Future of legal services: Society paper released
1 Nov 07
Law Society wants views from lawyers,politicians, consumer groups and others
The Law Society of Scotland has issued its promised consultation paper which could result in fundamental changes to how legal services are delivered in Scotland in the future.
The Society is looking for views from across the legal profession, politicians, consumer groups and others who have been involved in the debate on whether the rules governing law firms should be relaxed. This would allow the legal services market to be opened up to other providers, such as banks or supermarkets who are already gearing up to offer legal services to consumers in England & Wales.
These will now be pushed forward under the Legal Services Act, which received royal assent on Tuesday this week.
After explaining the background to the debate, the paper explains the various options for new forms of business structure, such as legal disciplinary partnerships, multi-disciplinary partnerships, non-solicitor shareholdings, and non-lawyer ownership and control, and asks respondents whether the market would benefit from each of these and how they would impact on core professional values, access to justice and other matters.
Growing demand
Richard Henderson, President of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “This is one of the most important issues to arise in the history of the Scottish legal profession and could result in far reaching changes for the profession, the Society and the public.
“There is a growing demand for change both from within the profession and other interested parties, including consumers, and while we have embraced the need for change and have been active in driving this debate forwards, we cannot underestimate some of the challenges that must be addressed to do this."
Mr Henderson added that with any opening up of the legal services market, it was necessary to ensure that members of the public could continue to access legal advice locally, and that protections for the public currently provided by a strongly regulated legal profession remained in place. "We also want to create an environment that will allow firms to compete in fast-growing Scottish, UK and international markets for legal services."
The views returned to the Society will help it to develop its own policy for the future, which will be published next spring.
Mr Henderson stated that it was crucial for Scotland to develop its own solutions in response to the calls for change in the legal sector, while taking into account developments in England & Wales.
The President added: “It’s clear that the legal profession is evolving faster than ever and the debate on alternative business structures is just part of a bigger picture. The Society is currently developing clear and enforceable standards of excellence across the profession for the benefit of both solicitors and their clients and is working on a new policy for the education and training of solicitors to ensure that the profession continues to modernise and further improve legal services in Scotland.”
The consultation on alternative business structures can be viewed on the Society’s website at http://www.lawscot.org.uk/Members_Information/members_information/ . The deadline for responses is 31 January 2008.