OFT raises concerns over lawyers' court fees
Consumer group worried about lack of consumer representation on judges' advisory committee
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has expressed concerns about the judicial regulation of solicitors' fees in Scotland.
Currently fees for work in non-legally aided court cases are set by a statutory order made in the name of the judges, based on the recommendations of an advisory committee to the Lord President. OFT's concern is that the fees are mainly determined by solicitors in commercial practice and there is no consumer representative on the advisory committee.
The concerns were minuted at the last meeting of the Scottish Executive's working group on the legal services market, which has been reviewing the Scottish implications of the Clementi recommendations for England and Wales. The working group's final report is expected to be published in about a month's time.
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