UK Legal Sector Calls On Government To Foot The Bill For Clementi Reforms

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

20 June 2005

Speaking at a recent conference in London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer revealed that the UK's legal industry may find itself facing costs of around £13 million for the implementation of reforms proposed by Sir David Clementi following his review of the sector.

Commenting on the establishment of the Legal Services Board and the Office for Legal Complaints, Lord Falconer reportedly told those attending the meeting that:

"Our general principle is that those benefiting from the regulatory system should bear the cost of that regulation. But in a legal services market with a turnover of around £18 billion annually, this one-off cost represents around 0.07%."

However, professional bodies within the industry were less than impressed by the suggestion that they should foot the bill for the reforms.

Speaking to the Law Gazette last week, chief executive of the Law Society, Janet Paraskeva observed that:

"The government currently pays for the supervisory functions carried out by the Lord Chancellor and Master of Rolls and there is no reason why that should change when the new supervisory regulator is established. We also expect the government to meet the start-up costs of the new arrangements."

The Bar Council reportedly echoed this sentiment, arguing that the predicted £13 million figure may be over-optimistic.

"It doesn't take long for grand ambition to take hold," a spokesman told the Law Gazette.

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