Legal Services Board
Encyclopedia
The Legal Services Board is the new, independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body
sponsored by the Ministry of Justice
. Its set-up and ongoing costs are met entirely by a levy on practitioners on the legal sector, so the body is both politically and financially independent from Government.
The Board became fully active on 1 January 2010, when the new regulatory regime was activated by statute.
The initial year the Board's operation has been spent building internal capacity, establishing regulatory processes and streamlining work into projects. The programme of work outlined by the LSB's draft second year business plan contains the following priorities:
and sits at the apex of the new regulatory regime for legal services. It has a duty to promote the regulatory objectives defined under that Act:
The professional principles are:
For Solicitors:
For Barristers:
For Legal Executives
For Licensed Conveyancers
Patent and Trademark Attorneys
For Law Costs Draftsmen
For Notaries
The Board will have the power to recommend to the Lord Chancellor
that he approve further approved regulators. This means that new bodies can apply to the LSB to become frontline regulators of parts of the legal profession. Once the Act comes fully into force and the Board is operational, all changes to these bodies' internal professional regulatory arrangements must be approved by the Board.
Approved regulators also have a duty to promote the regulatory objectives. If they fail to do so, or if they fail to comply with the 2007 Act, the Legal Services Board can:
The Board has a duty to regulate practising fees, resolve regulatory conflicts, and work with the Office of Fair Trading
, the Competition Commission
and the Lord Chancellor on competition issues.
was appointed the first chair of the Board on 23 April 2008 and nine members took up post on 1 September 2008.
Members of the Board include:
The Panel will examine issues of importance to legal services consumers and will advise the LSB in its work overseeing the frontline regulators. The Panel has powers to publish its advice. Should the LSB fail to agree with such advice, it will be required to publish a written statement of its reasons.
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
sponsored by the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...
. Its set-up and ongoing costs are met entirely by a levy on practitioners on the legal sector, so the body is both politically and financially independent from Government.
LSB Priorities
The Board's statutory mandate is to ensure that regulation in the legal services sector is carried out in the public interest; and that the interests of the consumers of legal services are put at the heart of the system.The Board became fully active on 1 January 2010, when the new regulatory regime was activated by statute.
The initial year the Board's operation has been spent building internal capacity, establishing regulatory processes and streamlining work into projects. The programme of work outlined by the LSB's draft second year business plan contains the following priorities:
- Assuring the public about the rigour and independence of legal regulation;
- Giving consumers more choice and lawyers new business opportunities by opening up the market and increasing competition to allow new types of legal business to emerge;
- Better consumer redress when things go wrong through improvements to lawyers’ own processes for resolving complaints and the new Legal Ombudsman to ensure fair, effective and rapid dispute resolution for everybody concerned.
Statutory basis
The Board was created by the Legal Services Act 2007Legal Services Act 2007
The Legal Services Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to liberalise and regulate the market for legal services in England and Wales, to encourage more competition and to provide a new route for consumer complaints...
and sits at the apex of the new regulatory regime for legal services. It has a duty to promote the regulatory objectives defined under that Act:
- Protecting and promoting the public interestPublic interestThe public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
; - Supporting the constitutional principle of the rule of lawRule of lawThe rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
; - Improving access to justiceJusticeJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
; - Protecting and promoting the interests of consumerConsumerConsumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s of legal services; - Promoting competitionCompetitionCompetition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
in the provision of legal services; - Encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession;
- Increasing public understanding of the citizen’s legal rights and duties;
- Promoting and maintaining adherence to the professional principles;
The professional principles are:
- Authorised persons should act with independence and integrity;
- Authorised persons should maintain proper standards of work;
- Authorised persons should act in the best interests of their clients;
- Persons who exercise before any courtCourtA court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
a right of audience, or conduct litigation in relation to proceedings in any court, by virtue of being authorised persons should comply with their duty to the court to act with independence in the interests of justice, and - Affairs of clients should be kept confidentialDuty of confidentialityIn common law jurisdictions, the duty of confidentiality obliges a solicitor to respect the confidentiality of his client's affairs. Information that a solicitor obtains about his clients' affairs may be confidential, and must not be used for the benefit of persons not authorised by the client...
