Solicitors are said to be doing more business

Figures for last year showed more than 2,000 people claimed the legal services they had received were not good enough.

But the Law Society of Scotland, which published the statistics in its annual report, has defended the profession.

It said the rise was partly because people were aware that they could complain and solicitors were doing more business.

In recent years, a growing number of people have complained about their lawyer.

In 2003 the public made 2036 complaints about solicitors, a rise of more than a quarter on the previous year.

COMPLAINTS RECEIVED Dishonesty - 10 Breach of code of conduct - 285 Breach of practice rules - 46 Failure to follow instructions - 162 Failure to adequately advise - 471 Delay - 525 Failure to adequately prepare - 38 Failure to communicate - 475 Conduct unbecoming of a solicitor - 24

The Law Society of Scotland, which handles complaints, said more than 99% of clients were satisfied with the service they received.

A spokesman said: "Solicitors are handling an increasing number of transactions each year and it is a credit to the solicitors' profession in Scotland that less than 0.2% of their business leads to a complaint.

"The Law Society of Scotland is constantly striving to improve the way it handles complaints.

"Some of the many improvements introduced in the last year include delegated powers to committees to make decisions on complaints to speed up the process, additional reporters and staff in the client relations office and the introduction of a sifting panel to review all cases which the society considers it is unable to investigate in terms of the current legislation.

"The society must work within the constraints of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980."

The society's Client Relations Office (CRO) is directly responsible for dealing with complaints.

Its aim is to "increase the speed of complaints handling and to ensure a consistent standard of decision-making on complaints, while simplifying the system as much as possible".

'No longer in awe'

The office said it was trying to identify firms which appeared to have a poor complaints record.

This may involve a high number of complaints received about a firm or the number of complaints which have been considered and upheld by the society.

The CRO said that throughout last year it ran roadshows encouraging professionals to embrace client care and learn how to avoid and handle complaints.

Further roadshows are planned for this year.

The Legal Services Ombudsman, Linda Costelloe Baker, said the public was no longer in awe of lawyers and was less likely to put up with poor service.