Legal Ombudsman
From 6 October 2010 anyone with a complaint about a lawyer in England and Wales should go to the new Legal Ombudsman.
The new Legal Ombudsman’s website will tell you all you need to know about making a complaint. From 6 October, when the Legal Ombudsman opens, you can also ring their helpline on 0300 500 0333. Calls will be charged at a local rate.
The Legal Ombudsman is a totally independent service for handling legal complaints. No service complaints will be passed from existing complaints handling bodies to the new Legal Ombudsman.
Who can I complain to the Legal Ombudsman about?
The Legal Ombudsman will deal with complaints about all of the different legal professionals listed below, and those who are licensed to work for them:
- Solicitors
- Barristers
- Licensed conveyancers
- Legal executives
- Notaries
- Trade mark attorneys
- Law costs draftsmen
- Patent attorneys
- Probate attorneys
- Registered European lawyers
What if I need to complain before 6 October 2010?
If you have a complaint about a lawyer in England and Wales before the new Legal Ombudsman opens you should contact one of the following professional bodies, which are known as ‘approved regulators’.
- Legal Complaints Service (LCS) for Solicitors.
- Bar Standards Board (BSB) for Barristers.
- Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) for Licensed Conveyancers.
- Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) for Legal Executives.
- Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPreg) for the Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Attorney professions.
- Association of Law Costs Draftsmen (ALCD) for Law Costs Draftsmen.
- Master of Faculties for Notaries.
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for probate services.
What if my complaint is already being dealt with?
If you have already complained to one of the professional bodies (please see the list above) your complaint will be determined by them. They have until 31 March 2011 to deal with your complaint. If it is not completed by then it will be passed to the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) for conclusion.
What if the professional body has already investigated my complaint ?
If your complaint has already been investigated by one of the professional bodies, you cannot ask the new Legal Ombudsman to look at it. If you are not happy with the outcome of the investigation you should contact the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) within her timescales.
Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman
3rd Floor
Sunlight House
Quay Street
Manchester M3 3JZ
Lo-call no: 0845 601 0794 (charged at local rates – available nationally)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0161 839 7262
We appreciate that you will have questions about what's changing and what you need to do. To help answer your questions please have a look at our common questions about the new Legal Ombudsman and about complaining about a solicitor.
