Scottish Lawyers Express Concerns Following Launch Of Tesco Legal Store

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

24 June 2004

Following the announcement earlier this week that UK supermarket giant, Tesco has launched an online legal service, the Law Society of Scotland has expressed concerns regarding the implications of such a move.

Although the services offered by the Tesco Legal Store currently only cover will-writing, divorce, letting agreements, residential renting agreements and small business start-ups, the Legal Store has been seen as the precursor to a wider, more personalised range of legal services that companies such as Tesco hope to offer if the UK's rules on the ownership of law firms are reformed.

In a statement on its website, the Scottish Law Society observed that:

"Online services of this nature have been available to consumers for some years and (this) is very different to the recently publicised "Tesco law proposals" which is not what Tesco have set up. Such a scheme would involve solicitors being employed by businesses such as supermarkets to provide legal advice and assistance to clients."

"The Society has made its concerns clear about the independence of advice and the potential conflict of interest which could arise in this situation which it believes could compromise the interests of the client."

Speaking to The Scotsman on Wednesday, the Law Society's director of professional practice, Bruce Ritchie reiterated these concerns, explaining that:

"Consumers need to be sure that the advice they're receiving is impartial and independent. The system needs to be governed by a regulatory system where consumers interests aren't compromised by certain interests or the need to hit targets."

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