Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman has ditched plans to introduce mediation as another route to settling dispute between lawyers and their clients after a trial found limited interest.

The Legal Services Board is looking for a person with experience of “turn-around situations” to become the new chair of the Office of Legal Complaints, the board which oversees the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman could start publishing its full decisions, as well as annual reviews of the most complained-about lawyers and firms, to improve the quality of information it makes available.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of complaints made about the Legal Ombudsman, its service complaint adjudicator has reported – and it is not clear why.

The Legal Ombudsman is running a ‘proof of concept’ pilot as it decides whether to introduce formal mediation as another route to settling dispute between lawyers and their clients.

A barrister who complied with an order from the Legal Ombudsman to pay compensation to a client only two hours before appearing at a Bar disciplinary tribunal has been fined £2,000.

The Legal Ombudsman was more likely to make a finding of poor service against a lawyer than not in 2018/19, reversing the trend of previous years, its annual report has shown.

The Legal Ombudsman is falling further behind in meeting case closure targets amid high staff turnover, it has emerged. It closed 6,206 cases in 2018-19, compared to a target of 8,000.

Lawyers must provide their clients with a cost benefit analysis so they can understand the choices available to them, the Legal Ombudsman has said, also warning lawyers to be “crystal clear” over charges.

More than 40 leading property developers and freeholders – but no lawyers as yet – have signed a government-backed pledge that highlights the duty of conveyancers to act in the best interests of clients.

A law firm that addressed a transgender woman by her birth name has been ordered to pay compensation by the Legal Ombudsman.

Some conveyancing solicitors have become “too close to developers” and do not put their clients’ interests first, MPs claimed today. They suggested solicitors should part-fund compensation for mis-sold leases.

The Law Society has called on the Legal Ombudsman to make “concrete, specific plans” on how it going to cope with the new SRA rulebook, which will allow solicitors to practise from unregulated firms.

A new operational model for handling complaints, piloted last year by the Legal Ombudsman, has boosted quality and efficiency, and helped it get “the work right first time”.

The Legal Ombudsman is to focus on improving the quality of its decision making as its caseload falls from 8,000 to a predicted 7,400 in 2019-20. But delays continue to dog the service.