header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Legal big bang

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
15 July 2010 / Samantha Barrass
Issue: 7426 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Expect fireworks as major changes to legal services start to take off, says Samantha Barrass

The world of legal services is in the midst of a period of unprecedented change. There are various interlocking themes which together amount to a legal big bang. These are the current introduction of entity based regulation; the introduction on 6 October 2011 of both outcomes focused regulation (and with it a new Code of Conduct) and alternative business structures (ABS) which will enable lawyers and non-lawyers to share the management and control of a business which provides reserved legal services to the public; and the creation of the SRA Corporate Regulation Group to enhance our relationship with the major firms in the corporate sector.

Outcomes focused regulation (OFR) amounts to a shift from prescriptive rigid rules to flexible outcomes focused requirements. The way the legal services market is evolving demands that regulation should focus more on the quality of clients’ experience—and less on prescribing the approach that firms should take. OFR will enable firms to be far more flexible

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

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Read All
Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll