Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman (OLSO) Explained

You can download our leaflet in PDF format here.

This page explains what to do if you have a complaint about a lawyer, and you are dissatisfied with the way in which the lawyer’s professional body investigated the matter.

Each branch of the legal profession has a professional body which investigates complaints about its members (see back of leaflet for contact details). If you are unhappy with the way that the professional body dealt with your complaint, or the conclusions that they reached, you can refer the matter to the Ombudsman. Please note that the Ombudsman will normally only consider complaints after the professional body have completed their investigation.

Who is the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) and what does she do?

Zahida Manzoor CBE is the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales. She is independent of the legal profession and is not a lawyer. The Legal Services Ombudsman derives her powers from the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. In creating the role of Ombudsman, it was Parliament’s intention to protect the interests of the consumers of legal services. She does this by ensuring that the professional bodies conduct fair, thorough and efficient investigations of complaints about their members.

When the Ombudsman reviews the way that a professional body has handled a complaint, she will consider whether:

the investigation was thorough, and fair;
all the relevant facts were taken into account;
the conclusions reached were reasonable, and properly explained;
the investigation was handled efficiently, without unnecessary delay;
the outcome was appropriate (for example, the legal professional may have been disciplined; you may have had your fees reduced or been awarded appropriate compensation for poor service).

If I want to complain about the professional body’s handling of my complaint what information should I send to the Ombudsman?

All the information we need from you is covered by our Application Form on this website or by contacting us via letter or telephone.

We will not normally require any further information from you, because all the information and evidence relating to your complaint will be contained on the professional body’s file which is sent to the Ombudsman. If we do require further information from you, we will write and ask you to supply it. It is important to bear in mind that the Ombudsman’s primary role is to consider the way that the professional body handled your complaint. She cannot criticise the professional body for failing to act on information that you did not make available to them at the time of their investigation.

Are there any complaints about legal professionals that the Ombudsman doesn’t deal with?

The Ombudsman does not have the power to investigate something that has been decided by the courts or Disciplinary Tribunals. Nor will she normally consider complaints if:

more than three months have passed since the professional body completed their investigation (unless there are exceptional circumstances which prevented you from applying in time);
you have not yet complained to the relevant professional body;
you are a legal professional complaining about another legal professional (unless you are acting on behalf of a client);
you are involved in a contractual dispute with the legal professional (for example, over non-payment of professional fees).

I have missed the three-month deadline for complaining to the Ombudsman. Is there anything I can do?

If you miss the three-month deadline for applications to this Office, the Ombudsman will not normally consider your case. However, she may extend this deadline if she thinks that there are ‘special reasons’ for doing so. ‘Special reasons’ are reasons outside your control that prevented you from making an earlier application. For example, if you or a member of your family has been seriously ill or you have suffered a bereavement.

The professional body must tell you of your right to refer the case to the Ombudsman once they have concluded their investigation. If the professional body did not tell you about your right to refer the matter, or about the three-month deadline for doing so, this might be a ‘special reason’.

Finally, if the issues raised by your complaint are particularly serious, or raise highly sensitive or important issues for the legal profession, the Ombudsman may consider this to be a ‘special reason’.

How will the Ombudsman deal with my complaint?

Once you have sent us your completed Application Form we will:

obtain the professional body’s file;
decide whether your complaint can be accepted for investigation by the Ombudsman;
if your complaint is accepted, carry out an investigation;
send you the Ombudsman’s report containing her conclusions. A copy will also be sent to the professional you complained about and to their professional body.

Will the Ombudsman investigate my original complaint about the legal professional?

The Ombudsman’s primary role is to investigate the way that the professional body has dealt with a complaint. If she is dissatisfied with the professional body’s handling of a complaint, she will normally recommend that they re-investigate the matter and give reasons why. She may also recommend compensation for poor service by the professional body itself. When the Ombudsman decides to extend her investigation beyond that primary role, she must be satisfied that doing so is a justifiable use of her limited resources. The Ombudsman would only normally take such a decision if she felt that there were public interest reasons to do so.

When can I expect to receive the Ombudsman’s report on my complaint?

In 2008–2009, 99% of cases were dealt with within four months of receipt of the professional body’s file. However, if your case is complicated or we need more information, it may take longer.

What will the Ombudsman do if she decides that the professional body did not deal effectively with your complaint?

The Ombudsman might decide that the professional body’s handling of your complaint was satisfactory. However, if she takes the view that there were shortcomings in the professional body’s investigation, she could:

recommend that they re-investigate some, or all, aspects of the complaint;
formally criticise the professional body;
award you compensation for any loss, distress or inconvenience the professional body may have caused you.

What were the outcomes of previous cases considered by the Ombudsman?

In 2008–2009, the Ombudsman issued 1,817 reports (11 of which were issued on behalf of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission when a potential conflict of interest arose). The outcomes of the 1806 cases, concerning the legal professional bodies in England and Wales, are detailed in the table below.

Outcomes

What if I don’t agree with the Ombudsman’s decision?

The Ombudsman is the final stage in the process for handling consumer complaints about legal professionals in England and Wales.

How can I complain about the service provided by the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman?

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the service that we provide – for example, we failed to reply to your correspondence, or we did not answer your telephone calls – you should write to our Corporate Services Manager. She will investigate your complaint, and aim to let you have a response within ten days. The Corporate Services Manager has no authority to review decisions taken by the Ombudsman. If you wish to comment on the Ombudsman’s report, you should address your concerns to the Ombudsman in writing.