Level of complaints over legal services in Kilkenny revealed

Kilkenny had one of the lowest number of complaints in regards legal services in the country last year, a new report has found.

The 2020 Annual Report for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, the body which is the independent regulator for the legal profession, shows just 11 complaints were made against the profession in the county last year.

The report found the Complaints, Resolutions and Investigations Department received a total of 3,605 phone calls and e-mails in the year requesting information and/or complaint forms.

In all, a total of 1,422 were subsequently classified as complaints and were subject to an assessment process.

The largest category of complaints, at 819 (58%), related to alleged misconduct. A total of 496 (35%) were from clients in relation to alleged inadequate standards of legal services, and a further 107 (7%) were from clients who alleged they had been charged excessive costs.

Only counties Roscommon and Laois recorded fewer complaints than Kilkenny, both with nine.

Dubliners made the most complaints (559), followed by Cork (149) and Donegal the third highest (64).