The Truth About Lawyer Complaints
The Law Society: A Misunderstood Authority
If you've ever considered filing a complaint against a lawyer, it's crucial to understand how the system actually works. Many self-represented litigants mistakenly believe that threatening to file a complaint with a lawyer's law society is an effective form of leverage. However, this is a misconception, as such a threat carries very little weight. The public widely believes the Law Society's purpose is to ensure lawyers behave appropriately and to reprimand those who act unethically. This is simply not the case. The Law Society's primary goal is to protect lawyers and its own image, not to discipline its members for misconduct.
The Complaints Department: A Public Relations Arm
The Law Society's complaints department functions as a public relations arm, not a disciplinary body. Its main purpose is to maintain public faith in lawyers, not to actually reprimand them. The existence and advertisement of this department are often enough for the public to believe, without evidence, that the Law Society is a self-correcting, independent organization. In reality, the department takes in complaints to create the appearance of doing its job, but rarely acts on them in any meaningful way.
The Process: Delays, Rejections, and Lack of Transparency
The process of filing a complaint is designed to be difficult and often fruitless. Complaints are frequently ignored for years, with the Law Society simply sitting on them and pretending to be doing something. When confronted, they'll often cite "privacy concerns" to avoid disclosing any information about the complaint's progress. Eventually, if you persist, they may issue a report years later, concluding that no reprimand or discipline is necessary. A significant number of complaints, specifically nine out of ten, are rejected outright as "groundless" within a few weeks or months. The Law Society isn't legally obligated to provide a reason for rejecting the complaint, they just do it.
The Law Society as a Private Membership Association
The Law Society is fundamentally a Private Membership Association (PMA). As a PMA, it is not bound by any regulations and can associate or disassociate with whomever it wants. The only restriction on a PMA is that it cannot cause "great substantive evil," which would violate natural law and lead to legal action for compensation. Therefore, as long as the Law Society isn't directly injuring someone, it can misrepresent its purpose, do nothing, or do what it wants. This is evident in the fact that many Law Societies, when asked what to do if you've been injured by a lawyer, will tell you to sue the lawyer instead of filing a complaint with them.
Conflicts of Interest: Funding and Self-Preservation
The Law Society's funding model creates a massive conflict of interest. It is funded by the dues that lawyers pay to be members. This gives the Law Society a vested interest in protecting and retaining its members. It wants to keep the number of practicing lawyers high, as this means more money for the organization. Punishing lawyers for bad behavior is contrary to this interest because it could reduce the number of members and discourage other lawyers who might be concerned about their own daily actions. The Law Society, therefore, has a self-fulfilling interest in protecting lawyers rather than disciplining them.
The Disconnect Between Perception and Reality
There's a significant disconnect between what the Law Society advertises and what it actually does. It claims to manage and control lawyers' ethical conduct, but in reality, it only manages public perception. The public's false assumptions about the roles of lawyers and the Law Society allow lawyers to get away with almost anything. Lawyers even break the law on a near-daily basis without being held accountable, often even for criminal negligence. The wealthiest and most influential lawyers, who are often the ones engaging in the worst behavior, make large donations to the right people, further perpetuating this system. Ultimately, the Law Society's job is to protect its own image and standing in society, not to correct the bad behavior of its members.