How to Complain About a Solicitor (England and Wales)

Service complaint or misconduct?

Most complaints about solicitors are about service: delays, calls and emails not returned, a bill higher than expected, a mistake in how the matter was handled. The SRA says it does not usually investigate delays or communication, disagreements about your bill, or isolated mistakes, and that the Legal Ombudsman is best placed to help with those. The SRA also has no power to make a firm apologise or pay you compensation. It is the route for serious concerns about how a solicitor behaves, and you can report to it as well as complaining about the service.

Step one: the firm's own complaints procedure

Ask the firm for its complaints procedure if you do not already have it, and send your complaint to the person it names. Keep to what went wrong, when, what it has cost you in money, time or stress, and what you want done. The firm then has up to eight weeks to respond, and the Ombudsman will not take the complaint before that time has passed unless the firm has closed down.

Step two: the Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman looks at the service provided by solicitors, barristers, licensed conveyancers, costs lawyers, legal executives and notaries, among others, and it is free to use. It does not decide whether what happened was professional negligence — that is a separate legal claim — but it can find that the service was poor and tell the provider to put it right, based on the impact the poor service had on you. Send it copies of your complaint and the firm's response. Complaints can take months to be accepted and investigated; the Ombudsman publishes its current waiting times.

The two time limits, and how they fit together

For complaints referred since 1 April 2023 you need to meet both limits. You must go to the Ombudsman within six months of the date of the firm's final response, and within one year of the problem happening — or, if it happened more than a year ago, within one year of when you became aware of it. The six-month limit is enforced where the final response told you about the Ombudsman, gave its contact details and the six-month deadline. The Ombudsman says it may accept a later complaint where, for example, the firm did not respond or did not give you that information — but do not plan around an exception.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The Legal Ombudsman covers England and Wales. Complaints about lawyers in Scotland go to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. In Northern Ireland, the Law Society of Northern Ireland handles complaints about solicitors.

Complaint to a solicitor's firm

Edit this template with your facts, dates, and requested outcome before sending.

Subject: Formal complaint — [matter description], reference [reference]

Dear [Complaints partner / person named in your complaints procedure],

I am making a formal complaint under your complaints procedure about the service I received on my [type of matter], reference [reference], handled by [name].

My concerns are:
1. [e.g. Between [date] and [date] I received no update, despite contacting you on [dates].]
2. [e.g. Your final bill of £[amount] is higher than the estimate of £[amount] given on [date], and I was not told the estimate had changed.]
3. [Any further issue, with dates.]

As a result, [describe the effect — extra cost, delay, a missed deadline, stress].

To resolve this I am asking for [an apology / an itemised explanation of the bill / a reduction of £[amount] / the return of my documents / completion of the outstanding work by [date]].

Please acknowledge this complaint and send me your final response within eight weeks. I understand that if I remain dissatisfied I can refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman.

Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Address and email]

Common mistakes to avoid

• ✕Going to the Legal Ombudsman before the firm has had its eight weeks to respond
• ✕Reporting a bill dispute or a delay to the SRA, which does not usually investigate service problems
• ✕Missing the six-month window that runs from the firm's final response
• ✕Treating the complaint as a negligence claim — the Ombudsman looks at service, not negligence
• ✕Not saying what outcome you want, so the firm can close the complaint with an apology alone
• ✕Raising the complaint only by phone instead of in writing with dates

Next steps

1. 1Ask for the firm's complaints procedure and the name of the person who handles complaints
2. 2List the dates of each problem and gather emails, letters and bills
3. 3Send a written complaint that states the outcome you want
4. 4Note the date of the firm's final response — the six-month clock runs from it
5. 5If it is unresolved after eight weeks, refer it to the Legal Ombudsman; report serious misconduct to the SRA