Corporate regulation needs to change

A report has called for major change in the way corporate legal work is regulated.The independent report, Review of the Regulation of Corporate Legal Work, by former senior civil servant Nick Smedley, was commissioned by the Law Society and published last week.

The report highlighted a “breakdown in trust and relationships between the sector and its regulator over the last couple of years”, and found there was a perception that the regulator lacked the skills, knowledge and experience to deal with the corporate legal sector.

It called for greater expertise and understanding at the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, greater engagement with the profession and its clients, and further recognition of the differences between different parts of the solicitors’ profession.

Smedley says: “The current arrangements for regulating this vital sector of the UK economy and legal services sector are not robust enough. Without rapid change, it is impossible to conclude that the current regulatory arrangements are fit for purpose.” He also believes that it is important to regulate to avoid failures, rather than to deal with failures after the event.
John Young, Lovells’ senior partner, says: “Our view is that regulation and supervision of the legal profession should be appropriate to the type of law firm and the type of client, and not blunt instruments of universal application.”