.
Supervision of regulators
The LSB provides cross-sector oversight regulation of the eight separate bodies named as approved regulators in the Legal Services Act 2007. These bodies directly regulate the circa 120,000 lawyers practising in England and Wales. These include:For Solicitors:
- Law SocietyLaw Society of England and WalesThe Law Society is the professional association that represents the solicitors' profession in England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Members of the Society are often consulted when important...
- Solicitors Regulation Authority (independent regulatory body of the Law Society)
- Legal Complaints Service (independent complaints handling body for the Law Society)
For Barristers:
- Bar CouncilBar councilA bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....
- Bar Standards Board (independent regulatory arm of the Bar Council)
For Legal Executives
- Institute of Legal ExecutivesInstitute of Legal ExecutivesThe Institute of Legal Executives is the professional body for legal executives in England and Wales and an examination board providing qualifications for legal executives, paralegals and legal secretaries.-History:...
- ILEX Professional Standards Board (independent regulatory arm of the Institute of Legal Executives)
For Licensed Conveyancers
- Council for Licensed Conveyancers (regulatory body for Licensed Conveyancers)
Patent and Trademark Attorneys
- Chartered Institute of Patent AttorneysChartered Institute of Patent AttorneysThe Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys is the British professional body of patent attorneys. It was founded in 1882 as the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1891...
- Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
- Intellectual Property Regulation Board
For Law Costs Draftsmen
- Association of Law Costs Draftsmen
For Notaries
- Master of the Faculties
The Board will have the power to recommend to the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
that he approve further approved regulators. This means that new bodies can apply to the LSB to become frontline regulators of parts of the legal profession. Once the Act comes fully into force and the Board is operational, all changes to these bodies' internal professional regulatory arrangements must be approved by the Board.
Approved regulators also have a duty to promote the regulatory objectives. If they fail to do so, or if they fail to comply with the 2007 Act, the Legal Services Board can:
- Issue directions to the regulator to correct the deficiency;
- Publish a public censure;
- Impose a financial penalty;
- Make an intervention direction whereby the regulatory function is performed by a person nominated by the Board;
- Recommend that the Lord Chancellor cancel the regulator's approval.
The Board has a duty to regulate practising fees, resolve regulatory conflicts, and work with the Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
, the Competition Commission
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission is a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom...
and the Lord Chancellor on competition issues.
Membership
Members are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. David EdmondsDavid Edmonds
David Albert Edmonds CBE is a British businessperson, civil servant and administrator, chair of the Legal Services Board....
was appointed the first chair of the Board on 23 April 2008 and nine members took up post on 1 September 2008.
Members of the Board include:
- David Edmonds (Chair)
- Terence Connor (Member)
- Stephen Green (Member)
- Rosemary Martin (Member)
- Bill Moyes (Member)
- Barbara Saunders OBE (Member)
- Nicole Smith (Member)
- Andrew Whittaker (Member)
- David Wolfe (Member)
- Chris Kenny (Chief Executive)
Consumer Panel
On 11 November 2009 the LSB launched a Consumer Panel. The Panel operates independently of the LSB and represents the interests of both individual and business consumers in the LSB’s work to oversee the regulation of lawyers. The establishment of the Panel is a statutory requirement of the Legal Services Act 2007. Members of the Panel were appointed by the LSB with the approval of the Lord Chancellor. The Panel’s inaugural Chair, Dr Dianne Hayter, was announced in July 2009 and is the former Vice-Chair of the Financial Services Consumer Panel.The Panel will examine issues of importance to legal services consumers and will advise the LSB in its work overseeing the frontline regulators. The Panel has powers to publish its advice. Should the LSB fail to agree with such advice, it will be required to publish a written statement of its reasons.