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11 February 2026
Issue: 8149 / Categories: Legal News , Regulatory , Legal services , Consumer
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Legal Services Board under the microscope

The ‘statutory remit’ of super-regulator the Legal Services Board (LSB) is to come under scrutiny in a government review

The review, launched by justice minister Sarah Sackman this week and due to report in the summer, will also consider the LSB’s ability to deliver its remit, its ‘strategic clarity’, governance and accountability arrangements. It will be led by Richard Lloyd, chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Law Society chief executive officer Ian Jeffery said: ‘It is an opportunity to speak up for proportionate risk-based regulation that protects consumers and helps the legal sector grow.’

Last month, the LSB, which oversees legal regulators, criticised the response of regulators to Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB) as ‘varied in clarity and level of detail’. The case prompted confusion about the extent of litigation work that can be carried out by non-solicitors.

Sackman said: ‘We must ensure that the current regulatory oversight arrangements are effective and do not duplicate frontline regulators’ work and initiatives.’

Issue: 8149 / Categories: Legal News , Regulatory , Legal services , Consumer
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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