The Legal Ombudsman is being set up by the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) under the Legal Services Act 2007 to make sure users of legal services can go to an independent and impartial Ombudsman scheme to resolve disputes involving their lawyer. We will be the single body for all consumer legal complaints.
In February 2009, the Legal Services Board announced the appointment of six OLC Board members - designate who would formally take up their roles on 1 July 2009. Appointments were made in consultation with Elizabeth France. This was quickly followed by the OLC announcing that Adam Sampson would be the Chief Ombudsman.
On 1 July 2009, the OLC was officially established with the OLC Board members formally appointed. Adam also formally took up post as Chief Ombudsman.
In December 2009, the OLC chose the name Legal Ombudsman for the new scheme. It also confirmed that the office will be located in central Birmingham, meeting the Government’s commitment for the Ombudsman scheme to be based in the West Midlands.
We announced our ombudsman team in February 2010. The ombudsmen were appointed by our Board. In late February 2010 we also confirmed our choice of our permanent home in the centre of Birmingham.
On 2 March 2010 we announced our executive management team. With the ombudsmen, this team forms the core of the people working with Adam to set up the Legal Ombudsman.
The Legal Ombudsman is being established by the OLC. The OLC is accountable to Parliament through the Lord Chancellor and is sponsored by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We also have a direct relationship with the Legal Services Board (LSB) which will set key performance targets for the service we establish. The relationship between the OLC, the MoJ and the LSB is set out in the Management Statement, which provides the strategic framework for how the relationship will operate with our partner organisations.
The Financial Memorandum complements the Management Statement and sets out the financial relationship and accountabilities which exist between the MoJ and the OLC.