Complaining about a lawyer is a two-stage process governed by three clocks: the firm’s eight weeks, six months from the final response, and one year from the problem. This guide sets out the Legal Ombudsman route as it works in 2026 — the April 2023 scheme rules, the £50,000 compensation cap, the £400 case fee (paid by firms, not complainants), current timescales, and what complainants can realistically expect.
Written by John Barwell