Overview
The complainant (Mr C) was a solicitor representing a company which was defending a court action. The pursuers in this case had applied for Legal Aid and Mr C complained that delays in reviewing the award of Legal Aid were prejudicial to his clients.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that:
- (a) there were unreasonable delays by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) in reviewing Mr C's opponents' Legal Aid status and these delays 'disadvantaged' his clients (upheld only to the extent that Mr C's clients experienced a period of uncertainty over the outcome of the consideration of representations); and
- (b) these delays were in breach of the service standards set by SLAB (not upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that SLAB:
- (i) apologise to Mr C for failing to update him adequately about the progress of their considerations; and
- (ii) implement measures to ensure that information received regarding the ongoing grant of Legal Aid is processed efficiently and that communications with parties involved in this process are clear and timely.
The Board have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.