The Law Society of Scotland says it has improved procedures

At present, clients are urged to settle any issues they have with their lawyer directly with him or her.

But a consultation document published by Scottish ministers has proposed a number of possible changes.

The Law Society of Scotland said the consultation would give it a chance to show that progress had already been made regarding complaints handling.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said that a justice service founded on the basic principles of fairness and equality were central to delivering a "peaceful, prosperous Scotland".

"Legal services in the private sector and those supported through publicly-funded legal assistance are important to our society and to our economy," she said.

Bad press

"This paper sets out ways in which we can build greater public confidence in how complaints about legal services are handled.

"Lawyers, like politicians, often get a bad press. The reality is that most people receive an excellent professional service from their lawyer.

"But when things go wrong, the road to a satisfactory resolution of a complaint can sometimes be a long and difficult one."

The Scottish Executive's main options for reforming the system include:

• Increasing the powers of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman (SLSO)

• Allowing the SLSO to monitor the complaints handling processes of the professional bodies

• Turning the SLSO into a single gateway for investigating most complaints

• Creating a new independent complaints handling body with a board led by a lay chair and with a lay majority.

The consultation, which will run until 3 August, follows a critical report by the Scottish Parliament's justice 1 committee in 2002.

The Law Society of Scotland said it had made a number of improvements since that report including introducing a new complaints process in September 2003.

It has also claimed a speeding up in the handling of complaints and an increased involvement of non-solicitors on the client relations committees.

Cathy Jamieson wants to see a fair system for consumers

Duncan Murray, president of the society, said: "We look forward to working with the relevant organisations to further modernise the complaints system.

"We have made great progress over the last few years and with the help of this consultation and the Scottish Parliament , we would like to do more.

"It is also right that recognition is given to the improvements made by the society."

Last year, the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman gave an unprecedented public rebuke to the Law Society. Watchdog Linda Costelloe Baker criticised the society for failing to deal adequately with a complaint.

A member of the public had raised the grievance against a solicitor.

Accepted failure

The ombudsman published an official notice in three newspapers criticising the way the society handled the case, which dates back to 1997.

Mrs Costelloe Baker could not reveal the exact nature of the complaint, but the move was the harshest penalty she could impose.

She said the solicitor's client won a sum of money in a court case in 1996 and complained to the society that the solicitor had been slow to collect the debt in 1997.

Mrs Costelloe Baker had made specific recommendations about how the lawyers' body should deal with the case.

However, she discovered that some of those recommendations were not wholly implemented.

The Law Society later accepted it failed to handle the complaint adequately.