I read with interest your interview with LeO chief ombudsman Adam Sampson .

As chair of the board of the Legal Complaints Service, I have worked closely with Legal Complaints Service chief executive Deborah Evans and her team to ensure that LeO gets off to the best possible start. As we approach the launch point for the new service I feel confident that LeO will enjoy such a start.

Therefore, I write with a sense of puzzlement about the comments and views expressed by Mr Sampson. He states that consumer groups have been hugely critical of LCS – this is simply not true. In early 2006 these groups shared with LCS their frustrations regarding how complaints had been dealt with over the previous years. These very same groups have been extremely supportive of our reform efforts and have acknowledged publicly that LCS has succeeded in transforming the service provided to those seeking consumer redress.

The senior management and board of LCS have not shied away from the changes that were needed to improve the service, and modern, sophisticated consumer groups have no motive in criticising a redress system that works effectively. This has been the case with regard to LCS for several years.

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Sampson makes great play of the cultural impediments of LCS staff joining LeO in significant numbers. My reaction is very sceptical indeed, since these are the very same staff that responded positively and have succeeded in building a new culture within LCS since 2005. I am dismayed that he appears to have overlooked this, since the comment only serves to create an impression that LCS has failed. It has not, however much Mr Sampson wishes to emphasise the need for a fresh start.

Professor Shamit Saggar