This chapter introduces the two key functions available to any
ombuds institution: consumer dispute resolution and democratic
accountability. The current dilemmas facing the ombuds community
in the UK concern which of these functions should have priority. The
Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO), established by the Courts and Legal
Services Act 1990, had a statutory remit that explicitly recognised both
functions. How the LSO evolved and how it reconciled these different
functions before its dissolution in 2010 is therefore of significance to
the continuing debates about the role of the ombuds, not just in the
context of professional regulation but as an established feature of the
regulatory state more generally.