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.