The duty in context
Complaints procedure and handling client
The lawyer must maintain a complaints procedure, tell clients at the outset how to complain (including to any ombudsman), and handle complaints promptly, fairly and free of charge.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 8.2; CCS 8.3; CCS 8.5 strong 110 cases
8.2 You ensure that, as appropriate in the circumstances, you either establish and maintain, or participate in, a procedure for handling complaints in relation to the legal services you provide. 8.3 You ensure that clients are informed in writing at the time of engagement about: (a) their right to complain ... (c) any right they have to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman ... 8.5 You ensure that complaints are dealt with promptly, fairly, and free of charge.
SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC99; rC104; rC105; rC108 strong 4 cases
rC99 You must notify clients in writing when you are instructed ... .1 of their right to make a complaint, including their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (if they have such a right), how, and to whom, they can complain, and of any time limits for making a complaint; rC104 All complaints must be acknowledged promptly.
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.4.5 strong
An attorney-at-law shall have a written complaints procedure and ensure that complaints are handled promptly, fairly and in accordance with that procedure. Clients shall be told at the outset of a matter or the client relationship of the complaints procedure
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules no clear equivalent
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch2 — Complaints strong 65 cases
A solicitor should have a dispute-resolution procedure in place for dealing with complaints, which should be communicated to the client. The client should be advised of any actions that will be taken in relation to the matter that is the subject of a complaint.
Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics no clear equivalent
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.1.6 strong
Members must have a written complaints procedure and ensure that complaints are handled promptly, fairly and in accordance with that procedure. Clients must be told at the outset of the matter or the client relationship how to complain.
Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct no clear equivalent
BC Lawyers BC Code no clear equivalent
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 11.5 / r 3.4(d) strong
A lawyer practising on their own account must ensure that the lawyer's law practice establishes and maintains appropriate procedures for handling complaints by clients with a view to ensuring that each complaint is dealt with promptly and fairly by the law practice.
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 6.01 Commentary 9 partial
In no circumstances can a solicitor exclude his liability for professional misconduct. Furthermore, a solicitor may not seek an agreement from his client to refrain from making a complaint about his professional misconduct.
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
Cases dealing with this duty
210 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern
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Anthony Burns
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Chinwe Uzo Chikwendu; Undiga Emuekpere
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Davina Charlton
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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Kate Jane Austen
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Brenton John Miegel
Delayed administering a deceased estate for 10 years which diminished the public’s confidence in the administration of justice and brought the profession into disrepute. Failed to respond adequately and in a timely mann…
Multiple Disciplinary Action Conditions on Practising Certificate Fine Make a payment Refrain from doing something Reprimand View decision -
Grubisa, Dominique
Proceedings no. 2022/00387737 (First Application) 1. Mrs Grubisa was the principal of a law practice which had lay associates who were disqualified persons under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) and who were not a…
Costs Order recommending removal of lawyer's name from the Roll of Australian Lawyers $0.00 Proceedings Instituted 1 PDF View decision -
Elizabeth Jane Radcliffe
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Kerrison, Robert Francis
Lawyer failed to comply with a notice issued pursuant to s 371 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Uniform Law), the Lawyer is the subject of unresolved complaints, the Lawyer’s practising certificate was previously su…
Refusal to issue Practising Certificate for the practising period ending 30 June 2026 $0.00 Specified Duration: Manager appointed for a period of 2 years Manager Appointed: Yes Manager Appointed View decision -
Imran Haider Khawaja
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Failures, SRA Principles 2019
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Claire Letitia Parry
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Craig Cooper; Erich Kurtz
Code of Conduct 2011, SRA Principles 2011
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Samira Mohamed Seth
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Failures, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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David Ebert LLP
Authorisation of Individuals Regulations 2019, Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Sean Garvin Moses Osbourne
Struck off, Restitution ordered | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered January 26, 2024. | Guilty of Professional Misconduct | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered November 03, 2023. | Formal Order View PDF SA…
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Andrew Lynsey Jones
Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2011
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Andrew John Chatterton
Breaches, Failures
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John Anthony Thompson
Guilty of Professional Misconduct | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered May 17, 2023. || Reprimanded, Reimbursement ordered, Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered October 30, 2023. View PDF DECISION OF…
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James Alexander Howard
Breaches
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Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.