Client financial protection
20 June 2008
Legal Services Act: New forms of practice and regulation
Consultation paper 6
The deadline for submission of responses to consultation paper 6 on the Legal Services Act was 23 April 2008. Consultation outputs—including reports and recommendations—were submitted to the SRA Board for consideration in mid-June 2008:
The information that appears below is for reference purposes only.
We are developing our regulatory framework to allow firm-based regulation across the board, and to allow the new forms of practice permitted under the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA)—legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) and alternative business structures (ABSs). We hope LDPs will become available in 2009. ABSs are unlikely to be possible until 2012 or 2013.
In November 2007, we published Legal Services Act: New forms of practice and regulation—a policy paper which outlines our initial thoughts on the principles which should guide the development of the new regulatory framework. It contains background detail and a glossary of terms which you may find useful when reading this and future consultations.
The present consultation asks how client financial protection policy should be developed to accommodate LDPs and other new regulatory arrangements under the LSA, such as the requirement for partnerships to become recognised bodies. We want to identify situations that might arise when it is not clear what responsibilities should properly fall to the SRA, and hence what obligations should fall on Qualifying Insurers under the SRA's compulsory indemnity insurance scheme.
Timescales are tight. Although the earliest that LDPs will be permitted is likely to be 1 March 2009, that date falls within the 2008/2009 indemnity period which begins on 1 October 2008. We are discussing with the Qualifying Insurers the scope of the Minimum Terms and Conditions of cover for that period, and by May 2008 we must tell them the changes that are likely to be brought in during the 2008/2009 indemnity period. This will give them sufficient time to prepare their documentation in time for the renewal period.
Downloadable document(s)