Effective Complaints Handling for Scottish Law Firms

Introduction

Client complaints are an inevitable part of legal practice, but how a firm responds can have a significant impact on client relationships, regulatory compliance and professional reputation.

A well-managed complaints process not only helps resolve concerns promptly and fairly but also provides valuable opportunities to identify risks, improve service standards and strengthen client confidence.

This new virtual classroom seminar will examine the current complaints handling framework for Scottish law firms, including recent regulatory developments and emerging expectations and will provide guidance on how to develop an effective first-tier complaints process.

Consideration will be given to the common causes of complaints, the skills needed to manage difficult conversations, and how to investigate and respond to complaints in a way that meets regulatory expectations while supporting positive client outcomes.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• The current complaints handling framework
• The firm's responsibilities and the role of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC)
• Recent developments, including the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025
• Emerging regulatory expectations and what they mean for firms
• Recognising and managing complaints
• Identifying a complaint and resolving concerns at the earliest opportunity
• Conducting a fair and proportionate investigation
• Communicating effectively throughout the process
• Responding to complaints
• Drafting clear, balanced and compliant responses
• Apologies, remedies and managing client expectations
• When and how complaints may be escalated
• Reducing risk through effective complaints handling
• Common causes of complaints and how to avoid them
• Preventing escalation and protecting client relationships
• Good record keeping and demonstrating compliance
• Learning from complaints
• Identifying trends and recurring issues
• Using complaints to improve procedures, training and supervision
• Embedding a culture of continuous improvement
• Practical examples and discussion
• Recent themes and lessons from Scottish complaints
• Applying good practice to common scenarios in legal practice

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.