All providers of legal services should be regulated, review finds

All providers of legal services in the UK, whether legally qualified or not, should be registered and regulated, according to a major review of legal services.

Stephen Mayson, Honorary Professor of Law at University College London, also called for a single, sector-wide regulator of all legal providers (the Legal Services Regulation Authority) to ensure a common and consistent approach across the legal sector. The current arrangement of 10 front-line regulators plus an oversight regulator is 'cumbersome', he said.

The report, 'Reforming Legal Services: Regulation beyond the echo chambers', follows a two-year independent review into the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. Among those contributing to the review were regulators, professional bodies, consumer groups, judges, in-house lawyers, academics and parliamentarians.

Other recommendations of the report include a revised and more extensive legal services ombudsman acting as a single point of entry for investigation and redress for complaints made by individual consumers or small businesses.

And with the emergence and rapid development of lawtech, which is capable of offering legal advice and services independently of any human or legally qualified involvement, the report states that this should fall within a future definition of 'legal services' and an appropriate person should be registered as a 'provider'.

Professor Mayson said: 'Many people assume that all providers of legal services are in some way regulated and that relevant protection is available, but they are mistaken. There are many providers of legal advice and assistance, beyond regulated qualified lawyers, providing services from wills and estate administration to online advice and bespoke documents.

'The current regulatory structure provides an incomplete and limited framework for legal services that is not able in the near-term and beyond to meet the demands and expectations placed on it, particularly with the emergence and rapid development of alternative providers and lawtech.

'The recommendations in this report seek to create a level playing field for legal services and enhance consumer protection, through targeted and proportionate regulation.'

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