2010-10-06
By Editor, CIR
A new Legal Ombudsman has opened for business today. Covering lawyers, solicitors and barristers, the Ombudsman has official powers to put things right if the service a consumer received from their lawyer was deemed unsatisfactory.
Designed not only to give lawyers a taste of their own medicine, the new Legal Ombudsman also intends to enhance the reputation of the profession and simplify the current consumer complaints system.
“We know that most of the time, lawyers provide a good service. But sometimes things can go wrong. When they do, people must have access to someone they can have confidence in to put things right. That is our job – to resolve complaints quickly and fairly. We have worked hard to make sure we bring a fresh approach to legal complaints with a focus on justice,” says chief ombudsman, Adam Sampson.
“We also want to work closely with lawyers and their regulators to raise standards. We want to help prevent complaints and make the legal and justice systems work better”.
Jonathan Djanogly MP, minister responsible for legal services adds, “The new Legal Ombudsman will make a real difference for people who want to make a complaint about their lawyer.
“The consumer will have a single point of contact, instead of the current confusing situation, and the process will be a smoother one for the legal profession.
The Legal Ombudsman will deal with complaints about a broad cross-section of legal professionals, including barristers, law costs draftsmen, legal executives, licensed conveyancers, notaries, patent attorneys, probate practitioners, registered european lawyers, solicitors and trademark attorneys.
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