The increase in application numbers created a proportionate increase in the workload of the registry team and the branches, the report read. The Law Society said it is prioritising investment in the registry to improve the efficiency of the Law Society's registry functions and functionality for users in the future.
Complaints by the numbers
As a result of changes made to the Lawyers Conduct and Client Care Rules in July last year, the Law Society has seen an increase in the number of complaints related to bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
There were 1375 complaints in the 2021 year. About 40 per cent of complaints were about breaches of the Client Care Rules, 29 per cent were about negligence, and 26 per cent were about the price of legal services, namely "over-charging". A total of 69 complaints concerned bullying, 44 involved allegations of harassment, and eight were about discrimination.
The bulk of the complaints (593) were made by clients and former clients. In addition, there were 191 from clients from the "other side". There were 45 complaints made by lawyers, and 271 by a third party.
Standards committees opened 90 own motion investigations. Typically these are prompted by reports or other mechanisms that do not arise out of direct complaints.
The confidentiality restrictions as they stand under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act mean some parties - namely victims - may be excluded from the process, which is one of the reasons the Law Society has proposed changes to the transparency mechanisms of the Act. From a journalism perspective, I'm absolutely delighted by this prospect.
Outcome of complaints
A total of 79 complaints went before the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, which is entirely independent of the Law Society. Two lawyers were struck off, and 10 were suspended. Those two lawyers were named.
Under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act the Law Society has to reimburse the Crown for costs of a hearing where a tribunal hears a charge. Last year the Law Society reimbursed a total of $97,066.
In the reporting year, nearly 80 per cent of complaints were not upheld. A total of 164 resulted in orders being made by a Standards Committee, 20 were either withdrawn, discontinued, or settled, 47 were resolved by negotiation, conciliation or mediation. There were 954 complaints outstanding as of June 30, 2021.
Time delays
Of the closed complaints 19 per cent took longer than a year, 81 per cent took a year, 70 per cent were resolved within nine months, 53 per cent happened within six months, 23 were resolved within three months. For standard track complaints each took 308 days.
Complaints involving a substantial volume of material can be complex and the Lawyers Complaints Service also relies on substantial volunteer input from the profession, the report read.
For context, the case involving former Russell McVeagh partner James Gardner-Hopkins took three years before it was heard before the independent Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. The Standards Committee - the Law Society arm of the process - has since appealed the Tribunal's decision to impose a two-year suspension, calling on him to be disbarred.
Seeing as the offending occurred in December 2015 and January 2016, it's been six years and the process is still going. The impact on all parties, especially the women involved must be hideous.
According to the annual report: "The Law Society is working on ways to improve the timeliness of our complaints service, including the early resolution of complaints. The Law Society has established an investigation unit and is reviewing its Early Resolution Service."
Where to from here?
More people are coming forward, more people are becoming lawyers, and while the Law Society has pledged to improve its systems by way of an Independent Review and changes to the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act, only time will tell - and let's hope it's not lengthy.
