I have just been reading the report of the Legal Ombudsman into divorce related complaints and their causes. It was not all comforting reading and it is easy to see why lawyers get such a bad name. We have all heard the joke about the lawyer and the sharks!
About 18% of complaints the Legal Ombudsman receives are about family law. To an extent you would expect that given that going through divorce and family breakdown is so stressful and difficult. Apparently 13% of clients who receive divorce advice are dissatisfied compared to 7% in other areas of law. This does not entirely accord with the figures that we receive from our client satisfaction questionnaires at Ben Hoare Bell. They reflect a far higher level of satisfaction with our family solicitors. Having said that client care can always be improved. Some of the examples in the report of poor service are staggering but equally the report is quite balanced and does reflect the fact that sometimes clients can be difficult and unreasonable unsurprisingly in these circumstances.
It seems fairly basic to me that the first thing you do with a new client is identify the nature of the problem, give them advice about the possible ways to resolve that problem and the cost implications of each. Clearly clients should be given regular updates as to the cost of their case and some of the examples quoted in the report of clients being given £15,000 bills which were unexpected and being required to pay £4,000 for photocopying are astonishing.
We have been looking at ways we can still provide a service to clients after Public Funding is withdrawn in many areas of family law. We already do fixed fee divorces which are popular for some clients. Other clients however want the support of their solicitor on a far more frequent basis and an hourly rate suits them better although clearly that usually works out to cost far more.
Hopefully we will be able to provide most clients with a service that is affordable and appropriate. No one likes to pay solicitors fees after all!