In its final report on the Law Society’s conduct complaint investigation timescales, the SLCC calls on the society to sustain the progress made and continue that momentum as new statutory powers come into force.

In March 2023, the SLCC published its analysis of the society’s conduct complaint investigation timescales, which showed that most investigations were taking longer than the published average timescale. The report made three statutory recommendations to support the Law Society to improve the efficiency of its investigations.

Oversight and assurance manager Sarah Hamer said: “Improved investigation timescales benefit both the public who make complaints and solicitors complained about. This is vital for maintaining public confidence and ensuring fairness.

“Our final report, published today, reflects the good progress made by the society over the past three years. It has consolidated and sustained the improvements achieved and embedded additional resource and new ways of working to support this. This will be vital as incoming complaint numbers rise, putting pressure on the society to meet increasing demand.

“Implementation of the relevant sections of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 provides a significant opportunity to build on this progress, to improve efficiency and deliver better outcomes for the public and for solicitors. We urge the Society to move swiftly towards implementation of these new provisions.

“We appreciate the Law Society’s positive engagement throughout this process.”