriate way. Barristers, solicitors and legal executives all have their own independent regulatory bodies. All of these bodies are overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The LSB is independent of Government and of the legal profession. It aims to bring consistency and clarity to the regulation of lawyers, with a sharp focus on the interests of the consumers of legal services. 

The General Council of the Bar represents the interests of barristers. It used to be responsible for hearing complaints about barristers. This meant there was a conflict in its roles, as it was both representing barristers and also trying to help clients who complained about barristers.  So the independent Bar Standards Board (BSB) was set up. The BSB regulates the profession of barristers. It sets out training and entry standards. It also sets out a Code of Conduct which barristers should comply with. For example, the Code says that a barrister must not knowingly or recklessly mislead a court. The BSB investigates any alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. It can discipline any barrister who is in breach of the Code. If the matter is serious it will be referred to an independent Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal can:

• a. reprimand the barrister
• b. impose a fine of up to £50,000
• c. suspend the barrister for a specified period
• d. in extreme cases, disbar (strike off) the barrister
• If the complainant is unhappy with the decision of the BSB, he or she may take the matter to the Legal Ombudsman (see below). 

The Law Society represents the interests of solicitors. It used to be responsible for hearing complaints about solicitors. This meant there was a conflict in its roles, as it was both representing solicitors and also trying to help clients who complained about solicitors.  So the independent Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) was set up. The SRA sets out a Code of Conduct and deals with complaints about professional misconduct of solicitors. The SRA will investigate the matter. If there is evidence of serious professional misconduct – e.g. making offensive comments about an opponent during court proceedings – it can put the case before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal can:

• a. reprimand the solicitor
• b. impose an unlimited fine
• c. suspend the solicitor for a specified period
• d. in extreme cases, strike off a solicitor from the Roll of Solicitors so that he or she is prevented from practising as a solicitor I
• If the complainant is unhappy with the decision of the SRA, he or she may take the matter to the Legal Ombudsman. 

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) represents the interests of legal executives. It sets out a Code of Conduct but regulation is done by the CILEx Regulation Board. The CILEx Regulation Board is an independent regulator and investigates complaints about legal executives. When an investigation is complete a summary of the issues is prepared and the matter is put to the Professional Conduct Panel for consideration. The Panel will decide if there has been misconduct – e.g. a legal executive has not respected client confidentiality. If there has been misconduct it may reprimand or warn the legal executive. It will refer serious matters to the Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal can:

• a. reprimand or warn the legal executive
• b. impose a fine of up to £100,000
• c. exclude the legal executive from membership of CILEx so they cannot practice

If the complainant is unhappy with the decision of the CILEx Regulation Board, he or she may take the matter to the Legal Ombudsman. 

The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against the handling of complaints by the BSB, SRA and CILEx Regulation Board. It can order the legal professional who was complained about to:

• a. apologise to the client
• b. give back any documents that the client might need
• c. put things right if more work can correct what went wrong
• d. refund or reduce the legal fees or 
• e. pay compensation of up to £30,000
• The main complaints made to the Legal Ombudsman include excessive legal fees, deficient information on how much work will cost, delay, failure to follow instructions and failure to keep the client informed.