Unhappy With Your Attorney?

At Du Toit’s Attorneys, we subscribe to the highest standards of professionalism, ethical conduct and the attendance to our client’s interests; we, therefore, believe in transparency and upholding the rule of law. We further believe that in doing so, it is our duty to assist unhappy clients in holding those who bring the profession into disrepute responsible. Below is an exposition of where an unhappy client may start.

 

The Law Society

The Law Society of South Africa states that:

“It is part of the function of the councils of the law societies to act in the public interest. The law societies are committed to protecting the public against unprofessional and irresponsible conduct by attorneys and are prepared to investigate complaints which are submitted to them in good faith and which fall within their jurisdiction.”

The first stepping stone to having your issue resolved is to have your complaint lodged with the relevant provincial law society. Depending on where your attorney is practicing, your complaint should either be lodged at:

The Law Society recommends that you first raise the problem with your attorney in an attempt to have it resolved if you have a problem with his or her service. If you are still not satisfied, then you should complain to your provincial law society.

The provincial societies will not handle complaints related to incompetence or negligence which might give rise to claims for compensation as the societies do not have the power to award compensation. Such complaints should be pursued through further legal proceedings, meaning such an individual will need to approach another attorney.

 

Processes

Members of the public can lodge complaints against any law professional through a legal hotline called the “Trustline” initiative which is run by the Law Society of South Africa and the Attorneys Fidelity Fund. The public can lodge complaints at 0800-202-036 or at trustline@tip-off.com.

One can also visit the Law Society of South Africa’s website to complain at: http://www.lssa.org.za/public/complaining-about-an-attorney

Further Information

There has also been a publication in the Government Gazette called the “Code of Conduct for Legal Practitioners, Candidate Legal Practitioners and Juristic Entities” which sets standards of conduct which will be enforceable by the Legal Practice Council once the Act (Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014) comes into force.

This publication may be accessed here:

http://www.lssa.org.za/upload/Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20Legal%20Practitioners,Candidate%20Legal%20Practitioners%20and%20Juristic%20entities.pdf

 

Final Word

As already stated, our firm strives to uphold only the strictest ethical standard, with our clients’ interest first. If you have any questions related to a legal issue you may be facing or any other field of law in which you need assistance, please feel free to contact us and we will do our utmost best to assist you with your case with the personal attention to detail which it deserves.