{"id":3704,"date":"2005-03-22T19:13:53","date_gmt":"2005-03-22T23:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/03\/22\/uk-lawyer-reforms-are-ok\/"},"modified":"2013-01-12T08:43:05","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T13:43:05","slug":"uk-lawyer-reforms-are-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/03\/22\/uk-lawyer-reforms-are-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"UK lawyer reforms are OK"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/em>s Jurist Paper Chase\u00a0<\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> this morning, <\/span>Lord Falconer<\/span><\/a>, the British Lord\u00a0\u00a0Chancellor, announced yesterday his plan to revamp the regulatory model, complaint and<\/span> discipline system, and\u00a0business structures of the UK’s legal profession. (The Times<\/span><\/a><\/em>,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/div>\n
“Falconer promises to reform legal profession, March 21, 2005)\u00a0\u00a0 Under the plan, UK<\/span> lawyers will lose the right to self-regulation.\u00a0\u00a0To allow more flexibility, competition,<\/span> choice and innovation, partnerships with non-legal professionals (such as accountants)<\/span> and ownership of law practices by external entities would be permitted .<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We’ve discussed the UK proposals <\/span><\/span><\/span>here<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>there<\/span><\/a>, while<\/span> envying the ability to<\/span><\/span> move legal reform so quickly in Britain, compared to our multi-jurisdictional (and pro-<\/span>lawyer) American system.\u00a0 I recommend reading yesterday’s <\/span>speech by Lord Falconer<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> and contrast its frankness about the problems of\u00a0UK’s legal profession, and\u00a0the<\/span> willingness to find\u00a0consumer-and-competition-oriented\u00a0solutions, with the pablum,<\/span> defensiveness and denial we get from America’s bar leaders.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"hawk\u00a0 Also note the prime focus: “most importantly, all the changes we make must<\/em><\/span><\/span> pass <\/em>the simple test that <\/em>they put <\/em>the consumer first<\/em>.”\u00a0 (emphasis added)\u00a0 Lord Falconer<\/span><\/span> concluded: <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
So we have a system that, at it\u2019s best, is the finest in the world. A system<\/span> based on a long and proud history. But we also have a system that is unsuited<\/span> for the 21st century.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
In all service industries, legal services included, the consumer\u2019s needs are paramount.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
But what is it that consumers want?<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
They want to be able to trust their lawyer – and be sure about their integrity.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
They want good value for money. And they want a quality service that helps<\/span> them with the problem they\u2019ve got. This means an efficient service, an effective<\/span> service and an economic service. <\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
\"hawk\u00a0They want to be confident that the service will be delivered in a way that meets <\/span>their expectations, and at a reasonable cost. Confident that, if there is a problem,<\/span> it will be dealt with properly. Confident that the trade bodies have their interests<\/span> in mind, not just those of their members. And they want choice. <\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
Consumers are now familiar with making informed choices – whether that\u2019s changing<\/span> a gas or electricity supplier or booking a flight with a budget airline. The internet and<\/span> broadband technology has started a revolution in the way people make decisions and<\/span> purchase services. People want to look at the options and feel empowered to choose<\/span> the service that\u2019s delivered in the right way at the right time and at the right price.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
So, confidence and choice – this is where we need to head towards, that\u2019s our vision for the way legal services are delivered.\u00a0<\/em> <\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
What a concept!\u00a0 A legal system that puts the interests of consumers first — and from a man<\/span> who can do<\/em> something about it.\u00a0 Sounds kinda un<\/em>American, huh?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
update<\/span><\/strong><\/em> (March 23, 2005): John Steele at LEF<\/a> <\/em>points to the reaction of <\/span><\/span>The Law Society<\/span><\/a> of England<\/span> and Wales, which plans to have a non-solicitor-controlled regulatory Board in operation by<\/span> September, but which also urges the Government “not to miss this opportunity to protect the<\/span> public from unregulated, rogue legal advisers.” (Press Release, “The Future of Legal Services,”<\/span> March 22, 2005).\u00a0 <\/span>Steele aptly notes<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
“All this seems predictable if we view the profession as negotiating with the state<\/span> for a “regulatory bargain” that will protect the profession’s income and social<\/span> standing.\u00a0 It was apparently necessary as a political matter for the Society to<\/span> loosen its grip on the regulatory function, but it is using the reforms as a chance<\/span> to seek continued ‘boundary protection’ from non-lawyers.”<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Jurist Paper Chase\u00a0reported this morning, Lord Falconer, the British Lord\u00a0\u00a0Chancellor, announced yesterday his plan to revamp the regulatory model, complaint and discipline system, and\u00a0business structures of the UK’s legal profession. (The Times, . “Falconer promises to reform legal profession, March 21, 2005)\u00a0\u00a0 Under the plan, UK lawyers will lose the right to self-regulation.\u00a0\u00a0To allow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-XK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3704"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14437,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3704\/revisions\/14437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}