Complaints

Complaints in relation to Professional Misconduct and Poor Service

High ethical standards are a hallmark of the Jersey legal profession.  It is the reason people place their trust and confidence in lawyers.

The Law Society of Jersey sets standards of professional responsibility for Advocates and Jersey Solicitors and upholds those standards through a complaints and discipline process.

If any Advocate or Jersey Solicitor falls short of these standards you can make a complaint: 

The Law Society of Jersey requires that all Jersey law firms maintain a complaints procedure and you are requested to raise the matter with the firm themselves to seek resolution before the matter can be reviewed by the Law Society.  If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint and the firm's complaints procedure has been completed, you should then refer your complaint to the Law Society of Jersey’s chief executive officer. 

Making a misconduct complaint about a lawyer 

If you feel that your Jersey qualified lawyer’s conduct has fallen below the standards expected of them and you have not been able to resolve issues directly with the lawyer in question or the Managing Partner of their firm, you may wish to make a complaint of misconduct to the Law Society of Jersey.

Complainants should always try and resolve matters with the lawyer and their firm in the first instance.

It should be noted that, other than in exceptional circumstances, complaints relating to matters over 12 months’ old cannot be considered (as detailed in the Law Society of Jersey Law 2005).

All complaints should be made in writing on the Complaint Form and addressed to the CEO of the Law Society of Jersey.

Please see the Complaint Guidance Notes and the Complaint Form.

If your complaint involves a potential breach of the Law Society Code of Conduct, the President of the Law Society of Jersey will decide whether it is appropriate to refer the complaint to the Disciplinary Panel, which is made up of both lawyers and non lawyers.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact the Law Society of Jersey on 01534 613920 or email CEO@jerseylawsociety.je.

Making a complaint about legal fees 

Please download and complete the Fee Adjudication Request Form and return it to the Law Society of Jersey, marked for the attention of the CEO.

If your complaint relates solely to fees, but the amount in dispute is less than £5,000 (five thousand pounds), the Secretary of the Law Society of Jersey will endeavour to mediate between you and the lawyer concerned to try and resolve the dispute.

If the amount in dispute is for more than £5,000 (five thousand pounds), the dispute will be referred to an independent lawyer to adjudicate and they will decide if the fees charged are reasonable.

Please note that this adjudication is only possible if both you and the lawyer agree to be bound by it. Both parties will therefore be asked to confirm this agreement before any adjudication takes place.

If mediation is not effective for sums in dispute under £5,000 or if either party does not agree to be bound by an adjudication for sums over £5,000, the Law Society of Jersey will not be able to deal with the complaint and, in such circumstances, Court proceedings are likely to be the only way for one party to recover any sums claimed to be due from the other.