What is the Legal Ombudsman?

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent and impartial organisation in England and Wales responsible for complaints handling regarding the service provided by legal service providers. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints from individuals and small businesses who have received poor service from legal professionals, including solicitors, barristers, and licensed conveyancers.

It has jurisdiction over complaints regarding service issues such as delays, excessive costs, failure to follow instructions, and poor communication. It does not handle complaints about professional misconduct or the quality of legal advice, which are dealt with by other regulatory bodies like the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Making a Legal Costs Complaint

ARC Costs can assist with legal costs complaints to the Legal Ombudsman. Please note that we do not assist with legal proceedings under the Solicitors Act 1974, following the decision in Belsner v CAM [2022] EWCA Civ 1387. As highlighted in paragraph 15 of the Court of Appeal judgment, the Legal Ombudsman is considered the best option for addressing such complaints:

“The Legal Ombudsman scheme would be a cheaper and more effective method of querying solicitors’ bills in these circumstances, but the whole court process of assessment of solicitors’ bills in contentious and noncontentious business requires careful review and significant reform.”

Whilst a Solicitor Client costs assessment under the Solicitors Act 1974 can lead to beneficial outcomes, lodging any such action is subject to strict time limits (generally within 1 month of any paid invoice, or within 12 months of any unpaid invoice) after which the right to assessment may fall away, save for in exceptional circumstances.  Proceedings/litigation is also extremely expensive, time consuming, and any conclusion to proceedings may take 12+ months to conclude.  This is why in Belsner it was recommended that the Legal Ombudsman costs complaints process would be the most suitable means to proceed.

In the first instance, a complaint should be made using the Solicitor’s internal complaints procedure. If the response is unsatisfactory, a complaint should be made to the Ombudsman within 12 months.  For the avoidance of doubt, a complaint cannot be raised to the Ombudsman if the internal complaints policy of the Solicitor has not been followed.

Expert assistance is essential when lodging a complaint. This is because the Ombudsman will only deal with the specific issues raised within the initial complaint.

If the complaint is not accurately framed or lacks the necessary objections, the Ombudsman can only address those particular aspects. Therefore, obtaining expert input from the outset is vital to ensure that the full scope of issues is addressed in the initial complaint to both the Solicitor and the Ombudsman, and could benefit you by maximising the reductions achieved by any complaint.

It is important to note that a complaint cannot be altered when escalating it to the Ombudsman; it must remain consistent with the original complaint to the Solicitor.

A letter template can be found here.

ARC Costs can assist with writing this letter up fully to cover all costs points, and documents including:

• Initial retainer/charging documentation from the Solicitor;
• Copy of all invoices to be challenged;
• Reasons why they are to be challenged.

It is important that you should be aware that if a complaint is made to the Legal Ombudsman and you accept the outcome, this will be binding to both you and your Solicitor, and it removes your rights to pursue alternative action, such as a Solicitor Client assessment.  If however, the outcome is not agreed then other avenues of action remain open to be pursued, subject to any strict time limits applying.

Why Choose ARC Costs?

The Costs Draftsmen and Costs Lawyers at ARC Costs have specialist expertise in handling legal costs complaints to the Legal Ombudsman, ensuring all necessary details are provided within the complaint.

We have experience in taking a proactive and pragmatic approach to Solicitor-Client costs disputes, and the use of the Legal Ombudsman process allows a fair outcome to be achieved, with lesser adverse costs risks to both parties to the dispute.  Litigation for a Solicitor Client assessment is fraught with potential litigation risks, and often in low-value disputes, the costs of the litigation itself can be more than the actual amount in dispute.

For further information or to discuss your query, call one of the team or 01204 397302, or email one our experts at info@arccosts.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact us via submission of our contact form, and one of the team will give you a call back to provide free initial advice.  Our team provide assistance on a fixed fee basis (fees vary dependant upon the amount in dispute) for assisting with initial letters of complaint, and running costs disputes on your behalf to process claims with the Legal Ombudsman.