The Complaints Committees are responsible for considering and ruling on complaints made against practitioners, in accordance with Part VII of the Law Practitioners Act 1982. The Committees have a heavy workload, and while most complaints are found to be not justified, or can be dealt with by the Committee itself, in more serious cases charges need to be laid before the Wellington or New Zealand Disciplinary Tribunals.

The Committees are also concerned to provide advice or assistance to practitioners who may come before them, and whose problems may stem from stress, lack of proper systems, or other similar causes.

The Committees have also adopted an educatory role and publish articles in the Society's magazine "Council Brief" concerning various complaints that they consider when appropriate.

The Complaints Committees will be replaced by Lawyers Standards Committees when the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 takes effect.