In England and Wales, the Legal Services Ombudsman was a statutory officer that investigated allegations about the improper, ineffective or inefficient way that complaints about lawyers are handled by their respective self-regulating professional bodies.
The Ombudsman is appointed by, and is answerable to, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
[1] It has been abolished under the Legal Services Act 2007 The first Ombudsman was appointed to start work on 2 January 1991.
During the first decade of operation, the office undertook 10,531 investigations: Around 60% of the firms of solicitors in England and Wales and around 8% of practising barristers were subject of a complaint to the Ombudsman in that time.
The Ombudsman could:[3] There was also a power to re-investigate the original complaint but this is only used in exceptional circumstances.