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Monday, 23 June 2014

 

LSB CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE

CHRIS KENNY TO LEAVE IN NOVEMBER 2014

The Legal Services Board today confirmed that Chris Kenny will step down from the post of Chief Executive at the end of November. He will take up a CEO post in the private sector at the start of 2015.

The post will be advertised later this week and the Board are aiming to make an appointment by the end of September.

Chris Kenny, Chief Executive said:

"Colleagues on the LSB and in our Executive team have shown consistent determination, rigour and creativity in improving the quality of regulation in the legal services sector, developing world-leading research and, above all, seeking to secure a better deal and greater access to justice for consumers by making the legal services market work more effectively. I am proud of the part I have played in helping them to achieve that. I look forward to working with them and colleagues elsewhere in the sector and beyond in my final months in post as we consider our strategy for 2015-18."

Sir Michael Pitt, Chairman of the Legal Services Board said:

"We should all pay tribute to the considerable contribution Chris has made on behalf of the LSB and the legal sector. He has built a powerful team at the LSB who will continue to deliver yet more vital change.

I am delighted Chris will be with us for a further five months. But it is hardly surprising, with his remarkable talents and after six successful years as Chief Executive of the LSB, Chris is moving forward in his career. I and all colleagues wish him well in his new role."

ENDS

For further information, please contact our Corporate Director Julie Myers or by calling 020 7271 0059.

Notes for editors:

  1. Chris Kenny is the LSB’s inaugural Chief Executive and has been in post since 1 January 2009.

  2. The Chief Executive’s remuneration is a matter of public record and is included in the Board’s Annual Report and Accounts every year. In 2013/14, the Chief Executive’s annual salary was £160,000.

  3. Advertising for a successor is expected to start later this week and the process will be supported by Saxton Bampfylde.

  4. The Legal Services Act 2007 created the LSB as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010.

  5. The LSB oversees eight approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual lawyers. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Association of Costs Lawyers.

    In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants are listed as approved regulators in relation only to reserved probate activities.

  6. As at 1 April 2014, the legal profession comprised 138,243 solicitors, 326 alternative business structures, 15,279 barristers, 7,927 chartered legal executives and 5,404 other individuals operating in other areas of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The sector was valued at £29.2 billion in 2013 (total turnover).