header-logo header-logo

09 July 2020 / Jessica Clay , Lucy Williams
Issue: 7894 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Regulatory
printer mail-detail

Regulation beyond the echo chambers: who is listening?

23827
Jessica Clay & Lucy Williams, of Kingsley Napley, examine the potential for lasting legal services reform, in the light of Professor Mayson’s report

  • Legal services framework reform: exploring realistic and immediate options.
  • A ‘make-do’ situation: small steps towards change.

Now submitted to the Lord Chancellor, Professor Stephen Mayson’s report, ‘Reforming Legal Services: Regulation beyond the echo chambers’ is the culmination of a two-year independent review into the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. Mayson consulted almost 350 interested parties and sought insight from individuals on an Advisory Panel, including our colleague Iain Miller.

Mayson refers to the current regulatory framework as ‘incomplete’ and ‘limited’ and ‘not able in the near-term and beyond to meet the demands and expectations placed on it’, particularly with the emergence and rapid development of alternative providers and lawtech. Mayson sets out 46 long-term recommendations, which seek to create a ‘level playing field’ for legal services and enhance consumer protection, through ‘targeted and proportionate regulation’.

These recommendations

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
back-to-top-scroll