Legal Ombudsman

[6] The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints made by members of the public (and small businesses, clubs and charities) about the service they receive from lawyers working in England and Wales.

[7] The Legal Ombudsman's role is restricted to investigating issues around quality of service.

The exception is if it appears that the advice is so unreasonable that no other lawyer in the same circumstances would have given it: this is the reasonable or common sense approach.

However, it is possible that poor service, which the Legal Ombudsman can investigate, might overlap with evidence that a complainant might wish to use to argue that their lawyer has been negligent.

Sections 122(3) and (8) of the Legal Services Act 2007 provide that the Chief Ombudsman must not be a lawyer.