LSRA closed record number of complaints last year
The legal-services regulator closed a record number of 1,933 complaints against members of the legal profession last year, according to its annual report.
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) also said that the number of complaints it received during the year rose by 21% to 1,788.
Of the complaints closed, 815 were found to be inadmissible, 496 were resolved, and 177 were upheld.
Complaints against solicitors accounted for 1,699 of the those received, with 89 linked to barristers, reflecting the higher number of solicitors and their greater level of contact with consumers.
Misconduct complaints
A breakdown in the report shows that just over half (53%) of complaints received related solely to alleged misconduct.
Misconduct was also a ground for complaint in a further 252 complaints, meaning that just over two-thirds of all complaints received involved allegations of misconduct.
Of the misconduct complaints, 36% were linked to alleged conduct likely to bring the profession into disrepute and 19% involved a failure to comply with an undertaking given to a colleague or financial institution.
Inadequate standards
A total of 442 complaints (25%) related solely to inadequate standards of legal services, with this also raised as a ground for complaint in a further 363 complaints.
A breakdown showed that 28% of such complaints related to litigation, 21% to conveyancing, and 16% to family law.
Similarly, 26 complaints (1%) related to excessive costs only, with excessive-costs grounds also raised in a further 192 complaints. Litigation (30%) and family aw (28%) were the top categories for complaints in this area.
During the year, the independent regulator made 27 applications to the High Court to enforce directions issued after complaints investigations, resulting in 14 High Court orders.
The LSRA made 101 applications to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, which hears misconduct complaints.
This was up from 22 the previous year, with all the applications involving solicitors.
‘Increased awareness’
"The increase in complaints received reflects growing awareness of the LSRA's role as the independent regulator of legal services and the availability of an independent complaints process for consumers,” said chief executive Niamh Muldoon.
She added that the figures also reflected continuing efforts by the authority to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the complaints process.
The annual report also shows continued growth in solicitor limited-liability partnerships (LLPs), with 34 authorised during 2025, bringing the total to 541.
The report shows that two legal partnerships – Heres Law and Rafferty Jameson Liang – notified the LSRA in 2025 that they intended to begin operating.
Education and training
During the year, the first meeting of a new Education and Training Committee was held.
The committee is carrying out preparatory work ahead of the establishment of a new independent body to lead reform of legal-practitioner education and training, called the Legal Practitioners Education and Training Committee (LPET), which requires legislative amendments.
The LSRA also published its sixth annual Pathways to the Professions report on the admission policies of the legal professions.
Writing in the report, chair Tom Boland said that the LSRA was overseeing a regulatory environment “that continues to grow in scale and complexity”.