Dear Mr Ribsskog
Thank you for your email reply of 7 April, in which you request further advice on ways to proceed forward with your complaint against the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO). To assist you with your concerns, I shall set out the avenues of legal assistance available to you that acknowledge your specific financial concerns.
Firstly, while I understand you have already been in contact with the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB), you may also wish to consider contacting your local Law Centre. Contact details for your local Law Centre can be found via the Law Centres Federation on 0207 428 4401, or by accessing their website www.lawcentres.org.uk. You may also find it helpful to access the Community Legal Services Direct website for information on providers of legal advice at www.clsdirect.org.uk. Alternatively, you may choose to contact Community Legal Advice for free confidential help regarding your legal queries on 0845 345 4345.
Secondly, it may be worth investigating the possibility of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This allows a solicitor to accept a case on a 'no won, no fee' basis, under which they receive a fee from you only if the case is won. It is worth pointing that the solicitor's standard fees can be increased by up to 100% to reflect the degree of risk to the solicitor in taking the case on (the 'success fee'). However, should you lose your case, you may still be liable to pay the successful party's costs, as well as expert witness fees and other disbursements. There are insurance schemes that, for a premium, provide cover for these items. As part of the implementation of the Access to Justice Act 1999, we have made it possible for the successful side to recover their lawyer's success fee and insurance premium form the loser. Effectively, this has made the operation of conditional fees fairer and more attractive to clients.
Thirdly, some solicitors may be prepared to take on your case on a pro bono agreement (i.e. provide you with a free service). You can contact the Law Society who can provide you with a list of solicitors that may provide pro bono services. The Law Society is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales and you can write to them at the following address:
The Law Society
113 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1SX
Tel: 0870 606 2555.
Alternatively, you can access the Law Society's website at www.solicitors-online.com.
I do hope that you find this information useful.
Yours sincerely
Ryan Holmes
Legal Services Regulation and Redress Division
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