67 WTO member delegates participated in the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, which aims to reduce administrative costs and create a more transparent environment for services providers to operate in when conducting business in foreign markets. This initiative marks the first set of rules governing service regulation in nearly 25 years. The trade agreement…
The Bar Standards Board of England and Wales has published its regulatory decision making annual report
This is the second report of its type by the Bar Standards Board since the way regulatory decisions were made was reformed. The report finds that between April 2020 and March 2021 the number of reports and applications for exemptions substantially increased. This coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bar Standards Board has increased proactive…
Legal Education in Nigeria: A Chronicle of Reforms and Transformation Under Tahir Mamman
Legal Education in Nigeria: A Chronicle of Reforms and Transformation Under Tahir Mamman is a case study of change that tells the story of opportunities to transform legal education. We can trace the history of legal education to about 1962 when the first indigenous law faculties and the Nigerian Law School were established. In spite…
Florida makes moves towards ABS licencing
On the 28th of June 2021, the Florida State Supreme Court’s Special Committee to Improve the Delivery of Legal Services (formulated by the Bar Board of Governors in November 2019), released their final report on changes in the legal sector. The report is calling for further study on allowing some nonlawyers to have an ownership…
Deregulation and the Lawyers’ Cartel
Abstract At one time, the legal profession largely regulated itself. However, based on the economic notion that increased competition would benefit consumers, jurisdictions have deregulated their legal markets by easing rules relating to attorney advertising, fees, and, most recently, nonlawyer ownership of law firms. Yet, despite reformers’ high expectations, legal markets today resemble those of previous decades, and most legal services continue to be…
Top jurists call for regulatory change to increase access to justice
During the 9th June ABA discussion on regulatory change, Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer of the Arizona Supreme Court stated that despite decades of efforts to encourage practising lawyers to perform a minimum of 50 pro bono hours annually to increase access to justice, minimal results have been achieved. Timmer is part of…
New ‘Senior Counsel’ title approved for use in Ireland
A total of 37 legal practitioners in Ireland will be permitted to use the title ‘Senior Counsel’ following the Government’s approval of recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence. Approval was granted on the 15th June 2021, with the group made up of 25 barristers and 17 solicitors, who will…
Legal Services Board of England and Wales consultation on new processes for changing regulatory arrangements
The Legal Services Board of England and Wales (LSB) has launched a consultation examing proposed new rules and guidance for alterations to regulatory arrangements. The LSB is considering the rule changes as part of its statutory functions in assessing applications from the nine different regulatory bodies in England and Wales to alter their regulatory arrangements….
Auckland High Court consultation on reform of civil dispute resolution
The New Zealand Law Society has called on its members to respond to the Rules Committee’s ongoing consultation into reform in the civil dispute resolution system. The consultation is in response to new proposals put forward following concerns raised about an initial consultation paper in 2020. With concerned bodies including the Law Society. Responders shared…
Legal Services Board calls for consumers to be put at the heart of regulation
On the 29th of March the Legal Services Board (LSB) launched a consumer-focused strategy for legal services in England and Wales, which included a call for all regulators in England and Wales to collaborate to reshape legal services to better meet society’s needs. It called for action from all regulators from its position as the…