Consistency would build confidence in Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) should focus on high quality and efficient complaints handling, the Law Society of England and Wales said in its response to LeO’s draft business plan for 2018-19.

The Law Society’s president, Joe Egan, said:

“It is in the interests of both solicitors and the clients we serve that complaints are handled effectively and consistently.

“We support LeO’s focus on high quality investigation and decisions. But we would like to see more detail on how the ombudsman will manage to reduce the cost of dealing with complaints.

“Applying the case fee in a more flexible way for smaller firms and pro bono work should be a priority.

“We would also like to see ‘two free case fees’ reinstated and consideration of exemptions to the case fee where work is carried out pro bono. In the longer term, we would like the ombudsman to consider whether the level of case fee should fall.”

Kindly shared by The Law Society