News In Focus
15 February 2010
Society launches consultation on ABS regulation
The Law Society of Scotland today published a consultation on the regulatory principles which could apply to licensed legal services providers (LLSPs) if the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill is passed.
LLSPs are the bill's term for the new forms of legal practice which will be permitted if the bill is passed, with the possibility of legal firms being wholly or partly owned by non-lawyers.
The Society intends to apply for approved regulator status when the bill becomes law, to enable it to regulate the new forms of business as well as conventional solicitors' firms. In the paper it invites its members to comment on the types of business models which could be set up and its initial proposals for a regulatory framework of any new legal services providers.
The consultation’s responses will help the Society develop its policy paper on regulating new legal services providers. The policy paper will then be placed before the AGM in May for its members’ approval.
Ian Smart, President of the Society said: “It is vital that we are thinking and planning ahead for alternative business structures in Scotland. In regulating them, the Society would have to ensure that there is no compromise to either client protection or professional principle and it’s important for us to encourage as much input as possible from the profession itself at this stage to be able to formulate how that can best be done.
"I hope that our members take the time to respond to this consultation before its close on 16 April 2010."
Click here to access the consultation.
The Society has also organised a series of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill roadshows which will be held at various venues across the country in March, to inform members about progress on the bill and issues it has raised with the Government and Justice Committee. The events, Mr Smart added, “will also allow members to tell us their views, ask questions and make sure they can play their part in how things progress".
Click here for further information on the roadshows.