Professor Chris Bones of CILEx explains why the legal profession should not stand in the way of regulatory change
- Reforming the legal services market: a job half done.
- Compromises of the Legal Services Act 2007: straining at the seams.
- Professor Stephen Mayson’s recent independent review of legal regulation: engaging constructively with these new and important proposals.
The job of reforming the legal services market is only half done. Thirteen years on from the Legal Services Act 2007, it has become abundantly clear that the compromise it represented is straining at the seams, and the current COVID-19 crisis has brought this into even sharper relief for both the public and the profession.
Among the regulatory objectives laid down by the Act are protecting and promoting the public interest and the interests of consumers, as well as improving access to justice. Can anyone really claim that a market where the most vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of the public are simply not able to access affordable and effective legal services at a time of increasing need is achieving those goals?
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