Complaints must be 'tools for learning', incoming LeO chief tells MPs

Complaints against lawyers must be 'tools for learning', the incoming chair of the Office for Legal complaints said yesterday. Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman who handled the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, gave evidence before the Commons justice committee in a pre-appointment hearing before he succeeds Elisabeth Davies, whose term of office ends on 31 March. 

Blakeway said he applied for the role after hearing of the ‘injustice experienced’ by those affected by the Grenfell disaster and the family of two-year-old Awaab Ishak who was found to have died as a result of mould in his flat. 'Their experiences and how they had been dismissed and ignored through a complaints process’ was ‘part of my motivation for wanting to chair the office for legal complaints given the role of the legal ombudsman and also, from what I can see, some real system pressures within the legal sector’.

Complaints should be treated as 'tools for learning' rather than individual transactions, he said. However he conceded that changing perceptions would be a ‘big challenge’.

The committee heard that 28% of cases received by the legal ombudsman never get a final response from the legal provider. Blakeway said the figure ‘suggests some kind of cultural and behavioural issues'. A ‘non-defensive’ mindset is needed to treat complaints as learning opportunities, he said. 

Noting that residential conveyancing accounts for 36% of complaints, predominantly over hidden fees, delays and poor communication, Blakeway said that half of the complaints could be resolved through early resolution. ‘That suggests fairly straightforward steps could be taken at a local level to provide a satisfactory outcome for the complainant and those cases not to escalate to the ombudsman so there is probably some “quick wins” that could be adopted,' he said.

‘There needs to be a step change in the effectiveness of local complaint handling and there’s very clear evidence around that so that needs to be a focus for the system.’

The LSB’s report on the SRA’s handling of failed claimant firm SSB Law ‘validates the fact that complaints are an early warning indicator’, Blakeway said. ‘The LSB has made clear its view that the complaints the SRA were receiving should have been a warning to the SRA rather than signposted to the legal ombudsman.'