Legal Services Commissioner
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Our performance
This page provides information on complaints handled by the Legal Services Commissioner between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009.
On this page:
Enquiries to the Legal Service Commissioner
Complaint files opened
Complaints about legal practitioners
What did people complain about?
Areas of law commonly complained about
Enquiries to the Legal Service Commissioner
The Legal Services Commissioner provides a free enquiries service to assist the public with their questions about making a complaint. Enquiries can be made by telephone, in writing or in person.
The Legal Services Commissioner received 5,456 enquiries between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009.
Complaint files opened
The Legal Services Commissioner received 2,057 new complaints between 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. A complaint may involve a civil complaint, a disciplinary complaint or a mixture of both.
The following table shows the number of complaints received by type of complaint.
| Complaint Type | Total |
| Civil | 539 |
| Disciplinary | 1,196 |
| Mixed | 322 |
| Total | 2,057 |
Complaints about legal practitioners
The Legal Services Commissioner received:
- 1,946 complaints that concerned solicitors; and
- 111 complaints about barristers in this period.
The following table shows the number of complaints received about solicitors and barristers by complaint type.
| Practitioner type | Civil Complaint | Disciplinary complaint | Mixed | Total |
| Solicitor | 525 | 1,110 | 311 | 1,946 |
| Barrister | 14 | 86 | 11 | 111 |
What did people complain about?
The following table shows the top six issues complained about between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009. A number of issues may be raised in a single complaint.
For a full list of the issues raised in complaints, download the 2009 Annual Report from the Publications page.
| Issue | No. |
| Costs/bills | 938 |
| Negligence (including bad case handling) |
444 |
| Other disciplinary isses | 285 |
| Communication (including failure to return calls) |
192 |
| Dishonest/misled | 137 |
| Trust money (including failure to account, mismanagement of funds) | 134 |
Areas of law commonly complained about
The following table shows the top five areas of law that featured in the complaints.
For a full list of the areas of law that featured in the complaints, download the 2009 Annual Report from the Publications page.
| Area of law | No. |
| Family/defacto | 464 |
| Probate and estate | 232 |
| Other | 195 |
| Commercial | 188 |
| Conveyancing | 184 |
For more information about complaints made to the Legal Services Commissioner between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009 download the 2009 Annual Report from the Publications page.