Solicitors will be strongly positioned for the new complaints handling era when the Legal Ombudsman takes over from the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) on Wednesday according to the Law Society.

The Society says that its members will benefit from more than four years’ experience of an independent complaints regime headed by the LCS.

With professional guidance, support and other services aimed at cementing a high standard of client care and best-practice complaints procedures, the profession will be equipped for the new legal services complaints landscape.

Law Society President Linda Lee said the LCS already has a solid track record in supporting solicitors to deliver high standards of client care and complaints procedures within their legal practices.

“The Law Society will work closely with the Ombudsman to ensure the profession’s client care standards are protected. “A range of support services will be available to solicitors on how the new Ombudsman process will work and what is expected from them.

“The ultimate aim is for legal practices to have in-house complaints procedures and client care policies that are so effective and robust that concerns and disagreements can be dealt with before recourse to the Ombudsman is necessary.”

Support and guidance

The Law Society has updated practice notes for its members in relation to client care and complaints handling. Earlier this year, the Society launched its Risk & Compliance Service, a key element of which is complaints handling.

The Society’s Client Care Toolkit, Lawyerline and practice management standard, Lexcel, are also important initiatives which are helping solicitors maintain high standards for the benefit of clients.

“The Ombudsman is more than just a new complaints-handling body. It is an incentive to look again at how legal practices engage with their clients.

“Solicitors will have a head-start from their experience under the LCS and, with access to strong support and advice form the Society, can continue to improve standards,” Ms Lee said.

Find out more about:

The new complaints handling arrangements on the Law Society website  

The Law Society’s Risk & Compliance Service on the Law Society website 

Visit the Lexcel homepage

The Law Society supports openness and transparency in family cases but believes there must be a balance between ensuring public confidence in the process and the protection of sensitive personal information, especially where children are involved. 

The Law Society has called on the Ministry of Justice to consider alternative options to deliver a transparent family justice system without sacrificing the privacy of families and especially children.

The Law Society believes such transparency can also be achieved by other means such as the use of anonymised judgement.

Law Society president Linda Lee said: “Publishing sensitive personal information could cause significant embarrassment, distress and disadvantage to the parties involved in family cases.

 “We support increasing the public’s understanding of the Family Courts through more openness and transparency but not at the risk of clients’ privacy and safety.

“In many Family Court cases, the decisions made will affect the adults and children involved for the rest of their lives.

“The Law Society will continue to closely monitor the proposed legislation and support the aim of the Bill to provide a more effective, transparent and accountable family justice system through the implementation of a single, consistent reporting regime.”

“We look forward to working closely with the Government as it re-examines proposed changes to the family justice system.”

The office of Hudson & Associates will operate under the Cohen Cramer name and will remain in the same location, with the renowned family law specialist, John Hudson, continuing to work from this office.

This is a great move for the firm, for its clients and for potential clients, as everybody in the local area will now have access to the full legal service offering and expertise of Cohen Cramer, a big city law firm, at competitive local rates. The new office will offer a complete solution for all business and personal legal needs.

John Hudson, Solicitor Advocate at Hudson & Associates, said: “I am delighted that Kirkby Lonsdale and the surrounding area will now be able to gain from Cohen Cramer’s experience and full service offering.”

John Grant, Managing Partner at Cohen Cramer, added: “We are pleased that this opportunity will open up our services to a new area and will build on the specialist family law services that Hudson & Associates already offer.”

For further information, contact Cohen Cramer Solicitors, Kirkby Office:

65 – 67 Main Street
Kirkby Lonsdale
Cumbria
LA6 2AH

Tel: 0800 542 94 08
or visit http://www.cohencramer.co.uk

Shabana Jaffar Ridley & Hall Solicitors

Oldham Council has accepted defeat over a legal challenge after permission was given to challenge its failure to properly support the placement of a “looked after” child.

The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to live with a family member – his second cousin in May 2006. Social Services asked the family member to care for the child as the child’s mother was leading a chaotic lifestyle. His grandmother had stepped in to care for him however upon her death there was no one left to provide him with a home. Social Workers approached a member of the child’s family and asked if she would step in to care. As the child had previously spent time in care the social workers did not consider placing the child with strangers would be appropriate.

The family member was asked to care for the child until further decisions were made by the local authority regarding the child’s future.

Four months into the placement a meeting took place between the carer and Social Services. The meeting was requested by the carer who wanted answers from Social Services as to the future of the child. The carer was advised that social services were going to begin Court proceedings. She was asked if the child could remain with her in the meantime and she agreed.

When the carer asked if the local authority could provide the family with financial support the local authority asked what kind of amount she was looking for. A few weeks later after chasing the Local Authority the carer as awarded £25 per week. This was well below the authority’s base level of fostering allowance.

The Fostering Network’s recommended allowance for an 8 year old child is now £142.49 per week.

When the carer sought legal advice she became aware of the responsibilities the local authority had towards the child and it was clear that the local authority had not complied with them.

Solicitor Shabana Jaffar from Ridley and Hall’s specialist Kinship care Unit who represents the carer commented: “I was amazed by Oldham’s approach to this case. I wrote repeatedly to the Council and they simply ignored my letters!”

“All too often children are placed with members of their extended family or sometimes even friends of the family when the parents cannot care and social services become involved. Sadly social services can view these types of placements as an opportunity to avoid any ongoing responsibility for the children involved. The placements typically come about as a result of an emergency situation and carers can face the ultimatum of taking the child on immediately or seeing them go into care. It is only after the dust has settled that they realise they need help. When social services are approached they routinely state that the placements are “private arrangements” and that as the children are with family they have no legal obligation to provide support.”

” The fact of the matter is that such situations are not so straightforward. Each case will depends on its own facts however if social services have been directing the terms of the placement then their failure to provide support could be open to legal challenge.”

“Although my client was not motivated by money, the fact is that the family have suffered financial hardship as a result of the local authority’s failure to support the placement – support to which they were entitled. They feel completely let down by the system which is supposed to protect vulnerable children. The only way we could get Oldham to act was by starting Judicial review proceedings”

The child’s carers agree: “Social Services did not carry out any formal checks before we were asked to care. They had little or no background information on me or my family. They were happy enough to put the child with me – but then they just walked away from their responsibilities. I have had to chase and struggle for every penny from the local authority. Even when they had agreed to provide £25 per week I had to chase them for it. I was left with no alternative but to get legal advice.”

His Honour Judge Pelling QC commented when giving permission for Judicial Review that this was a case “crying out for urgent attention.”

Ms Jaffar went on: “The local authority have now conceded that the child was “looked after” from the time the child came to live with his second cousin. Negotiations are ongoing regarding the sum of the financial settlement. This is a great result for my client – but she should never have had to go to court to get the payments and support which she was entitled to.”

Tel: 01484 538421

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