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Complaints against lawyers

The Legal Profession Conduct Commission is an independent body set up under the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA) to maintain the highest standards of professional behavior within the legal profession. The Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner is empowered to investigate complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct by lawyers.

A person who is concerned about the conduct of a lawyer, including whether they have been overcharged by their lawyer, can complain in writing to the Legal Profession Conduct Commission (LPCC). A person who makes a complaint to the LPCC is called the complainant.

The LPCC has a standard complaint form which can be accessed from the LPCC website www.lpcc.sa.gov.au or a complaint form can be sent out in the mail or by email.

A fee must be paid to lodge a complaint to the LPCC. The fee is $110 (including GST) (as at June 2022).

Fee waiver or reduction

In some circumstances the complainant may apply to have payment of the lodgement fee waived or reduced.

The LPCC may waive payment of the fee if the complainant provides:

One of the following valid concession cards:

  • Pensioner Concession Card;
  • Health Care Card;
  • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card;
  • Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card;
  • Student identification card (full-time students only);

OR

Evidence that he or she:

  • is under 18 years of age;
  • is in prison or detention;
  • has been granted legal aid within the last 3 months and was not required to make more than the minimum contribution of $30.

The LPCC may also consider an application to waive or reduce the fee due to financial hardship or special circumstances. In such cases the complainant must provide supporting information, including one of the following:

  • information and evidence of assets and liabilities;
  • the last four weeks of bank statements (including all of the complainant’s bank accounts in sole or joint names);
  • Centrelink income and assets statement (if relevant);
  • payslips for the last four weeks (if the complainant is employed);
  • tax return for the previous financial year;
  • any other financial information that the complainant considers relevant, such as outstanding bills.

The LPCC will refund the fee to the complainant if the Commissioner finds that the legal practitioner has engaged in professional misconduct, or the Commissioner finds that there has been overcharging by the legal practitioner (in a case concerning a complaint about overcharging).

Further information about current fees, fee waivers and reductions is available at the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner website.

The LPCC has a telephone and email enquiry service which provides information about the role of the Commissioner and his complaint process. You may wish to speak to the Commissioner’s enquiry officer before making your complaint however it is important to understand that the Commissioner’s office cannot provide legal advice.

If a legally aided person has a complaint about their lawyer in relation to professional misconduct, they may wish to notify the Legal Services Commission of SA as well as the LPCC.

If seeking to change to another lawyer, they will need to ask the Legal Services Commission to transfer the grant of aid from the first lawyer to second. It is not the role of the Legal Services Commission to investigate professional complaints about lawyers.

Legal Profession Conduct Commission

Email: lpcc@lpcc.sa.gov.au

Telephone: 08 8212 7924 / 1800 337 570 (Toll free)

Website: www.lpcc.sa.gov.au

Note - for complaints against judicial offices (such as Judges) see: Complaints against Judges and other judicial officers

Complaints against lawyers  :  Last Revised: Wed Nov 11th 2020
The content of the Law Handbook is made available as a public service for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. See Disclaimer for details. For free and confidential legal advice in South Australia call 1300 366 424.