Three firms exposed for severe service failures in wills, litigation and employment law cases
In an unprecedented move, the Legal Ombudsman has named and shamed three law firms for grave service failures — breaking years of silence in what it calls a “public interest” intervention to drive accountability across the legal sector.
For the first time in several years, the ombudsman has gone beyond naming firms and now details the specific complaints that led to compensation orders totalling more than £120,000. The watchdog says it will now consider full publication of decisions more regularly in cases involving systemic failures, egregious harm to clients, or a refusal to cooperate.
Underwood & Co (Southampton) topped the list with a damning case involving a woman left destitute despite her late partner’s will promising her a share of his estate and the right to stay in his home. Instead, she received nothing before her own death two years later. The ombudsman found the firm had paid £21,600 to each of four other beneficiaries but withheld the woman’s share without explanation or notice to her or her family.
To make matters worse, the firm ignored all correspondence from the family, failed to provide estate accounts or respond to repeated queries about the will, and did not address any of the complaints made against them. After a full investigation, the ombudsman awarded the partner’s estate £60,962.99, including interest and fee refunds.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnsham White (Harrow) was ordered to pay approximately £25,000 after a litigation client raised 19 complaints. The ombudsman upheld allegations of poor case preparation, misjudged representation at trial, and negligent advice to proceed with a costly and unsuccessful appeal. The failure, the ombudsman found, hinged on the firm’s refusal to provide an accurate record of the original hearing or to obtain a transcript, leaving the barrister ill-equipped to advise on appeal merits.
Omair Butt, the firm’s director, accepted the outcome but defended their standards: “We are naturally disappointed that the matter progressed to a formal finding. However, we respect the role of the ombudsman and have reviewed the outcome carefully. We take all complaints seriously and are committed to maintaining high standards.”
Scornik Gerstein (London) was hit with a compensation order of roughly £39,000 after employment clients accused the firm of double charging — deducting 35% of awarded damages and also billing the losing employer. The ombudsman agreed that the firm failed to provide clear cost information, did not warn clients of additional charges as promised in the contract, and presented no evidence that the fee structure had changed legitimately.
Managing partner Antonio Arenas rejected the finding as unfair and maintained that the firm had acted properly. “The LEO was satisfied the clients told the truth about an oral change to our agreement — a change that was never discussed, let alone agreed,” he said. “We were asked to prove a negative, which is impossible.”
Though the firm noted that the Solicitors Regulation Authority had reviewed the case and found no misconduct, the ombudsman’s decision stands.
The legal ombudsman’s new transparency push represents a clear shift in strategy, aiming to expose severe failures that previously remained behind closed doors. Future cases will be reviewed individually to assess whether public interest justifies publication, a decision likely to send ripples through law firms already wary of reputational damage.