Improvement in performance saves Law Society from further fine
On 23rd June 2008 the Commissioner announced her decision that the Law Society's complaints handling arms - the Legal Complaints Service and the Solicitors Regulation Authority - have not handled complaints in accordance with their Improvement Plan for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. However, the Commissioner has decided that she will not impose a financial penalty on the Law Society.
Key documents relating to the Commissioner's decision are listed below:
Review of our website
We are undertaking a review of our website to improve navigation and make life easier for visitors. If you have any comments to make on the content or structure of the website, please e-mail: info@olscc.gsi.gov.uk
Background
At some point in their lives most people will need to make use of the services of a solicitor and in most cases, the service provided will be of a high standard. However, as with any service, it is important that there are mechanisms in place to enable people to complain where this is not the case. It is currently the responsibility of the Law Society, the professional body which oversees solicitors, to manage complaints about solicitors in England and Wales. Unfortunately, there have been problems with the level of service which the Law Society has provided in managing these complaints. In February 2004 this prompted the Government to take the step of appointing a Legal Services Complaints Commissioner, with responsibility for working with the Law Society to improve its complaints handling.
Our role
The Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner works with consumers to improve how the Law Society handles complaints about solicitors in England and Wales. The Commissioner, Zahida Manzoor CBE, is an independent government-appointed regulator.
To ensure the public get the standards of service that they should reasonably expect the Commissioner sets performance targets for the Law Society. The Commissioner can also make recommendations for improving complaints handling. To ensure the Law Society does make the changes needed, she requires it to produce, for her approval, formal plans setting out how it is going to improve things. She is also able to levy a penalty of one million pounds against the Law Society in certain circumstances.
Reporting our achievements
The Commissioner has set targets for the Law Society and these targets are published on this website. We will also publish the Law Society's performance against these targets.
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