September 2020
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will be a timely opportunity to discuss the recommendations from the final report of the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation, published in June.
We are pleased that leader of the review Professor Stephen Mayson, Centre for Ethics & Law, UCL is a keynote speaker at this conference.
The report’s recommendations:
- regulation and oversight:
- a single independent regulator for the legal sector - the Legal Services Regulation Authority - to replace the current arrangement of ten front-line regulators
- additional oversight by the Legal Services Board regulator
- reserved legal activities - their replacement, through categorising all legal services and regulating them to different degrees according to the risk to public interest of the work
- registration - all legal services providers to be regulated according to the work they undertake, thereby moving away from regulating lawyers by their professional title
- access to legal advice - measures to help those who are unable to afford a regulated lawyer, as more people are seeking legal advice for employment and housing problems due to COVID-19
- consumer complaints - reorganised with a single point of entry
The discussion at a glance:
- the regulatory framework - assessing its future and the respective roles of the different regulators and how they interrelate
- consumers - priorities for their protection and for improving their experience and engagement with legal services
- legal technology - challenges for the sector in adoption, and issues that its use raises for regulation
- the legal market - impact of the entry of professional services firms, competition, and the future of reserved activities
The agenda:
- The Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation - key proposals and reactions so far
- Regulating legal services - market structures, transparency, and the future roles of regulators
- Consumer protection, managing unmet legal need, and simplifying redress
- Alternative approaches to regulating legal services and how the Scottish model works in practice - a case study
- The expansion of legal service provision - technology adoption and innovation in the market
- The next steps for legal services policy development
The discussion in detail:
- the Review’s proposals - the final report and its implications for firms, alternative providers, consumers and regulatory bodies
- options for further reform - priorities for the CMA’s revisit later this year of its Legal Services market study, examining progress and scope for further action on:
- consumer protection - and redress for users of unauthorised services
- encouraging competition - providing open data to support price comparison websites
- the Scottish model for legal services - with recommendations to separate the regulative and representative functions of the Law Society of Scotland
- the Legal Ombudsman - assessing the extension of powers with regard to complaint procedures to include the authority to begin its own investigations, even when a complaint has not been made
- market entrants - the impact of professional and financial service providers that are coming into the legal services market, including tech-based solutions, looking at:
- tomorrow’s legal market - latest trends and likely future scenarios for the legal services market and the legal profession
- diversification - the transformation of many law firms into professional service companies offering a range of services, since the implementation of Legal Services Act 2007
- the challenge for policy:
- the focus and function of regulators in the industry - whether further changes are required
- legislative options - the suitability of the Act’s regulatory framework into the future in the context of these and other changes in the legal services market
- increasing transparency - practical ways forward, such as bolstering current requirements for law firms to publish fees and regulatory status clearly online
- improving access to the law - how regulatory reform can help improve access to justice, public confidence in the legal system and individuals’ ability to handle difficult legal situations competitiveness:
- international - strategies and policy priorities for ensuring that legal services in England and Wales retain their position in the global market
- adapting to change - how providers are responding to new technologies and fast-changing conditions - including the end of UK transition - alongside evolving consumer demands and expectations
Policy officials attending:
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders.
This conference is no different. Places have been reserved by officials from the Ministry of Justice; BEIS; the Competition and Markets Authority; the Crown Prosecution Service; the Government Legal Department; HMCTS; and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference