Zahida Manzoor

Who is Zahida Manzoor?

Baroness Zahida Parveen Manzoor CBE is an English businessperson and public appointee, who was elevated to the House of Lords in 2013. From 2003 to 2011 she served as the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales, reporting directly to Parliament. During this period Manzoor made significant improvements in the way legal professional bodies, such as the Law Society and the Bar Council, dealt with complaints from members of the public. She also instigated a major investigation into the handling of personal injury claims for coal miners, resulting in substantial redress for the coal miners and some solicitors being barred from practice.

In 2004 the Lord Chancellor also appointed Manzoor to the role of Legal Services Complaints Commissioner for England and Wales. In this role Manzoor served as the Statutory Regulator responsible for overseeing the handling of complaints by the Law Society and was given substantial powers to set performance improvement targets and impose financial penalties of up to £1 million for failure to meet those targets. She used these powers to drive significant improvements in the Law Society's handling of complaints. This appointment ended in April 2010.