Brown: Interim chair
The chair of the Legal Services Board (LSB), Alan Kershaw, has stood down from the role less than halfway through his term, citing personal considerations.
Mr Kershaw took over from Dr Helen Phillips for four years from 1 April 2023 after many years of board-level experience at multiple regulators, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority and what is now called CILEx Regulation.
The Ministry of Justice will now run a formal process to recruit a replacement for the oversight regulator, as well as approving an interim chair while that process is ongoing.
Ahead of that approval and in line with the LSB’s governance arrangements, the senior independent director, Catherine Brown, has stepped in to chair the board.
LSB chief executive Craig Westwood said: “Alan leaves with our gratitude for the leadership he has provided during his time as chair of the LSB. He has brought to this work valuable expertise in professional regulation, accompanied by strong championing of the needs of consumers and for the public good.
“Under Alan’s leadership, the LSB has refocused regulation’s role in promoting technology and innovation that increase access to legal services.
“The LSB has also sharpened its expectations for regulators to improve how lawyers and law firms handle consumer complaints. We wish Alan well for the future and thank him for his contribution.”
Ms Brown has been a member of the board of the LSB since 2019. A former chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, she is also chair of the Enforcement Conduct Board, the independent oversight body for the civil enforcement sector, the Internet Watch Foundation and environmental charity Hubbub.
