The Office for Legal Complaints

What is the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC)?

The OLC is a new organisation that will handle complaints about the legal profession, it is expected to open towards the end of 2010. It will handle complaints about solicitors, barristers, patent attorneys and legal executives in England and Wales.

How will the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) be different from the Legal Complaints Service (LCS)?

If you have a service complaint against any legal professional the OLC will be able to help you. In effect it will be a 'one-stop-shop' for legal complaints, so it should make things easier for you.

At the moment we only handle service complaints against solicitors in England and Wales. The new organisation will have a wider remit, so they will be able to deal with complaints about solicitors, barristers, patent attorneys and legal executives in England and Wales.

How will the change affect me?

There won't be any impact on you until the latter part of 2010. Until then we won't handle your complaint any differently.

Nearer the opening of the OLC we will give people options of how to proceed with their complaint.

When will the OLC open?

At the moment we don't have an opening date for the OLC. We expect it to open sometime during the latter part of 2010.

When will the LCS close?

At the moment we don't have a closing date for the LCS. We expect it will happen sometime during the latter part of 2010.

Will my complaint be transferred from the LCS to the OLC?

If the LCS has started to investigate your complaint it won't be transferred to the OLC. We will complete the process and resolve your complaint.

Where will the OLC be based?

The Government committed itself to basing the OLC in the West Midlands for at least the first five years of the new organisation's life. At the moment we don't know the exact location, although we believe sites in Birmingham are being considered.