The Legal Ombudsman is a free service that investigates complaints about lawyers in England and Wales.
It is an independent scheme that was created as a way to resolve impartially any disputes between providers of legal services and their customers.
The Legal Services Act 2007 was intended as a way to both liberalise and better regulate the legal services market in England and Wales.
It was seen as a way to encourage greater competition within the legal services sector, which would naturally bring about more competitive pricing and higher levels of customer satisfaction.
In addition, the act resulted in the creation of the Legal Ombudsman, the free service that investigates complaints about lawyers in England and Wales. The Ombudsman is operated by The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC).
The CLC is the professional body for licensed conveyancers in the United Kingdom.
The Administration of Justice Act 1985 allowed for the provision of conveyancing services by licensed conveyancers and the establishment of the CLC in 1987. For the first time this created an alternative to solicitors for customers needing conveyancing services.
The CLC is bound by statutory regulatory objectives under the Legal Services Act 2007 in the same way that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the regulatory body for solicitors) is. The objectives describe what licensed conveyancers must aim to achieve for the customers they take on.
Licensed conveyancers are expected to maintain the same standards as solicitors, and as such offer a viable alternative to using a conveyancing solicitor within a law firm.