A joint pilot project has launched by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), CILEx Regulation (CRL) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB), under which regulated law firms have been invited to help develop meaningful quality indicators, which will aid potential clients when choosing their legal service provider. The exercise has…
Protecting and Promoting Competition in Response to ‘Disruptive’ Innovations in Legal Services: OECD Background Paper
Abstract Despite traditional resistance to change in legal professions, pro-competitive “disruptive” innovations are beginning to transform legal services and the manner in which they are delivered. Online service delivery is allowing both legal professionals and unlicensed providers to serve clients remotely while taking advantage of the scalability of digital platforms. In addition, ranking and review information regarding legal professionals is becoming increasingly accessible, and…
UK Competition and Markets Authority to research Scottish legal services market
The Competition and Markets Authority has issued the following press release regarding its impending research into certain aspects of the Scottish legal services market to support the Scottish Government’s response to the Roberton Review. The following release was published 17 June 2019. This work has been prompted by the Roberton Review, an Independent Review of…
OECD: Protecting and promoting competition in response to ‘disruptive’ innovations in legal services
This document was prepared by the OECD Secretariat to serve as an issues paper at the 61th meeting of the OECD Working Party No. 2 on Competition and Regulation (13 June 2016). This paper introduces recent disruptive innovations in legal services markets, as well as the overarching trends giving rise to them. The role for…
The Integration of Law into Global Business Solutions
Using a unique data set comprised of original research of both the corporate websites of the Big Four — PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY — and their affiliated law firms, as well as archival material from the legal and accountancy press, this article documents the rise and transformation of the Big Four legal service lines…
Focus on…ABS investment activity
A major aim of the introduction of alternative business structures (ABS) in England and Wales was to allow new forms of capital into regulated law firms to improve market efficiency. Enabling external investment in law firms was designed to allow less reliance on short term sources of financing such as personal debt and overdrafts. The…
Legal technology and regulation
The month of May saw two technology and legal regulation issues come to light in the US. Cyber security and client communications The changing technological landscape and rising incidence of “cyber intrusion” prompted the ABA’s ethics committee to update an 18-year-old opinion on whether lawyers must use encrypted e-mail when communicating with clients. Technologically, much…
Trust and the market: Rethinking regulation
London, United Kingdom | 15 July 2016 In a fast-changing marketplace, how do regulators build public confidence and balance public protection with the need to support an open competitive market that provides high-quality, affordable services? Trust and the market: Rethinking regulation addresses this question. Chaired by broadcast journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, experts from several sectors share…
Legal services market study
In January 2016 the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began a market study on the supply of Legal Services in England and Wales, to see whether the market is working sufficiently well in the interests of consumers. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. In its statement of scope, the CMA observed:…