The Legal Complaints Service has gone against the advice of its watchdog by refusing to re-open around 160 complaints against Yorkshire law firm Raleys concerning compensation payments to miners.

The LCS, which suspended investigations in March, said it will not reopen the cases until the firm decides whether or not to appeal the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision in February to suspend and fine partners. Raleys will decide whether to appeal when written findings are issued, which may take another six weeks.

As of 1 May, the LCS had resolved 4,394 cases concerning the coal health compensation scheme, with more than £1.76m being returned to former miners and dependants. Around 700 complaints are outstanding.

In April, the legal services complaints commissioner, Zahida Manzoor, criticised the decision to suspend the Raleys investigations. The following month, Deborah Evans, LCS chief executive, wrote to Les Courtnell, director of operations at the Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner, explaining the decision. The letter, seen by the Gazette, says that once Raleys makes its appeal decision, the LCS will be in a position to ‘conciliate those matters or take to adjudication those which we cannot conciliate. If Raleys appeal we will continue with our investigations and take all matters to adjudication.’

The letter says that ‘any delay by the LCS in dealing with this issue will not add to the delay in our customers receiving any compensation’.

Manzoor told the Gazette: ‘I drew attention to the LCS putting investigations into miners’ cases on hold for up to 15 months back in January 2008. It was unacceptable then and it is equally unacceptable now. People should not have to have this uncertainty hanging over them.’ She said the LCS should investigate each case ‘as soon as possible’.

Raleys handled 60,182 claims for compensation for vibration white finger and respiratory disease and persuaded 29,000 claimants to take their case through a funding agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers. In February, Derek Ian Firth received a four-year suspension, David Peter Barber a two-year suspension and Jonathan Timothy James Markham a six-month suspension. Fellow partners Carol Ann Gill, James William Edward Gladman and former partner Katherine Anne Richards were each fined £10,000.

Gill told the Gazette: ‘We aim always to co-operate with the Law Society and all its constituent parts, but when we disagree with an adjudication against us we reserve the right to exercise a permissible appeal.

‘However, we cannot review our position on any of these cases, or expect our insurers to do so, until we receive the SDT’s full written findings.

‘We are as frustrated by the delay as everyone else involved in these matters.’