Legal Services Act

The Legal Services Act (2007) is an Act of Parliament in the UK that seeks to liberalise and regulate the market for legal services in England and Wales, to encourage more competition, produce more consumer focussed legal firms and to provide a new route for consumer complaints.

The new act creates an over-regulator that will oversee the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Other features of the new legislation include creating an Office for Legal Complaints and implementing alternative business structures such as multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs).

Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships

[Edit] The Legal Services Act enables law firms to merge with other companies, such as banks and supermarkets, if they so wish. It also gives non-lawyers the chance to be partners in law firms, and also for external investment to be pumped into firms by non-lawyers if required.

Essentially the Legal Services Act allows law firms to become part of multinational companies, and multinational companies (e.g.Tescos) to have their own law firms if they so wish.

Implications of the Legal Services Act

[Edit] A lot of lawyers in smaller firms feel quite threatened by the Legal Services Act. The last time the market was opened up like this, many small firm lawyers lost a percentage of their income to licensed conveyancers. Small firms suffered too, when branded legal services were introduced, such as the Co-op and the RAC. Some firms are justifiably sceptical of a loss of revenue.

Larger firms will welcome the Legal Services Act more readily, as it gives them the chance to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), and receive inward investment from other sources.

For more information on the Legal Services Act and other current commercial awareness issues, visit the WikiJob forum.