Before you file your complaint, visit this page to understand the types of complaints that the Law Society can and cannot handle.

To file your complaint, please submit the Information Concerning a Lawyer (ICAL) form and no more than 50 pages of supporting material. This form is the place to outline details about your experience with the lawyer and the reason(s) for the complaint. For confidentiality reasons, please ensure the complaint does not reference past, current or potential complaints about another lawyer or lawyers. Please note that we have a safe reporting process in place for complaints related to discrimination or harassment.

In an effort to streamline our processes and speed up our response times, we will not accept complaints submitted with more than 50 pages of supporting material. Please read the following requirements for submitting complaints and supporting material:

• If you have more than 50 pages of supporting material you believe is relevant, please provide a list of the materials you have not included in your complaint. We will contact you if we require any of the listed materials.
• Do not include any audio or video recordings in your submission. If you include recordings, we may delete them. Instead of sending us recordings, please provide a written description of the recording(s). We will contact you if we require a copy of the recording(s).
• Do not include any hyperlinks or zip files in your submission. For security reasons, hyperlinked documents and/or documents in zip files will not be reviewed.
• If you provide emails with attachments, the attachments will be included as part of the total page limit.
• Complaints or materials that exceed the page limit may be deleted or returned to you. You will be given the option to re-submit the complaint within the page limit.
• Complaints or materials that refer to past, current or potential complaints about another lawyer or lawyers may be deleted or returned to you. You will be given the option to re-submit the complaint in a form that does not reference complaints against another lawyer or lawyers.
• If after your original submission you have new supporting material you want to add to your complaint, please note the 50-page limit applies to the combined total pages you have submitted. For example, if your initial complaint included 40 pages of supporting documents, you could send us up to 10 more pages before reaching the limit of 50 pages. If you have new materials that exceed the total combined 50-page limit, please send us a list of the new materials. We will contact you if we require any of the listed materials.

An Intake Specialist will collect your information in accordance with the Intake Protocol. You will receive an Acknowledgement Letter from the Intake Specialist with a file number assigned to your complaint within three business days of the Law Society receiving your submission.

Complaints are addressed by staff lawyers generally in the order they are received. Complaints may be prioritized based on risk to the public or other factors.

Please note that, in order to have a fair process, the information (including the complainant’s name) and any documents submitted (or a summary of them) will be shared with the lawyer being complained of. Otherwise, the complaint and the related material is strictly confidential among the complainant, the lawyer and the Law Society and may not be shared with third parties or used in any other proceedings, including court proceedings.

The Law Society of Alberta cannot provide you with legal advice about your matter.

If you need legal advice about the situation that you are in, you may want to speak with a lawyer about your next steps. The Lawyer Directory is one way to help you find a lawyer to meet your legal needs.