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26 November 2021 / Veronica Cowan
Issue: 7958 / Categories: Features , Profession
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What the Ombudsman says

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Veronica Cowan talks to the Chief Legal Ombudsman, Paul McFadden, about his plans to drive recovery & change
  • Speeding up case handling and reducing backlog.
  • The attraction of an informal solution-based approach.

The Legal Ombudsman Service, which is funded by its members (service suppliers), deals with about 7,000 disputes each year, between regulated legal firms and claims management companies and their clients. If attempts by the parties to resolve the dispute fail, the service provider must inform the client about the complaints process.

There are a number of Ombudsmen, headed by the Chief Ombudsman, Paul McFadden, who was appointed in January 2021 from the public sector, where his roles included being Deputy Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, and its Judicial Appointments Ombudsman; helping establish Scotland’s first independent Police Complaints Commission and the UK’s Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. As the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, he headed its Complaints Standards Authority, implementing a streamlined and improved complaints-handling framework, and culture across Scotland’s public bodies.

Having previously worked in the public sector

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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