The Fear Of The Uk?S Existing Legal Profession Being De-Professionalised By The Legal Services Act 2007
Sunday, November 28th, 2010Before the enactment of the 2007 Act there have been many imperative political and social debates concerning this controversial legislation. The most major concern that has been implemented by the introduction of this legislation is the configuration of the Alternative Business Structure (ABS) which according to the 2007 Act may obtain consent from the Legal Services Board (LSB) to enable non-legal commercial businesses such as large supermarkets, commercial banks or similar sized organisations to practise law and provide legal services to clients (Young, S. ‘Tesco Law’ (2007), LSSA, Jan., pp. 1-2) This is recognised as the primary cause of nearly all the other major problems that have emerged as a consequence of this contemporary legal issue, a few of these major problems will be briefly highlighted.
One of the biggest worries this new legislation has posed is whether this Act will de-professionalise the existing legal profession? According to Underwood (Underwood, K. ‘The Legal Services Bill – death by regulation?’ (2007), Civil Justice Quarterly, pp. 1-7) this regulatory reform has effectively abolished the legal profession in England and Wales which has been in existence since 1275. As mentioned above, this 2007 Act via means of the ABS now permits non-lawyers to form partnerships with qualified lawyers in order to benefit from external investments, ‘Legal Services Bill – Full Regulatory Impact Assessment’ (2007), Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office). The problem identified here is that majority of the managers controlling each of these ABS organisations ought to be qualified lawyers however, the government has decisively rejected this view and has stated that “unlimited external ownership and investment will be allowed and just one manager has to be a lawyer” (Underwood, K. ‘The Legal Services Bill – death by regulation?’ (2007), Civil Justice Quarterly, pp. 1-7). It is evident from this statement that the existing legal profession may be de-professionalised in the sense that non-qualified lawyers will now be authorised to practise law, “The Law Society raises concerns about a perceived threat to the independence of the legal profession resulting from the proposed structure and the role of the government.” Fairbairn, C. ‘Legal Services Bill [HL] Committee Stage Report’ (2007), House of Commons Library, July., Research Paper 07/61). This regulatory reform is inconsistent with the traditional concept of the legal profession i.e. the Solicitors Act 1974, which requires that only a qualified person who is certified to practise law may provide legal aid to their clients. Consequently, it is further argued that non-lawyers may not fully understand the principles required in effectively performing certain legal commissions and therefore, the quality of the service provided by these ABS organisations may be highly undermined. This is contradictory to section 1(1)(g) and s 1(1)(3) of the Legal Services Act 2007, which expresses that the regulatory objective is to increase the public understanding of citizens’ legal rights and duties, the professional principles are that authorised persons must act in the best interests of their clients. Non-lawyers may experience difficulties in enhancing public awareness in relation to their legal rights and duties especially in the field of conveyance, which in this instance may cause further havoc as consumers may experience problems if their legal problems are not successfully resolved, should this be the case, affected clients will be obliged to seek further legal advice. Ultimately, affected clients will pay a considerable amount of money in exchange of receiving ineffective legal services.
Thus, in analysis of the above argument, it is noticed that this regulatory reform may not effectively satisfy the 2007 Act since its predominant objective is to reduce the cost clients are currently paying in order to obtain legal aid and to focus generically on consumer interests as expressed by Bridget Prentice Secretary of State for Justice:
“It is an important bill because it puts consumer interests at the heart of legal services provision and it will restore consumer confidence.” (The Law Society raises concerns about a perceived threat to the independence of the legal profession resulting from the proposed structure and the role of the government.” Fairbairn, C. ‘Legal Services Bill [HL] Committee Stage Report’ (2007), House of Commons Library, July., Research Paper 07/61).
It is concluded that the calamity of this controversial legislation is significant in the context of UK’s society. It may result in many political issues in relation to the welfare of both UK citizens as well as the national economy. According to the explanatory notes of the Legal Services Bill the legal services market in England and Wales contributes significantly to the UK economy (“It generated £19 billion of UK’s gross domestic product in 2003, total imports of legal services were worth £403m over the same period, showing that the legal services sector is a net exporter to the value of £1.5 billion.” ‘Legal Services Bill – Full Regulatory Impact Assessment’ (2007), Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office) generating a fundamental level of GDP mainly via the level of exports within the legal services sector. Thus it is vital that the quality of the domestic legal services provided to clients is of high-standard. It is perceived the 2007 Act may cause the existing legal profession to de-professionalise and the ABS organisations to provide clients with ineffective legal services.
For this reason Oliver Heald MP former Shadow Secretary of State for Justice argued it is important that the legal profession is independent from Government interference in order to prevent the legal services system from weakening, should the international perception of the domestic legal profession alter to realise that it is not truly independent of the Government, the British export level in the legal services sector may be threatened to decline. It is clear that the current regulatory reform is likely to contribute to the welfare loss of the traditional legal profession and the existing legal services market, ultimately depriving the UK citizens (consumers) of quality legal services, and affecting the aggregate domestic economy, (“It generated £19 billion of UK’s gross domestic product in 2003, total imports of legal services were worth £403m over the same period, showing that the legal services sector is a net exporter to the value of £1.5 billion.” ‘Legal Services Bill – Full Regulatory Impact Assessment’ (2007), Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.).
Bibliography
Journal articles;
Fairbairn, C. ‘legal services Bill [HL] Committee Stage Report’ (2007), House of Commons Library, July., Research Paper 07/61.
‘Legal Services Bill – Full Regulatory Impact Assessment’ (2007), Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. ID 188015 05/06 AM4298.
Underwood, K. ‘The Legal Services Bill – death by regulation?’ (2007), Civil Justice Quarterly, pp. 1-7.
Young, S. ‘Tesco Law’ (2007), LSSA, Jan., pp. 1-2.
Statutory materials;
Legal Services Act 2007
Solicitors Act 1974