The interim results of the Scottish Law Agents Society (SLAS) survey on regulation of the legal profession highlight a deeply concerning overwhelming dissatisfaction with the current regulatory system within the profession. 

Present results highlight 95 per cent of respondents to the survey are of the opinion the current system is not fit for purpose. The survey confirms a number of factors leading to high levels of dissatisfaction and – somewhat alarmingly – almost 90 per cent of respondents to the survey confirm they have encountered a Scottish Legal Complaints Commission complaint. Given the volume of complaints, and the fact that 87 per cent of respondents are of the opinion the SLCC do not have the necessary skills to deal with complaints, this is of grave concern.

The Law Society of Scotland have previously surveyed the profession, asking whether solicitors are considering leaving the profession; however, the SLAS survey seeks to get to the root cause of the problem and in excess of 50 per cent of respondents are considering leaving the profession directly due to the pressures associated with the current regulatory system.

The survey results reveal a system that is both inequitable and inefficient (80 per cent and 97 per cent respectively). Arguably, one of the reasons for the inequity of the current system is that lay individuals are investigating complaints which may be legally complex in nature. It goes against all logical reasoning to have an unqualified individual investigating such complaints. As a number of respondents stated: “investigators should be both lay and qualified individuals,” for why engage the services of a joiner to work on that prized motor vehicle.

Mental health is of concern and the survey highlights the regulatory system has a direct impact upon the mental health of solicitors (77 per cent of respondents confirmed this point). As one particular respondent pointed out they were subject to a three-year delay involving a complaint from a third party, alleging fraud, that originated from a historical case, where there was no evidence. The origins of the case were 16 years before the complaint was lodged. Perhaps such cases are why 82 per cent of respondents are of the opinion solicitors should not be beholden to third parties.

A final statistic is the fact 97 per cent of respondents did not have confidence that the SLCC will effectively filter out spurious, meritless, or vexatious complaints before they are admitted.

The foregoing highlights the profession’s dissatisfaction with the broken regulatory system. 

These statistics are certainly damning of the current regulatory system. Hence, SLAS will be reporting the full results of the survey, inclusive of anonymised individual comments, to the Equalities Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

The survey closes on 14 February 2025. This is your opportunity to have your voice heard; therefore, please find below a link to the survey which should take no more than five minutes of your time.

Respond to the survey here