Manzoor Hits UK Law Society With Fine Over Complaints Handling

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

19 May 2006

It emerged earlier this week that the UK's Legal Services Complaints Commissioner, Zahida Manzoor has imposed a GBP250,000 fine on the Law Society for failing to meet its complaints handling targets.

According to reports, Ms Manzoor observed that: "The Law Society has failed to include in its plan all of my targets at the levels set."

She went on to cite as an example the Society's refusal to reach a target stating that complainants should receive a letter responding to their complaint and outlining its terms within 60 days, rather than the current 90 day period.

According to the Times Online, she announced:

"I need to mark the failures in the plan with an appropriate level of penalty. I have concluded that a penalty of a quarter of a million pounds is appropriate."

Ms Manzoor has been a thorn in the Law Society's side since her appointment as Legal Services Complaints Commissioner in 2004, and the body responded to the announcement of the fine with characteristic anger on Wednesday.

Commenting on the matter, Professor Shamit Saggar, chair of the Consumer Complaints Board, argued that:

”This fine is wholly unreasonable. It is outrageously disproportionate to the modest degree of difference between us and Ms Manzoor. The Lord Chancellor himself has noted our continually improving performance. Our proposals for the coming year are ambitious and would significantly benefit consumers. But we cannot commit to unrealistic targets.”

Kevin Martin, president of the Law Society, added:

”The Law Society has a well-documented track record of improvements in complaints handling. We have established an independent Consumer Complaints Board to oversee it and provided the Board with the budget it asked for. It is difficult to see what more we could reasonably do and so this fine flies in the face of logic.”

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