Former minister for justice Alan Shatter, himself a retired solicitor, wrote to The Irish Times’ letters page this week defending the reforms he initiated in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Unfortunately, one of those “reforms” was the provision that under the terms of the 2015 Act, anybody, even someone who is/was not a client of a solicitor, can make a complaint to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) against a solicitor (or a barrister), regardless of how frivolous or vexatious or unfounded such a complaint might be, and does not even have to pay a nominal fee when making such a complaint. In short, they have free rein. 

Over the past couple of years, I have been advising an increasing number of colleagues against whom complaints had been made. I am glad to say that during this past week two separate colleagues were informed that the complaints which had been to the LSRA made against them were being dismissed as frivolous or vexatious and without foundation.

While this comes as a relief to them, it does not change the fact that they have had the concern and worry of an outstanding complaint hanging over them for months, while the complaint was being considered by the LSRA.

The Act itself provides for a review of the operations of the Act every five years, and the report into the first five years of operation has still not been published. It is long overdue.

The sooner a requirement for some kind of a fee having to be paid on the making a complaint is introduced, the better. Otherwise people will continue to be free to make unjustified and unjustifiable complaints and it literally will cost them nothing apart from their time.

Bill Holohan SC