Complaint Form
Information Sheet
What types of complaints will the Law Society deal with?
As the regulator of the legal professions in Ontario, we receive and respond to written complaints
about lawyers and paralegals licensed by the Law Society. We also respond to information about
unlicensed practitioners who are providing legal services or practising law.
We deal with a range of professional conduct matters. Examples include delay, failure to reply to
communications, rude and discriminatory behaviour, not accounting for money or improperly handling it,
and not reporting on a transaction.
We cannot assist with every kind of complaint; there are some things we do not have the legal authority to
deal with.
After we review your Complaint Form, we will let you know if we are able to help.
Here is some information about other resources you can consider even if the Law Society is not able to
help you.
• If you need legal services, you need to contact a lawyer or licensed paralegal.
If you believe the fees charged by your lawyer were too high, contact the Assessment Office of the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice. If you believe the fees charged by your paralegal were too high,
you may wish to contact the Small Claims Court. (Currently the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court
is limited to claims of $35,000 or less.)
•
• In addition to making a complaint to the Law Society you may also wish to explore the availability of
other options, such as the civil and/or criminal justice system. If you believe that the lawyer or
paralegal's conduct may constitute a criminal offence, please consider reporting it to the police.
Please note that the Law Society cannot pay you money or make a lawyer or paralegal pay you money
because of a lawyer or paralegal's mistake. If you believe a lawyer or paralegal has made a mistake, you
will have to deal directly with them or you may have to sue the lawyer or paralegal. You may wish to seek
legal advice about your options.
For more information, visit the 'Public Resources' section of the Law Society website, at http://www.lso.ca
.
Confidentiality
In fairness to the lawyer or paralegal you are complaining about, we will share with them some or all of the
information you give us. We may give copies of documents received from you or any other person to the
lawyer or paralegal you are complaining about. We may also need to share personal information (such as
names, addresses and telephone numbers) with the lawyer or paralegal.
Complaints and investigations are otherwise confidential unless the Law Society has begun regulatory
proceedings.
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