The regulatory infrastructure that underpins the legal profession is undergoing unprecedented change, with the idea that the profession is capable of regulating itself irretrievably abandoned. And now that the new, wholly independent governing bodies are in place, attention is focused on the way in which the new order will go about its day-to-day business.
The reforms enshrined in the Legal Services Act focus on the organisational change that is needed to move away from self-regulation towards a more independent structure. The independent Legal Services Board (LSB) has been created to be the oversight regulator for the entire legal profession, with a mandate to raise public awareness of the professional standards against which practitioners are assessed – and the grievance procedures that are available, if required.
