Lawyers must provide clear information to clients about how they can complain about the service they receive, the Legal Services Board said today.

Noting ‘a perception of poor complaints handling by [legal] regulators and the individuals and entities that they regulate,’ the LSB said that firms must make it clear how clients can complain to the firm, and if they are unhappy with the firm’s response, how they can take their complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

The requirements come into force when the Legal Ombudsman opens in the autumn.

The LSB said it is currently working with the legal regulators to ‘ensure that consumer expectations on complaints handling and signposting requirements are met’. The regulators are required by the LSB to monitor, enforce and improve upon these requirements.

LSB chair David Edmonds said: ‘Improving complaints handling has been one of the key drivers of the reforms. It is essential that consumers have the information they need to identify whether they have a right to take their complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, and if so how to do it.

‘The launch of the Legal Ombudsman, underpinned by action to improve firms’ own handling of complaints and learn the lessons from them, should give consumers greater confidence in the speed and fairness of dispute resolution and so finally resolve an issue which has troubled the reputation of the sector for some time.’

The LSB said that while the creation of the Legal Ombudsman will address many concerns over complaints handling, there ‘still appear to be a number of areas for improvement within first-tier complaints handling’.

The LSB wrote to legal regulators and stakeholders last November outlining its proposals. The LSB has asked the legal regulators to develop complaints handling action plans by the time the Legal Ombudsman becomes operational.

The LSB will issue guidance to regulators on effective complaints handling and signposting.