Lawyers primed for new competition

Ministers want more competition for lawyers

House buyers could visit estate agents, solicitors and lawyers working under the same roof in one-stop home buying shops under new proposals.

The idea is one suggestion being put out to public consultation as ministers look at opening the legal profession to more competition.

The framework of regulation governing legal services has become a maze

Lord Irvine
Lord Chancellor

The Lord Chancellor also launched a review into the way the lawyers are kept in check which he said has become "a maze".

The new consultation process follows scathing criticism from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) of restrictive practices.

The Bar Council has insisted unnecessary obstacles to competition for lawyers have already been scrapped.

The idea of allowing solicitors to set up one-stop shops with other professionals, such as accountants and surveyors, was mooted in the OFT report.

Supermarket lawyers?

Now the Lord Chancellor's Department is looking at the possibility of lifting the ban on legal practices offering services from different disciplines.

Such moves could mean cheaper services but there is also a risk of conflicts of interest and perceptions of lower quality, says the government.

The shift could also mean supermarkets and other businesses offering legal services as part of the drive to improve access to lawyers.

Lord Irvine is a defender of the QC system for barristers

The consultation paper also suggests non-lawyers could be allowed to do conveyancing work and draw up wills.

Laws laying the path for that change were passed in 1990 but they have yet to be fully implemented.

The value of the QC system for senior barristers as a quality mark was another feature questioned by the OFT report last year.

That system is broached in the consultation paper but it is clear ministers do not envisage major change.

The title of QC is hailed as a "kite mark of quality" and the document says the lord chancellor is the "best custodian" of the process.

Regulation maze

As well as trying to make legal services more competitive, ministers are examining how lawyers are regulated.

Lord Irvine said: "The government is aware that the framework of regulation governing legal services has become a maze, with some aspects that are simply not meeting the needs of today, let alone the future.

"That is why we are initiating a review of the existing machinery."

Legal Services Ombudsman Ann Abraham, this month criticised the way the Law Society handles complaints against its members.

Only 58% of complaints were dealt with satisfactorily by the society's Office for the Supervision of Solicitors last year, she said.

Ms Abraham said the office's performance was "consistently shaky".

Changing times

The Law Society welcomed the consultation paper and said it was already considering many of the proposals.

A society spokesman said: "The society has long recognised that the legal services market is changing and we look forward to exploring with the government appropriate models for regulation in the light of these changes.

"We are particularly pleased to see that the Lord Chancellor's Department paper acknowledges the importance of maintaining a network of solicitors' practices throughout the country in order to ensure public access to justice."