News
Milestone in reform of legal services
31 March 2009
Lawyers and non-lawyers can jointly own legal firms, after new rules governing the way firms operate came into effect today.
Legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) are a new type of firm that the SRA can regulate including
- one or more non-solicitor lawyers, and/or
- up to 25 per cent non-lawyers.
The introduction of LDPs is a significant step in the implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007, passed after the Government accepted many of the recommendations of the Clementi Review into the regulation of legal services.
LDPs are widely seen as a halfway house to "alternative business structures"—which will permit law firms to list on the Stock Exchange.
The Ministry of Justice, the Legal Services Board (which oversees the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales), and the SRA (the independent regulatory body of the Law Society of England and Wales), today issued a joint news release announcing the introduction of LDPs.