Gove in discussions with legal regulators over possible deregulation of the market

The Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has disclosed that Ministry of Justice officials have met the Bar Standards Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and others for discussions on the future of the profession. He also revealed that he is considering consulting on deregulatory amendments to the 2007 Legal Services Act “in the near future”.

Mr Gove pledged in June to conduct a review of the Legal Services Act in the current parliament. He said then that the act, which set up the current legal services regulatory system, creates a “danger of regulators falling over each other’s feet”.

The regulators are believed to have asked why alternative business structures are assumed to present a greater risk and therefore face a greater burden of regulation. They also suggest that reforms could be made to rules around handling client money.

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