Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is to recruit more ombudsmen to triage complaints against lawyers in a major reorganisation that aims to improve the quality of its decision making, Legal Futures can reveal. Steve Green, chairman of the Office for Legal Complaints – the body that oversees LeO – admitted that “speed had got out of kilter with quality”.

Confusion over law firm complaints and the new European directive on alternative dispute resolution is set to continue, the chair of the legal services consumer panel has predicted. Elisabeth Davies said the panel was taken by surprise by the Legal Ombudsman’s change of heart on the issue.

The European directive on alternative dispute resolution will not only extend the period for making complaints about lawyers from six to twelve months, but reduce the grounds for the Legal Ombudsman to reject them from 14 to four, it has emerged.

The Legal Ombudsman has apologised to solicitors for any inconvenience caused after it abandoned plans to become a certified alternative dispute resolution body without a full consultation. LeO said it would “decide how to proceed” in December.

A former Chief Crown Prosecutor has been named as the new chief executive of the Legal Ombudsman. Barrister Nick Hawkins, who spent 15 years in the Crown Prosecution Service, is currently chief operating officer for the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A “typical” legal service user loves Strictly Come Dancing, prefers Coronation Street to EastEnders, regularly browses Facebook and follows Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross on Twitter. They are also married, in their later years of life, and financially stable – all according to the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Services Board has invoked its statutory power to set performance targets for the Office for Legal Complaints – the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman – because of concerns that current targets are at risk of not being met and there are “inherent structural features [that] are likely to prevent significant improvements in performance being made”.

Staff working for the Legal Ombudsman will not have to repay hundreds of thousands of pounds of “irregular” benefits they received from their employer, it has been decided. Having sought advice from the Treasury Solicitor, its board agreed that “repayment should not be pursued”.

The Legal Ombudsman is set to consult on allowing third parties to complain about lawyers in certain circumstances, it has emerged. It will also consult on establishing a voluntary scheme that enables unregulated providers to give their customers access to redress

The Legal Services Board has urged the frontline regulators to keep a close eye on ‘price transparency’ among lawyers in the wake of a Legal Ombudsman report that said a quarter of complaints it received were triggered by a lack of clarity over fees.