Complaints Against Attorney's

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It is part of the function of the Council of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces to act in the public interest. The Council reiterates its commitment to protect the public against unprofessional and irresponsible members of the attorneys' profession and is prepared to investigate a complaint which is submitted to it in good faith and which falls within its jurisdiction.

Attorneys are proud of the high standards set by the profession and the low incidence of disciplinary action required by the various provincial law societies. All attorneys are bound by a strict professional code.

This article contains guidelines relating to circumstances under which a complaint may be investigated and the correct method of lodging a complaint.

COMMUNICATION

Experience has shown us that many complaints arise from a lack of communication between the attorney and his/her client. Before lodging a complaint with the Law Society, it is suggested that you make an appointment with your attorney and that you raise your problems with him/her and ask him/her to inform you with regard to your enquiries. Remember, however, that an attorney is entitled to be remunerated for consultations.

Alternatively you may send him/her a letter, preferably by registered post, asking for a full report if he/she has not reported to you to your satisfaction. An attorney is obliged to report to his/her client on progress in a matter.

If an attorney is acting on behalf of a creditor against you in a collection matter he/she must furnish you with a statement of the account reflecting how the balance is made up, and incorporating the capital amount, costs, interest and payments since the instruction.

It is only fair to allow the attorney a reasonable opportunity to report to you before filing a complaint.

CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH A COMPLAINT MAY BE FILED

Before filing a complaint please ascertain whether it is a matter upon which the Council of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces may adjudicate.

The Council of the Law Society has powers and responsibilities, in terms of an Act of Parliament and rules of professional conduct, to ensure that all attorneys observe proper standards of professional conduct and service. The Council has no power to order an attorney to pay compensation to a client. If you wish to enforce your rights against the attorney you should consult another attorney to assist you with an action in a court of law.

The Council can and does investigate complaints concerning the ethical behaviour of attorneys over whom it has jurisdiction, including a persistent delay in answering letters, failure to account for money held on the client's behalf and allegations of overcharging of attorneys' fees. Where there is a complaint of overcharging on matters which are governed by a tariff, such as law suits or conveyancing, there must be evidence by way of taxation by the relevant authority that there has indeed been overcharging.

The Council cannot investigate complaints alleging incompetence or negligence, because these can give rise to claims for compensation which the Council has no power to award – such compensation can be pursued only through legal proceedings, or the threat of them, by the client concerned. Mere negligence is not improper conduct, although cases of gross negligence might be considered as improper conduct which calls for investigation. However, as indicated above these will usually be dealt with only after the legal issues between the attorney and the client have been resolved.

When it appears to the Council that an attorney may have been guilty of unprofessional conduct of such a nature as might warrant more serious punishment, the Council will instruct its own attorney to proceed against the offending attorney in the High Court, which has the power to order that the attorney be suspended from practice or struck from the roll of attorneys.

HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT

If having studied what is set out above, you are satisfied that the Council may investigate your complaint, your complaint should be submitted in the form of an affidavit, i.e. a written or typed statement sworn before a Commissioner of Oaths, for example a police officer, a bank manager, a postmaster or another attorney. You may use the enclosed form for that purpose and submit it to the Head: Disciplinary Department at the Law Society of Northern Provinces, P O Box 1493, Pretoria, 0001 or Procforum Building, 123 Paul Kruger Street, Pretoria.

INVESTIGATION

On receipt of your complaint the Directorate will acknowledge receipt and if necessary will initiate an enquiry. You will be kept informed accordingly.

You may be called on to elucidate or to discuss the matter with a Disciplinary Committee of the Council, or to give evidence before such a committee. You will be informed in writing of the finding of the Committee after the disciplinary proceedings have been completed.

Please bear in mind that the investigation of a complaint is based on the rule that the attorney should also be afforded the opportunity to comment on your complaint, where after a thorough investigation will be made. It may therefore take some time before finality is reached, but you are assured that you will be kept informed of progress in the enquiry.

LEGAL ADVICE

It may be that your problem requires the advice of an attorney. This could only be done by an attorney in view thereof that the Council cannot give legal advice.

The Law Society administers a First Interview Scheme for the benefit of the public. In terms of this scheme you are entitled to a free half-hour consultation with an attorney in your region. Further information on this scheme is available under the heading Fist Interview Scheme.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

It is permissible for a litigant to handle his/her own court case in any court. One should, however, bear in mind the old adage "he who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client."

It is generally recognised that, unless there is a forum provided by the State where disputes can be adjudicated upon by an independent judicial officer, anarchy will reign. While many disputes involve complex legal issues, many cases are decided on the facts and not necessarily on the law and the task of the judicial officer is to determine who is telling the truth.

One should not simply assume that a matter is simple, as frequently the law, or the facts are more complex than first appearances suggest.

Attorneys' fees in respect of litigation and conveyancing are regulated by the State. If you think that your attorney's account is too high there are procedures whereby the amount can be taxed and assessed. The Directorate of the Law Society will be able to guide you in this respect. If the matter is not of a litigious nature, the taxing master of the court in which the matter served, will tax the account.

Attorneys regard time as a precious commodity. Many of them work 12 to 14 hours a day to enable them to deal adequately with the work on hand. Dealing with matters in the shortest possible time rather than protracting them is more likely to be the case.

Although it cannot be denied that in some instances attorneys misappropriate trust funds, percentage-wise these represent a minute number of practising attorneys. When this happens the public is protected by the Attorneys' Fidelity Fund which will compensate any person who has lost money entrusted to an attorney in his capacity as such, by reason of the attorney's theft of such monies.

For your convenience, a form to assist you in in laying your complaint has been added to this website. When viewing the form, it can be printed using your Internet browser's print function.

Please click here to view the Complaint Form

or download the form here.