The Law Society has urged the Legal Ombudsman to consider a more flexible approach to it’s case-fee mechanism to protect small firms and reduce the incentive for firms to settle complaints without merit before they are referred to LeO.
Law Society president Jonathan Smithers said:
‘A fair, impartial and efficient Legal Ombudsman is vital to our legal system. LeO plays an important role in ensuring consumer protection and public confidence in the legal sector and justice system. The Law Society supports ‘polluter pays’ in principle but believes that the case fee must be applied more flexibly to remove the perverse incentive to settle vexatious complaints early and to support small firms and those who provide fee advice.
‘Where firms are subject to LeO complaints, the process must be fair for all parties and not skewed against small firms, sole practitioners, charities and those who provide pro bono advice. Vexatious claims against solicitors must be nipped in the bud and the most unreasonable complainants should contribute towards the cost of the complaint handling so that LeO can concentrate its resources on its core work.’
To read the full news story, click here