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The Legal Ombudsman will not allow third parties to bring complaints against lawyers for the time being, Legal Futures has learned. However, it will in future accept complaints from prospective clients, while the limit for compensation will rise from £30,000 to £50,000

The problems claims management companies cause consumers will not be solved by giving the Legal Ombudsman jurisdiction over them – and may even be exacerbated, the Law Society has warned.

It has taken around five years to reach the point of publishing the names of firms against whom complaints are made. A process begun by the Legal Complaints Service and then handed on, with some relief, to the Legal Ombudsman, it has caused much huffing, puffing and argument. My initial reaction was how underwhelming the information actually was (which, in fairness, Chief Ombudsman Adam Sampson had previously flagged up to me was likely to be the case). What conclusion can anyone draw about the many law firms on the list about which one complaint had reached an ombudsman decision but then no remedy ordered, meaning they had in fact dealt with the matter properly?

The publication of complaints data will be “imperfect”, the Chief Legal Ombudsman has admitted, but it is better than publishing nothing at all and is emphatically not about naming and shaming lawyers.

Michelle Garlick, a partner in Weightmans’ professional risk and Compl-i consultancy team, offers common-sense tips on how to handle complaints from clients.