Complaints about lawyers

Legal Aid BC is committed to providing high-quality legal services to British Columbians with low incomes. We want to know if clients aren’t satisfied with the services they’ve received from private bar lawyers retained to represent them.

We formally register all complaints about lawyers, assess the complaints, and follow up appropriately.

How do you make a complaint?

If you have a complaint about the service provided by a legal aid lawyer or duty counsel lawyer, submit your complaint in writing and include the following information. 

  • Your full name
  • The lawyer’s name
  • Whose lawyer it is (yours or someone else’s)
  • Details of your complaint, including examples and dates
  • Any supporting documents (if available)

You may use the Record of Complaint form.

Please also complete and sign the waiver and submit it with your complaint. See below for how to submit your complaint.

Email
Mail to

Audit & Investigation Department
Legal Aid BC
400 – 510 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 3A8

Fax

604-682-0979

Submission guidelines

Please consider the following when submitting your complaint:

  • Provide us with a clear idea of the problem you’ve experienced and the solution you want.
  • Give us all the relevant information you have (or know about) up front.
  • Attach any relevant supporting documents that’ll help clarify your complaint.
  • Tell us new facts as they arise.
  • Let us know if you no longer want our help.
  • Cooperate with us.
  • Treat us with respect.

What is our complaint process?

Once our Audit and Investigation Department receives your written complaint, we will:

  1. Record it and send you an acknowledgement to confirm receipt, within 14 days of receiving your complaint.
  2. Determine whether the complaint is within our authority. If not, we’ll refer your complaint to the appropriate personnel or departments for resolution.
  3. Investigate and assess the complaint, and take action where appropriate. However, please note the following:
    (a) Privacy and confidentiality obligations prohibit us from sharing details about our investigations with some complainants. If you’re bringing a complaint about a matter that doesn’t relate to yourself, we may not be able to tell you whether the lawyer or the client has contracts with legal aid, or share information about the conduct or outcome of any investigation. Therefore, while we’ll confirm receipt of your complaint, we may not be able to provide further information about steps we may be taking to address it.

4. Inform you of the outcome of our assessment, unless you are a third party as specified in paragraph 3(a). 

Other complaint options

You may also want to submit your lawyer complaint to The Law Society of British Columbia. The Law Society sets and enforces educational and professional conduct standards for lawyers in BC.

Mail to

The Law Society of British Columbia
845 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 4Z9

Phone

604-669-2533

Fax

604-669-5232