Tesco Law here we come?

The Legal Services Board‘s proposals on the future of legal services may represent a major signpost on the way to opening up the legal profession. A Level Students will already be aware of the Clementi Report (2003) into the future of the profession, which was followed by the Legal Services Act 2007. This week’s report brings the likelihood of new providers (known as Alternative Business Structures, or ASBs) entering the market ever closer. So, will Tesco Law be good for consumers, with low, transparent pricing, or will it hand over clients to less regulated, less experienced players, and affect adversely the quality of advice?  Some solicitors were so excercised by this that they protested against it outside the High Court in May, handing out cans of beans to bemused passers-by and holding signs claiming that “not Tesco Law” and “Legal services by supermarkets is as ridiculous as lawyers selling beans.”

Time will tell, but it seems clear that entities such as the Co-Op will be keen to capitalise on the “Big Bang”.

You can read the report here.

Teachers may also wish to note that the Legal Services Board is now, as of January this year, the oversight regulator for the eight “approved regulators” of the legal industry, including the Bar Standards Board, Legal Complaints Service, Senate of the Inns of Court, Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, ILEX, and so on. It also appoints the Office for Legal Complaints, which will run the legal ombudsman scheme by the end of 2010. Time to update your notes for next year’s teaching?

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