LCS official logo

Resolving complaints about solicitors

Common Questions - The Legal Ombudsman

 

What is changing?

The Legal Ombudsman is being set up to make sure people who use legal services can go to an independent and fair Ombudsman scheme to resolve disputes involving their lawyer. The Legal Ombudsman will be the single organisation for all consumer legal complaints.

This means that the other organisations that deal with complaints against lawyers at the moment will stop accepting complaints from when the new Ombudsman opens on 6 October 2010.

Back to top

When?

The Legal Ombudsman will open on 6 October 2010 and the other organisations will stop taking new service complaints at that point. Any new complaint made on or after 6 October 2010 must be made to the new Ombudsman.

Back to top

What can the new Legal Ombudsman do?

The Legal Ombudsman will deal with complaints about all the varying legal professionals. For example:

  • Barristers
  • Law costs draftsmen
  • Legal executives
  • Licensed conveyancers
  • Notaries
  • Patent attorneys
  • Probate practitioners
  • Registered European lawyers
  • Solicitors
  • Trademark attorneys
  • Any business responsible for those people.

Back to top

Can I complain to the new Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman has rules about who can complain. They will look at a service complaint about a lawyer as long as the complaint meets the rules they have set out. Their rules are available as a PDF document on their website.

Back to top

What are the timescales?

Before you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman you must have complained to the lawyer first. You must also tell the Ombudsman within 12 months of finding out that there was a problem with the service the lawyer provided you. If you wait any longer than this, it is possible they may refuse to look at your complaint.

Back to top

How long does the lawyer have to reply to my complaint to them?

The new Ombudsman allows the lawyer 8 weeks to deal with your complaint.

Back to top

What if I am not happy with the reply from the lawyer?

If you are not happy with the reply from your lawyer then you can go to the new Ombudsman. As long as you complain within 12 months of discovering that there was a problem.

Back to top

What can I complain about?

There are some examples below of the types of complaint the Legal Ombudsman can deal with below. This is not a complete list. For more detailed information about how the new Ombudsman will handle complaints you may wish to have a look at their website or from 6 October 2010 you can phone their helpline on 0300 500 0333.

Examples of the types of complaint the Legal Ombudsman will look at are if:

  • Your lawyer has not done what you instructed them to do.
  • Your lawyer has involved you in unreasonable delays.
  • Your lawyer has given you inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Your lawyer has failed to reply to your phone calls and letters.
  • Your lawyer has failed to give you enough information about what they'll charge you before they begin your case or give you the final bill.
  • Your lawyer has failed to keep you informed about what is going on.
  • Your lawyer has disclosed information about you which you wanted kept confidential.
  • Your lawyer has put their interests or another client's interests before yours.

Back to top

What happens if the complaint is not about service?

All lawyers should conduct business within rules determined by the body which regulates them. If your lawyer breaks these rules, this may have been misconduct. Examples of misconduct are:

  • your lawyer keeps money that belongs to you;
  • your lawyer can't account properly for money they owe you;
  • your lawyer also acts for a client whose interests clash with yours (this is called a 'conflict of interest');
  • your lawyer releases confidential information about you without your permission; or
  • your lawyer discriminates against you because of your race, religion, sex, sexuality, disability or age.

If you think your lawyer may have not conducted themselves in the correct manner, you should contact the body which regulates them listed below. The Legal Ombudsman will not investigate conduct matters, and any cases they deem to be conduct issues will be passed to one of the appropriate regulatory bodies:

You should note that there is no appeal against an approved regulator's decision on conduct matters unless you wish to take the matter to court.

Back to top

What can the Legal Ombudsman do to help me?

If the Ombudsman agrees that there has been a problem with your lawyer’s service, they can ask the lawyer and the law firm to:

  • apologise to you;
  • return any documents you may need;
  • put things right if more work can correct what went wrong;
  • pay you back if you have lost out financially (up to £30,000, although most complaints involve much smaller amounts); or
  • pay compensation if you have lost out or been badly treated.

You can look at more detailed information about how the Legal Ombudsman will handle complaints on their website.

Back to top

What’s the difference between the new Legal Ombudsman and the Legal Services Ombudsman?

The new Legal Ombudsman replaces organisations, like the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Bar Standards Board (BSB), who used to deal with service complaints about their type of lawyers.

If an organisation such as the LCS or BSB investigated a complaint and the client was not happy with the outcome or the service the LCS or BSB provided, they could ask for their complaint to be independently reviewed by the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO).

Clients will still have the option of referring a matter to the LSO to request a review of the way the old organisation has dealt with a complaint. The LSO will be abolished on 31 December 2011.

Just to be clear, the LSO cannot review a complaint that has been started after 5 October 2010 and has been investigated by the new Ombudsman.

Back to top

If you cannot find the answer you need, please contact us.

Hidden gems