Caseloads and Outcomes 2008/2009

Below are the cumulative quarterly casework statistics.

Table 1 shows the number of reports issued

Table 2 shows the turnaround times from receipt of the the Professional Body’s file on the relevant case to the issue of the report.

Table 3 shows the percentage of cases (broken down by Professional body) where the case resulted in a recommendation (reconsideration and/or compensation); formal criticism; or no recommendation.

Table 4 shows the average compensation received by those who had a recommendation for compensation.


Table 1

Reports Issued Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4
  478 479 365 495

Table 2

Turnaround Times Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4
0-2 Months 54% 46% 47% 40%
3-4 Months 99% 99% 99% 99%
5-6 Months 100% 100% 100% 100%
6+ Months 100% 100% 100% 100%

There have also been 15 reports issued which were investigated by the Scottish Legal Ombudsman on our behalf. These reports have been omitted from the figures above.

Table 3

  Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4
LCS          
Recommendation 74 24% 81 26% 82 34% 108 32%
Criticism 21 7% 28 9% 15 6% 21 6%
No recommendation 217 69% 199 65% 143 60% 2006 61%
SRA          
Recommendation 11 10% 21 19% 16 19% 24 20%
Criticism 8 7% 11 10% 11 13% 6 5%
No recommendation 97 84% 78 71% 58 68% 93 76%
BSB          
Recommendation 5 11% 4 7% 7 19% 4 13%
Criticism 4 9% 4 7% 1 3% 3 10%
No recommendation 37 80% 47 85% 29 78% 24 77%

* The Ombudsman may recommend that the professional body reconsider a case if she believes that their investigation was inadequate in some way (e.g. issues were overlooked, or the decision was wrong). A reconsideration may result in the professional body providing a remedy to the complainant.

In 2008-2009 there were also 8 cases brought to the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman about the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, 7 resulting in no further recommendations being made. No cases have yet been brought to the Ombudsman in relation to the Institute of Legal Executives, Chartered Institute of Patent Agents or the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and we investigated 11 cases on behalf of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Table 4

  Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4
Average Compensation Award £221.67 £306.00 £269.23 £517.07