In brief
The first nine members of the Legal Services Board have been appointed by justice secretary, Jack Straw. The board was set up by the Legal Services Act 2007 to be a single independent oversight regulator of legal services. The new members will take up their three-year posts on 1 September 2008. They are: Michael Napier QC, senior partner of national law firm Irwin Mitchell; David Wolfe, a barrister and founder member of Matrix Chambers; Stephen Green, the recently retired Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police; Rosemary Martin, chief executive of the Practical Law Company; Bill Moyes, executive chairman of Monitor, the independent regulator of the NHS Foundation Trusts; independent consumer consultant, Barbara Saunders; Nicole Smith, panel chair at the Judicial Appointments Commission; and Andrew Whittaker, general counsel to the board at the FSA.