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An unfair divide?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
02 December 2010 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7444 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession
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Here’s a disquieting thought as we approach the brave new liberalised legal services world...

Some 80% of the work undertaken by law firms falls within the category of “non-reserved” legal work...in other words, anyone (not just lawyers) can do it.

The figure was arrived at by Professor Stephen Mayson, the legal academic who came up with the memorable and equally alarming finding that as many as 3,000 law firms could go to the wall as a result of the reforms flowing from the Legal Services Act 2007.

More questions than answers?

Well, the following questions spring to mind: Despite all the fuss in the legal press, what’s the point in new market entrants becoming alternative business structures next October if most of their business doesn’t actually need to be regulated? What’s the point in employing lawyers to do the kind of work which non-lawyers can do and, frankly, what’s the point in becoming a lawyer at all?

This is the first in a series of three articles looking at the six reserved

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