Home > News and publications > LSB News > 24 May 2015
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful and reliable. Our cookies page explains what they are, which ones we use, and how you can manage or remove them. Don't show this message again.

 

LSB Logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, 14 May 2015

 

Tell us your experience of the legal services regulators

The Legal Services Board (LSB) is launching a survey today inviting views from anybody and any firm that has been in contact with one of the eight legal services regulators in England and Wales.

We are looking to hear from consumers, regulated individuals and firms, and others whose work brings them into contact with legal services regulators.

Legal Services Chief Executive, Richard Moriarty, said:

"Understanding what people think about their dealings with the legal services regulators is important to understanding how we can all improve the way regulation operates in practice.

We want to hear from anyone who has an experience (good, bad or indifferent) they wish to share with us about their dealings with a legal services regulator.

We are looking to hear from individual consumers, legal professionals, people who work for organisations or bodies that work closely with the legal services regulators.

This is the first time we are reaching out like this with a short and easy to use survey. The results will help us understand the issues from the point of view of those interacting with the regulators, and we will use the results to inform our review of the performance of the individual regulators.

I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say and hope that you will take this opportunity to make your views known to us."

Individuals, lawyers, firms and the profession can make their views known by responding to survey which can be accessed here. The survey should not take more than 15 minutes.

ENDS

 

For further information, please contact LSB Communications Manager Vincent McGovern or by calling 020 7271 0068.

Notes for editors:

  1. We will undertake an initial analysis of responses after Friday 26 June.The survey however will remain open until at least the end of this year.

  2. The eight legal services regulators we are concerned with hearing about are the:
    i. Solicitors Regulation Authority - solicitors
    ii.Bar Standards Board – barristers
    iii.CILEx Regulation (formally ILEX Professional Standards Ltd.) – legal executives
    iv.Council for Licensed Conveyancers – licensed conveyancers
    v. Intellectual Property Regulation Board – patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys
    vi. Costs Lawyer Standards Board – costs lawyers
    vii. Master of the Faculties - notaries
    viii. Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – chartered accountants offering probate services.

  3. The survey can be accessed here. We are using the low cost online platform survey monkey to facilitate the survey and to reduce costs.

  4. As part of our review of approved regulators’ performance, we will also be seeking views from organisations who work closely with the legal services regulators. If you wish to provide more general feedback on behalf of your organisation about a legal services regulator, please email us at contactus@legalservicesboard.org.uk.

  5. More detailed information on why we are undertaking this survey can be found here.

  6. The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) 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.

  7. The LSB oversees nine approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 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, the Association of Costs Lawyers and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

    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.

  8. 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).