18 September 2019

Office for Legal Complaints welcomes Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation

Responding to the publication of Professor Mayson’s interim report for the Independent Review of Legal Service Regulation Wanda Goldwag, Chair of the OLC, said: “We welcome Professor Mayson’s report and insights. We note with interest his recommendation that Consumer expectations and regulatory reality should be aligned by at least allowing access to the Legal Ombudsman for all consumers of legal services offered to the public. Closing the gap between consumers’ expectations of the sector and the regulatory reality is crucial for public confidence. Removing the burden from the consumer to understand a complex system can only be welcomed by everyone. We will carefully consider the proposals in the report and our role in this. We very much look forward to continuing our positive engagement with Professor Mayson and others on supporting access to justice”

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Notes to Editors:

1. The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales was set up by the Office for Legal Complaints (our board) under the Legal Services Act 2007 and is an independent and impartial scheme to help resolve legal service disputes. When it receives complaints, it examines the facts in each case and weighs up both sides of the story. The Ombudsman is not a consumer champion or part of the legal profession and is also independent of Government.