The Legal Profession “Changes to the Professions”

Conveyancing Prior to 1985 solicitors had a monopoly on conveyancing However, this changed following the Administration of Justice Act (1985) This Act allowed people other than solicitors to become licensed conveyancers As a result of increased competition in this area, solicitors had to reduce their fees, but even so they lost a large proportion of the work This led to a demand for greater right sof advocacy

Rights of Advocacy Courts and Legal Service Act (1990) This allowed solicitors to apply for a certificate of advocacy to conduct cases in the higher courts. Must have experience of advocacy, take course and pass examinations This also meant that solictors (with advocacy qualification) were eligible to be appointed as QC’s

Access to Justice Act (1999) “ Solicitors will have full rights of audience in the future” This means that new training requirements will eventually be introduced to allow solicitors to obtain these rights

Multi-discipline Partnerships Courts and Legal Service Act (1990) Allows solicitors to form partnerships with other professions, eg accountants Effectively promoting a ‘one-stop-shop’ However, presently both the Law Society and the Bar Council have rules which prohibit the creation of multi- discipline partnerships

Multi-discipline Partnerships Continued….. Law Society In favour of multi-discipline partnerships, provided it is a law firm with non-solicitor partners providing ancillary services Bar Council Opposed to the idea, believing that partnerships would blur the distinction between the legal professions Also believe the present system maximises competition and choice for consumers, and preserves the ‘cab-rank’ rule