A family law client was compensated after the The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) investigated a firm’s failure to communicate with her during her divorce proceedings – exampling the top complaint from consumers against family law firms.
Poor communication, delays and progression failures are among the most common grievances cited by consumers using family law services.
LeO have published their annual report on customer complaints, collecting case studies and customer feedback to paint a picture of areas that need improving within the legal landscape.
Out of 729 family law complaints accepted, 56 per cent were resolved through early resolution with key findings showing a third of all the complaints LeO accepted related to residential conveyancing, with the next biggest areas being personal injury and wills and probate.
LeO said of family law complaints: ‘Consumers often tell us they don’t agree with or accept the advice they’ve received from a legal provider, and this accounts for the biggest share of complaints. We’re likely to uphold complaints where there’s evidence the provider didn’t provide the right advice in the individual circumstances – for example, where they didn’t clearly advise that parties’ conduct isn’t a consideration in financial matters.’
A family law case study pertaining to a client who hired a solicitor to assist with her divorce and the finances relating to it. ‘Ms W’ told LeO that when she gave the law firm the information they’d asked for their response was ‘excessively’ delayed. She said that there was a lack of progress in her case and a failure to respond to her repeated requests for updates.
Ms W said the firm has caused her ‘extra worry’ and communicated this to her solicitor.
LeO investigated Ms W’s case and found there was delayed progress in her financial settlement, however this was not due to her solicitor’s unreasonable service. The solicitor said that Ms W’s husband was ‘reluctant’ to share his financial information and they were in extensive discussions with his solicitors. They revealed evidence to LeO of their proactive follow up of Mr W’s solicitors, proving the delay was indeed beyond their control. However it was found that the lack of updates given to Ms W of their progress led her to believe there were delays and caused her distress at a difficult time. LeO deemed this unreasonable service and asked the firm to compensate Ms W £150.
LeO say they are ‘urging lawyers and their regulators to see complaints as opportunities improve, highlighting the key elements of good service and complaints handling that apply across the profession’.
Chief Ombudsman, Paul McFadden, said:
“It’s good news that we’re able to sort out half of all complaints through early resolution. If something’s gone wrong, and a lawyer has offered to put things right fairly, we can explain that to their client. If they haven’t, we can quickly help the two sides find a way forward.
But the fact is many of these complaints could have been prevented or resolved without us. And where we need to investigate in more depth, our data doesn’t paint a positive picture. It’s also disappointing we’re not seeing change or improvement in the types of issues consumers are raising.
Lawyers should welcome feedback from clients – including, and perhaps especially, about what’s not gone well. It’s clear a cultural shift is needed in lawyers’ approach to complaints – they’re opportunities to learn and do things better.
The law might be complex, but the principles of good service and complaints handling aren’t. As an independent Ombudsman, we’re here to support legal providers – and to inform the work of legal regulators, who have the power to set standards and enforce improvements – by sharing our insight into how standards of service and complaints handling can improve.”
