Independent and effective

The Legal Services Act 2007 says that we must set a structure for a case fee that will be charged to lawyers. The exceptions would be where (a) a complaint is resolved "in favour of the lawyer" and (b) we are satisfied that the lawyer took all reasonable steps to try to resolve the complaint under their own procedure.

The formulation of deciding complaints 'in favour of' or 'against' the lawyer is not one which we have adopted. So the wording of the Act will require some interpretation by the Legal Ombudsman. We have decided to charge a flat fee of £400 for each complaint but allow the law firm to have two free complaints in each year (April – March).


Case fee guidance

The following is the approach we take to case fees.

A case fee becomes chargeable when we accept a case for investigation. We review every case at the point of closure to see if it is appropriate to waive the case fee.

We do not charge a case fee when:
A) The complaint, after being accepted for investigation, is found to be premature (that is, has not yet been raised with the lawyer and been dealt with through their internal procedure).
B) The complaint, after having been accepted as a case for investigation, has been found to be out of jurisdiction.
C) An Ombudsman has decided to discontinue the case under section 5.7 of the scheme rules.

We consider waiving the fee when:
D) The complaint has been withdrawn or abandoned by the complainant during the course of the investigation; or
E) We decide that any remedy offered by the lawyer under their own complaints procedure was reasonable; and we find that the lawyer took all reasonable steps to resolve the complaint.

These case fee waiver decisions are made by an Ombudsman.

Complaints where we have waived the fee are non-chargeable complaints. When we write to the lawyer at the end of a case, we include a standard paragraph which explains the case fee structure and add a sentence in the letter which makes it clear that, in this instance, a case fee will not be chargeable.

All other complaints which are accepted as cases for resolution are chargeable complaints.

A complaint is chargeable when:
• we accept a complaint for resolution; and
• we come to a decision on it (whether through resolution or an Ombudsman's decision); and
• we decide the remedy offered by the lawyer under their own complaints procedure was not fair and reasonable and we ask for a different remedy that hasn't been previously been offered by the lawyer; or
• there were improvements which the lawyer could have made to the manner in which they handled the complaint.

When we write to the lawyer at the end of the case where the fee has not been waived, we include a standard paragraph in the letter which explains the case fee structure.

How is the case fee collected?
Our Finance Team issues a statement to each firm that has had more than two chargeable complaints accepted for investigation during the course of the year. This statement lists all complaints accepted and, where the complaint has been closed, identifies if it was chargeable or not. The first two chargeable complaints accepted in any year are free and all chargeable complaints accepted in any year thereafter will be charged a fee of £400 once these complaints have been closed.

click to view our Guide to good complaints handling (pdf - opens in new window)

What does 'all reasonable steps' mean?

We are likely to be satisfied that the lawyer took 'all reasonable steps' under their own complaints procedure if:
  • • The lawyer dealt with the complaint 'professionally'. This means:

    - the lawyer's in-house complaints procedure adhered to accepted best practice in complaints handling (it is useful here to examine the extent to which the lawyer complied with the guidance issued by their own Approved Regulator or broader Ombudsman guidance);

    - there were no unreasonable delays on the part of the lawyer in dealing with the complaint;

    - the complainant was kept informed;

    - the lawyer gathered and considered relevant information.

    • The lawyer's response to the complaint was clear, understandable and sought to address the complainant's individual situation. Suppose the complainant hadn't been able to understand the lawyer's response or the reasons for it until we reached our own resolution/ an Ombudsman's decision. This would suggest that 'all reasonable steps' had not been taken by the lawyer to explain the position clearly. We will also look to see whether the response was tailored to the individual circumstances of the complainant, for example adopting the tone appropriate to respond to the complainant's emotional state.

    • The lawyer openly accepted any failure in their service and offered a reasonable remedy for any disadvantage caused to the complainant. So, for example, we may consider the tone in which any apology was framed or the level of compensation offered.