Is the SA 1974 out of date?
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) has called for the Solicitors Act 1974 to be repealed.
Writing in NLJ this week, ACL chairman Murray Heining argues that changes to the legal landscape resulting from the Legal Services Act 2007, the Jackson reforms and the increased categories of persons authorised to provide legal services, mean the Act is now irrelevant. For example, different costs rules apply to contentious and non-contentious proceedings, while nearly 40 years on “costs lawyers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys all have independent rights to conduct litigation, as from next month will barristers”. He adds that chartered legal executives are likely to join the list, and licensed conveyancers and chartered accountants also want litigation rights.
Heining says the current review of regulation, which may lead to an Act of Parliament, provides the perfect opportunity to “sort out this inconsistency of approach”.
