Kenny: consistent determination
The changing of the guard at the top of the legal regulators has continued today with news that Chris Kenny, who has been chief executive of the Legal Services Board (LSB) since its creation in 2009, will step down at the end of November.
He is to take up a CEO post in the private sector at the start of 2015.
The post – which currently pays £160,000 – will be advertised later this week and the LSB is aiming to make an appointment by the end of September.
Mr Kenny said: “Colleagues on the LSB and in our executive team have shown consistent determination, rigour and creativity in improving the quality of regulation in the legal services sector, developing world-leading research and, above all, seeking to secure a better deal and greater access to justice for consumers by making the legal services market work more effectively.
“I am proud of the part I have played in helping them to achieve that. I look forward to working with them and colleagues elsewhere in the sector and beyond in my final months in post as we consider our strategy for 2015-18.”
Sir Michael Pitt, who only took over as chairman of the LSB in May, said: “We should all pay tribute to the considerable contribution Chris has made on behalf of the LSB and the legal sector. He has built a powerful team at the LSB who will continue to deliver yet more vital change.
“I am delighted Chris will be with us for a further five months. But it is hardly surprising, with his remarkable talents and after six successful years as chief executive of the LSB, Chris is moving forward in his career.”
In addition to the changes at the LSB, there is a new chairman of the Office for Legal Complaints (which oversees the Legal Ombudsman), Steve Green, while the terms of Charles Plant and Baroness Deech, chairs of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board respectively, expire at the end of 2014. The SRA’s chief executive, Paul Philip, only took over in February.
Further, the chief executives of the Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – Des Hudson and Diane Burleigh – are both retiring this year.
