Legal Services Act

Legal Futures Editor Neil Rose recently edited ‘Legal Efficiency’, a supplement published by The Times covering a range of key issues facing the profession as it moves into a new era. This is his article on the likely implications of alternative business structures

The row about introducing alternative business structures in Scotland took a fresh turn this week after members of the Law Society of Scotland voted very narrowly to support the current policy in favour of them.

The Legal Services Board is making contingency plans to regulate alternative business structures itself if none of the current approved regulators are up to the task, it has emerged. The LSB’s 2010/11 business plan, published today, says that it will scope out the requirements for direct licensing during the summer.

The Legal Services Board has delayed a decision on whether the civil standard of proof should apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new powers to publicly rebuke and fine solicitors because of concerns raised by the Law Society and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has overcome a raft of concerns from the Legal Services Board to win approval for the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme. Some 26% of new solicitors in 2009 were either former barristers or international lawyers.

The Legal Services Board has told barristers’ regulator that it will need to up its game – and perhaps embrace outcomes-focused regulation – to keep pace with liberalisation of the bar. “We expect that the BSB will invest in its skills and regulatory capacity,” it said.

Lawyers should undergo five-yearly competence testing, as well as face peer review of the advice they provide clients, the chairwoman of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.

A ‘Consumer Welfare Index’ that will measure the effectiveness of the legal services reforms is to be developed by the Legal Services Consumer Panel, it announced today (30 March). The panel will also look to help price comparison websites operate properly in the legal market.

Now the Legal Services Board has taken on its full powers to supervise the legal profession, Legal Futures Editor Neil Rose talks to its chairman, David Edmonds, to see what lawyers can expect of it.

The Legal Services Board has approved plans to allow barristers to become partners in legal disciplinary practices but warned that the changes “go only part of the way towards opening up the market in the interests of consumers”.

The Legal Ombudsman – the operating name of the Office for Legal Complaints – has officially opened its new home in central Birmingham and announced its first wave of recruitment for more than 300 workers.

The SRA has launched what it describes as its biggest-ever consultation exercise as it seeks to engage the profession over the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation and alternative business structures.

Profits at Co-operative Legal Services more than doubled last year, preliminary figures have shown. Sales from the legal arm grew 45%, to £20 million, with operating profits up £2.1 million to £3.8 million.

High street conveyancers are not comfortable about diversifying into other areas of practice, research has found. Some 60% were wary of moving into fields such as litigation and probate.

Most of what private equity firms know about the law is that it is an old-fashioned industry that does not look very investor friendly. Law firms need to adopt a corporate structure if they want to impress them, experts tell Patricia Wheatley-Burt.