Law firms are bullying clients who post negative reviews of their services by threatening to sue for defamation. According to Dr Michelle Goddard, a member of the consumer panel of the Legal Services Board (LSB), this was leading to a lack of transparency in the legal profession. She accused firms of 'knee jerk' reactions to mild criticism such as phone calls going unanswered which were unlikely to be defamatory. Writing in a blog, she said it was 'unfortunate and somewhat ironic'  that the recent Defamation Act, which was meant to shift the balance between free speech and the right to reputation towards freedom of expression – was now being used to the 'opposite effect' by over-zealous law firms, the Independent newspaper reports.