The number of complaints about solicitors and barristers decreased by 15% last year according to the body which deals with such complaints.
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority said it received 1,352 complaints in 2022, compared to 1,599 in 2021.
Most of the complaints were made about solicitors and the largest category of complaints received were about alleged misconduct.
Almost a third of the 861 complaints about misconduct related to conduct likely to bring the profession into disrepute, while 28% involved failing to comply with an undertaking given to a colleague or a financial institution.
There were also complaints related to a failure to communicate and a failure to hand over documents, while 60 complaints involved a failure to account for clients' money, and 32 involved alleged fraud or dishonesty.
Other categories of complaints received related to inadequate legal services and to excessive costs.
37% of the complaints received were made against lawyers based in Dublin while 11% related to Cork-based practitioners, 5% were in Limerick and 4% were in Galway.
The authority closed 1,483 complaints in 2022 and issued seven applications to the High Court for orders to enforce its directions against legal practitioners.
LSRA Chief Executive Dr Brian Doherty advised all lawyers to comply with the authority’s directions or face legal action. He said it should not be necessary for the LSRA to take such action as lawyers should comply with the directions of the regulator.
Failure to do so created unnecessary work, he said, slowing down the system and creating additional costs.
The LSRA’s annual report shows the number of practising barristers has increased. There were 2,957 barristers on the roll of practising barristers at the end of last year, an increase of 24 on 2021.
It says it intends to publish its report and recommendations relating to the challenges faced by legal professionals when they are starting out this year. It says it has also carried out analysis on the creation of a new profession of conveyancer following a request for such a report by the Minister for Justice in March 2021. Its final report on this is due this year.
The report also shows there has been an increase in the number of solicitors’ partnerships seeking authorisation to operate as Limited Liability Partnerships or LLPs.
This allows solicitors in a partnership to limit their personal liability and protect their personal assets if there is negligence by other partners.
