Named & shamed

Lawyers could be “immediately” publicly identified before a complaint against them has been decided, under new legal ombudsman policy.

As of 1 April, the ombudsman will be able, pending approval from the board, to publish the details of a lawyer or law firm “where there is a pattern of complaints” or “where it is in the public interest” to do so. This is regardless of whether the ombudsman has made a decision on the complaint.

As well as this, the ombudsman will publish a quarterly table of decisions against lawyers and law firms, including the number of decisions against them, the outcome in each one and the area of law involved. The first table will be available on the legal ombudsman website in late July.

Both methods of identifying lawyers are in line with powers given to the Office for Legal Complaints—the ombudsman’s board—by the Legal Services Act 2007, the ombudsman said.

Liz France, chair of the board, said: “After careful reflection, based on the consultations we undertook, I am confident that the approach we are taking strikes the right balance.

“It meets our aim to be open in all we do while not providing information which is excessive to the purposes of publication—protecting consumers of legal services from detriment and helping to improve standards of service.”