None of us should be surprised by the recurring threat of outside competition, says Roderick Ramage
Can companies be trusted? It depends. Fifteen years ago, the questions were: (i) What did Sir David Clementi say in his final report on his Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal Services in England and Wales? and (ii) What will be the consequences?
To the first Sir David answered, between the lines, that commercial incentives rather than ethics should be relied on to uphold professional standards. To the second, Parliament enacted the Legal Services Act 2007, by which alternative business structures (ABSs), in which the ownership of law firms could be split from their management, so that a law firm with outside equity investors or an existing business (eg Tesco, the RAC, the Co-op, accountancy firms), may be registered and authorised to practise the law as solicitors. The questions that might be asked now are: (i) What has happened? and (ii) Does it matter?
Corporations & individuals
Law and morals are
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