LAWYERS are ripping off their clients with dodgy billing methods - and Queensland's legal sector watchdog lacks the power to stop them.

Legal Services Commissioner John Briton's annual report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, highlights a range of ways law firms fleece people.

Legal Aid lawyer practised without certificate

Chief among them are charging lawyer rates for work done by legal secretaries, billing in six-minute blocks even for calls that take seconds, and ramping bills when clients ask for them to be itemised.

Mr Briton says he has been hamstrung by successive attorneys-general who have refused to give him the powers needed to crack down on lawyers.

"We are troubled by some of the apparently systemic billing malpractices we have uncovered, which cause us to believe that potentially large numbers of unsuspecting consumers may have been short-changed in ways that could entitle them to refunds,'' Mr Briton said.

"These practices are troubling enough in themselves, but all the more troubling because they appear to be relatively widespread.''

The commission received complaints about 413 solicitors and 335 law firms last year.

"We get more complaints about lawyers' billing practices than any other single issue,'' Mr Briton said.

Legal eagles found to have overcharged were expected to be disciplined and forced to waive, reduce or reimburse some or all of the costs.

Mr Briton said the law firms involved "appear to engage in this conduct as standard practice''.

But the commission can only compel lawyers to answer questions if the client has complained.

"This caveat on our powers of investigation can frustrate and even completely stymie any effective investigation,'' Mr Briton said.

In an anonymous survey of lawyers, more than half the respondents from 11 medium to large legal firms reported concerns about the billing practices of colleagues.

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In five firms, 40 per cent of respondents said they had actually witnessed other people padding their bills.

Mr Briton called on Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie to give the commission the same power as interstate counterparts.

Mr Bleijie said last night Mr Briton's report was being reviewed, but Queensland Law Society president Annette Bradfield hit back at his claims.

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