Here’s an interesting thought I’ve heard of late: in a few months’ time, will we need the Legal Services Board? The board’s three main purposes were to secure the independence of regulation from representation, set up the Legal Ombudsman, and deliver alternative business structures. The first two of these have been done, with the other due in less than eight months.

I don’t know if I’m one of the last people in the legal world to notice this, but the Ministry of Justice has made it quietly but abundantly clear that it will not be banning referral fees any time soon.

Not many people get as excited by reserved legal activities as I do, but Professor Stephen Mayson surpasses even my interest in the subject. And he’s always quite happy for me to describe him as a reservation nerd, so I shall do so again.

Not long ago I sat in a roomful of lawyers and watched their faces as someone tried to explain the principles of outcomes-focused regulation. Not surprisingly, quite a few eyes glazed over and I didn’t get the impression that many of them grasped how it differed from the existing sort. I don’t blame them.

Whatever walk of legal life we come from, are we really going to sit back and take the continued abuse dished out against this profession? Are we really all so apathetic that we will simply sigh and say “oh well” when transport minister Mike Penning MP throws ‘ambulance chasers’ insults at us?