Legal practitioners directed to pay €88,300 to clients in compensation

First of LSRA themed reports focuses on family law with lessons for lawyers and clients

 

Press Release:  Thursday 24 April 2025

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) today publishes its first complaints report for 2025 which shows it received 829 complaints in a six month period, with 839 complaints closed.

The report provides details of the number and nature of complaints about legal practitioners (solicitors and barristers) received and investigated during the reporting period of 7 September 2024 to 7 March 2025.

Overall, legal practitioners were directed by the LSRA to pay a total of €88,300 in compensation to their clients in the reporting period. In addition, legal practitioners were directed to refund or waive a total of €12,982 in fees.

Total complaints received
The LSRA can receive and investigate three types of complaint; about inadequate legal services, excessive costs (overcharging) and misconduct. In the reporting period, the LSRA’s Complaints and Resolutions Unit received a total of 829 complaints. A total of 801 related to solicitors and 28 related to barristers, reflecting the higher number of solicitors and their greater level of contact with consumers. Multiple complaints may be brought against an individual legal practitioner. Of the total:

  • 453 complaints (55%) were about alleged misconduct only.
  • 179 complaints (22%) related only to legal services of an inadequate standard.
  • 13 complaints (2%) came under the category of excessive costs (overcharging).
  • 184 complaints (22%) were mixed complaints, with a combination of misconduct, inadequate legal services and excessive costs.


Total complaints closed and outcomes
The 839 complaints closed in this reporting period include:

  • 290 (33%) inadmissible complaints.
  • 244 (29%) complaints resolved with the assistance of the LSRA, including 27 complaints resolved in the LSRA’s Informal Resolution process with the help of its trained mediators.
  • 96 (11%) upheld complaints.
  • 108 (13%) not upheld complaints.
  • 41 (5%) of complaints of alleged misconduct were referred by the Complaints Committee of the LSRA to the separate Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

LSRA High Court enforcement activities
The report details the LSRA’s High Court enforcement activities against solicitors who did not comply with its directions or determinations in complaints made about them. During the six month period covered in the report:

  • A total of 18 pre-action letters were issued to legal practitioners seeking their compliance with LSRA directions or determinations within a set time period of time.
  • Nine enforcement proceedings were issued seeking orders from the High Court directing compliance by legal practitioners with LSRA directions or determinations.
  • The LSRA obtained 13 High Court orders.

Focus on Family Law complaints themes and lessons
Today’s report has a focus on the area of Family Law with themes, case studies and lessons for legal practitioners and the public that have emerged from complaints in that area. Future LSRA complaints reports will focus on the legal services areas of Conveyancing, Probate and Wills, and Litigation.

On publishing today’s report, the LSRA’s Chief Executive Dr Brian Doherty said:

“In this report we focus on the area of family law. That is not to say that family law attracts a disproportionate number of complaints when compared to other areas of law; in fact, family law complaints make up only around 7% of the total complaints received by the LSRA.

“In focusing on this one area of law and the complaints that we have received, we hope to provide information that will assist legal practitioners and clients alike. To that end, we highlight the need for solicitors to provide clear and ongoing information in relation to their costs to their clients in family law proceedings. Based on the complaints received, this is a clear area where legal practitioners could improve their communications.

“For clients, we stress the need to provide clear instructions, preferably in a single document, and to avoid multiple or repetitious emails to their solicitors which may in fact increase the costs incurred. We also emphasise the pressure and impact that family law proceedings can have on the parties to the proceedings as well as their legal practitioners, and advise legal practitioners to be mindful of their own well-being to avoid burn out.”

 

ENDS

Note to Editors:

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority is an independent statutory body set up under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 with a range of functions. These include regulating the provision of legal services by legal practitioners (barristers and solicitors) and ensuring the maintenance and improvement of standards in the provision of legal services. The LSRA began receiving and investigating complaints about legal practitioners on 7 October 2019. Today’s report is the LSRA’s eleventh bi-annual complaints handling report.

This report is available here: Independent Complaints Handling: Complaints about Solicitors and Barristers Report 1-2025