02 December 2009

On 30 November 2009 the Legal Services Board sent a letter to all Approved Regulators (ARs) regulatory bodies regarding complaints handling by providers of legal services (also known as ‘first-tier’ or  'in-house’ complaints handling). A perception of poor complaints handling was one of the main drivers behind the regulatory reform agenda.

The letter outlines how the LSB proposes to take forward its work on this crucial issue with ARs and invites the ARs to work with the LSB to improve the way in which complaints are dealt with by providers of legal services. The letter builds on the work of the Legal Services Board on first-tier complaints handling and the associated LSB/Office for Legal Complaints consultation document Towards establishing the Office for Legal Complaints, published in July 2009.