Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 364: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will support the case of a person (details supplied) regarding complaints about a solicitor who dealt with a property sale. [33269/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The matter referred to by the Deputy concerns the client of a solicitor who is dissatisfied with the legal services provided by that solicitor. Under the current regulatory regime, the Law Society of Ireland, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator are the statutorily independent bodies charged with investigating or resolving complaints against solicitors under the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 and their attendant regulations.

Under these statutory complaints structures the Law Society is, therefore, the usual or main route of redress for aggrieved clients of solicitors, outside of the courts. The Society's Complaints and Client Relations Committee, which includes lay members, determines complaints lodged directly to it by members of the public. The Society provides guidance on "making a complaint" at its website, www.lawsociety.ie

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal deals with complaints of misconduct and applications to it are either referred by the Law Society or made directly by members of the public. The Tribunal members are appointed by the President of the High Court and act independently of the Law Society. Further details are available on the Tribunal's website www.distrib.ie.

Persons who are unhappy with the Law Society's handling of the complaint may also forward their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator [www.independentadjudicator.ie]. The Independent Adjudicator was established to provide an independent forum to which members of the public could apply if they were dissatisfied with the manner in which the Law Society had dealt with their complaint. It is important to note that the Adjudicator's role is to investigate the handling of the complaint by the Law Society and not to investigate the substance of the original complaint.

Under current law, therefore, it is not my function as Minister to determine or to intervene in disputes or difficulties between solicitors and their clients. Nor would it be appropriate for me to give legal advice on specific cases or to make a complaint on a person's behalf. Rather, these are matters to be dealt with by the designated statutory bodies or through the courts. Persons considering taking legal action against a solicitor may find it more prudent to first seek independent legal advice on the strength or otherwise of their position. It will then be a matter for the persons concerned to decide which course of action might be best suited to the circumstances of their complaint and to approach the relevant disciplinary body on that basis.

The Deputy may also wish to be aware that the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011, which is due to commence Committee Stage following the summer recess, will establish a new, independent, Legal Services Regulatory Authority with responsibility for the oversight of both solicitors and barristers. There will be a new complaints system to deal with complaints about professional misconduct independent of both the Law Society and the Bar Council backed up by a Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal. Members of the public who wish to make complaints will no longer do so through the Law Society or the Bar Council but through the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority. There will also be a new and more transparent legal costs regime based on a set of Legal Costs Principles provided in statute for the first time and a new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator whose determinations on disputed legal costs will be published.