The SRA’s draft Business Plan for 2026/27 is honest about how badly things have gone. The new Chief Executive’s foreword does not reach for euphemisms. Axiom Ince. SSB Group. PM Law. Formal enforcement action from the Legal Services Board. A 45% increase in misconduct reports in three years. SRA’s candour is welcome, and we should…
I recently joined an online drop-in session hosted by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) as part of its current contractors survey. I went along expecting a constructive exchange about the state of the sector. What I witnessed left me genuinely troubled, not just as a Legal Services Consumer Panel member, but as someone who holds a legal aid contract myself in my day job in family mediation…
Read more - Still turning up: what happens when legal aid providers can’t hold on any longer?
It was my pleasure and privilege to serve on the Legal Services Consumer Panel since 2019 and our last Panel meeting, my final meeting shared with two brilliant colleagues departing the same day, was a time to reflect on progress made. It is also ten years since the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in its…
Read more - Putting the consumer at the heart of regulation – a reflection on six years’ efforts
I wrote a blog last summer reflecting on the impact of our work on consumer focused regulation in legal services, two years on from the publication of a report on that topic. The theme of that blog was on the positive engagement we had seen from all legal regulators. Having focused previously on where we’ve…
Read more - Consumer focused regulation: Challenges and opportunities
In my previous blog, I reflected on the importance of transparency in legal services and the promise of the Regulatory Information Service (RIS). RIS was conceived as a flagship project to give consumers clear, accessible information about legal providers, their regulatory status, authorisation and activities they are permitted to carry out, amongst other things. It…
Read more - A Decade of Delay: Why Consumers Still Wait for the Regulatory Information Service
A complaints system under strain The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) exists to provide consumers with timely redress when things go wrong in legal services. Yet today, the service is struggling under the weight of demand. Complaints have more than doubled compared to pre-Covid levels, while average waiting times sit at around 275 days, with many complex…
Read more - Transforming the Legal Ombudsman: The Case for Radical Reform
Most people will know ‘high volume claims’ through seductive ‘no win, no fee’ advertising promises, or sometimes from door-to-door marketing pushes for claims sign-ups. The high‑volume claims market was meant to widen access to justice to ordinary people, when bringing an individual claim was pretty much impossible. Grouping similar claims together should means less financial…
As Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, I must begin by acknowledging the sheer confusion that surrounds the Mazur judgment and the failures it has laid bare. This commentary reflects my own perception of the situation: one of being overwhelmed by the contradictory advice, confusion amongst practitioners and the absence of meaningful analysis of…
Read more - The Mazur Judgment: A Damning Indictment of Regulatory Failure
The collapse of SSB Law was not a shock; it was a systems failure foretold. If you were horrified by the devastation left in its wake; thousands of vulnerable clients facing £200 million in debt, your horror is justified. But your surprise is not. For years, the warning lights flashed urgently. Consumer complaints, whistleblower testimonies…
Read more - The SSB Law Collapse: A Predictable Failure and the Blueprint for Reform
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has once again exposed a market failing its consumers. This time, it is the veterinary sector. In its October 2025 provisional decision, the CMA found “significant and widespread problems” including opaque pricing, limited transparency and poor access to information that prevents pet owners from making informed choices. For those…
Read more - A Tale of Two Markets: Why Legal Services Must Heed the CMA’s Warning
For over a decade, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has pressed the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) to publish its decisions in full. Transparency in complaints resolution is not a marginal concern, it is central to accountability, consumer trust, and sector-wide learning. Despite years of debate, consultation, and pressure from oversight bodies including the Legal Services Board…
Read more - The Transparency Deficit: Why the Legal Ombudsman Must Publish Decisions in Full
In June 2023, we published our report on Consumer Focused Regulation in Legal Services. We’ve since been working closely with the legal services regulators to encourage them to adopt the best practice approaches set out in the report, both through our day to day engagement and a series of roundtable meetings. Two years on, we…
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