In March, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) launched a new consultation seeking views on the final phase of the Governance Reform outlined in its 2016-19 Strategic Plan. The BSB now proposes to change how it deals with the information it receives as the regulator and to revise its decision-making structures in relation to professional conduct…
The Law Society of Scotland proposes reforms to legal services regulation
The Law Society of Scotland has called for wide-ranging reforms that will allow it to keep pace with global developments within the sector and improve consumer protection. It has set out a series of recommendations in its submission to an independent review of legal services regulation which include expanding consumer protections to currently unregulated areas of legal…
Free Movement of Services: Challenges to the Implementation of Cross-border Legal Practice within EAC
The Protocol Establishing the East African Community Common Market, 2010 guarantees free movement of services supplied by nationals of Partner States, and the free movement of services and suppliers who are nationals of the Partner States within the EAC. This implies that the persons supplying services should be able to supply the services to the consumers in other Partner States without discrimination. Cross-border legal practice largely involves an advocate performing legal professional work beyond his or her home state. An advocate can offer legal services outside his or…
Platform Economy in Legal Profession: An Empirical Study of Online Legal Service Providers in China
Platform economy breaks into the legal profession by pooling lawyers with different specializations into a simple user-friendly platform, consolidating the lower-tier supply side of the legal market and generating economy of scale. This paper is the very first empirical piece looking into China’s online legal service portals. It is found that, the intermediary functions of the portals as the “matchmaker” between the supply and thedemand side are often commingled with certain substantive legal services, which cannot be easily unbundled from each other. Given the grand information asymmetry…
Potential legal and regulatory reform in Nigeria?
We are delighted that the Nigerian Bar Association has expressed interest in the ICLR network and will be sending representation to the Singapore conference. Although the NBA is only responsible for part of the system of regulating lawyers at present, it has taken a leadership role in promoting the adoption of a major overhaul of…
SRA consultation – Looking to the future: phase two of our Handbook reforms
Following the SRA’s ‘Looking to the future’ consultation in summer 2016, they are now consulting on further changes to their Handbook and their proposed revised Enforcement Strategy. This consultation also includes the transitional arrangements for the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Through the Looking to the future programme, the SRA are: simplifying regulations…
ICLR 2017 – Panel: Effective New Regulatory Responses to Complaints
A synopsis of panel session 5, which takes place on 6 October at ICLR Singapore, kindly provided by the session’s moderator, Susan Saab Fortney – Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Texas A & M University School of Law. Conference materials will be made available to ICLR.net members after the conference. The session examines new regulatory…
What We Know and Need to Know About Global Lawyer Regulation
This article is one of a series addressing the American Bar Association’s Commission on the Future of Legal Services, and is intended to provide a foundation for policymakers interested in global lawyer regulation. Rather than suggest the best approach to regulating global lawyering and lawyers, however, the article instead takes aim at developing a wish-list…
ICLR 2017 – Panel: “Risk Based Approach to Regulation”
A synopsis of panel session 8, which takes place on 6 October at ICLR Singapore, kindly provided by the session’s moderator, Victoria Rees. Conference materials will be made available to ICLR.net members after the conference. Moderator: Victoria Rees, Director of Professional Responsibility, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, Canada Panelists: Scott MacLean, Acting Executive Director, Investigations, Office…
Focus on Ireland: Legal Services Act 2015 Briefing
Background to the Act In Ireland the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 has been enacted primarily to establish a new Legal Services Regulatory Authority for all legal practitioners, update the legal costs system and allow possible future introduction of new business structures for the provision of legal services, including legal partnerships (solicitors and barristers), multi-disciplinary…