Complaint Process

Prior to lodging a complaint, you should consider communicating directly to the legal practitioner or a senior member of the law firm about your concerns regarding the conduct of the particular practitioner.

The complaint process begins with the Chief Registrar, as all complaints must first be lodged with them, as opposed to the ILSC. Matters heard by the ILSC are namely those in relation to which the  Legal Practitioners Unit have conducted their investigation and is satisfied there are grounds to commence hearings against the legal practitioner or law firm.

Following the Chief Registrar filing the matter with the ILSC, a hearing is conducted, pursuant to section 112 of the Legal Practitioners Act 2009 (LPA).

If the Chief Registrar has rejected the complaint, then under section 110(4) of the LPA the complainant may bring the complaint directly to the ILSC. This can be done via letter addressed to the Commissioner outlining the complaint.

Complaints Process Diagram [PDF, 222 KB]