FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6 March 2019
LSB confirms appointment of four new members of the Legal Services Consumer Panel
The Legal Services Board (LSB) today announces the appointment of David Abbott, Paul Crook, Owen Derbyshire and Liz Owen to the Legal Services Consumer Panel (the Consumer Panel).
Liz Owen will take up appointment from 1 April 2019 for an initial four-year term; David Abbott and Owen Derbyshire will take up appointment from 1 April 2019 for initial three-year terms.
Paul Crook will take up appointment from 1 October 2019 for an initial three and a half-year term.
The appointments replace Andrew Foster, Catharine Gallagher and Frances Harrison whose second and final terms end in spring 2019.
Chair of the Legal Services Board, Dr Helen Phillips said:
“I am pleased to congratulate David, Owen, Liz and Paul on their appointments to the Consumer Panel. Their diverse experience across a range of sectors will add great value to the important work of the Consumer Panel.
I would also like to thank the outgoing members for their invaluable contribution to the Consumer Panel."
Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel, Sarah Chambers said:
“I am delighted to welcome David, Owen, Liz and Paul to the Consumer Panel.
They each bring essential skills and significant experience to the Panel’s work, in particular in relation to vulnerable consumers and digital transformation. They are in a strong position to contribute immediately to our forward-looking work programme in the interests of the users of legal services."
ENDS
For further information, please email us contactus@legalservicesboard.org.uk or call on 020 7271 0068.
Notes for editors:
- The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) required the LSB to establish a Consumer Panel to represent the interests of consumers. Members are appointed by the LSB with the approval of the Lord Chancellor.
- David Abbott David has significant experience in independent regulation over a wide range of public, professional and commercial sectors. He is currently Chief Executive of the Free Representation Unit, a charity that provides free representation to clients in a range of tribunals. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director, Future Customer Experience at HMCTS, and before that, Head of Marine Compliance at the Marine Management Organisation. For more than ten years, David was Chief Executive of High Peak Citizens Advice Bureau. David also has a breadth of non-executive experience, and is currently a lay member of the Authorisations Review Panel of the Bar Standards Board and a reserve lay member of Statutory Committees for the General Pharmaceutical Council. He was previously a lay member of the Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service fitness to practice panels and a member of police misconduct panels.David was also the final HM Chief Inspector of Court Administration.
- David’s appointment is for a three year term from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022.
- Paul Crook Paul has a long and successful background in business/digital transformation and strategy consulting. His most recent activity has included senior executive roles at Amazon Web Services, DXC/HP Enterprise Services, IBM, Fujitsu Services and as a full equity Partner at Accenture. Previous to this he held consultancy roles at Gemini Consulting and PA Consulting, following his first career in the diplomatic service. Paul has not yet held any NED roles but has worked with consumer panels at the Consumers’ Association and has extensive professional experience advising on customer services.
- Paul’s appointment is for a three and a half year term from 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2022.
- Owen Derbyshire Owen has a background in communications and technology, and is currently Director and Principal Consultant at Twenty One, a management consulting firm based in Cardiff specializing in digital transformation. He recently served as Chief Executive and Founder at Properr Software Ltd, a venture capital-backed property technology business. Owen also holds a number of non-executive roles, including Non-Executive Director of S4C, the Welsh broadcaster, and a member of the Welsh Language Partnership Council, which is responsible for giving advice to Ministers in relation to Welsh language strategy. Owen also works with ProMo Cymru, a youth enterprise organisation.
- Owen’s appointment is for a three year term from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022.
- Liz Owen Liz has over twenty years of private sector research consultancy and public sector experience. She is currently Director of Policy and Strategy at the Care Quality Commission. Prior to this, her executive roles have included: Director of Intelligence and Head of Surveys and Qualitative Intelligence at the Care Quality Commission; Director, Customer Insight at DECC; Deputy Head of Qualitative Research at Synovate (now part of Ipsos Mori), and Research Director at Opinion Leader. Liz is also a volunteer at The Listening Place, a mental health charity and a trustee at Shift (a charity that uses behaviour change techniques to design consumer products to solve social problems) and a trustee of the King’s Hall Trust for the Arts.
- Liz’s appointment is for a four year term from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2023.
- The roles each carry a non-pensionable remuneration of £4,500 for at least 15 days’ work per year.
- Details of other members of the Consumer Panel can be found here.
- These appointments were made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
- 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.
- The LSB oversees ten approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. 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 Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Association of Costs Lawyers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland is an approved regulator for probate activities only but does not currently authorise anyone to offer this service.
- As at 1 April 2017, the legal profession in England and Wales comprised 148,690 solicitors, 15,281 barristers, 6,809 chartered legal executives and 5,958 other individuals operating in other areas of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The UK legal sector turnover was £35 billion per annum (2018) which is up 25% in cash terms since 2012. For more information see here.