UK's Bar Council Chair Concerned Over Clementi Report

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

07 January 2005

In a recent interview with the Lexis Nexis news service, the new chair of the UK's Bar Council, Guy Mansfield expressed concern regarding certain elements of the recommendations made by Sir David Clementi following his review of the legal services sector.

"The Clementi report comes up with some interesting ideas. However, I think there are parts where he is over-optimistic and one issue where I think he is wrong - recommending outside investment in law firms," Mr Mansfield explained.

He continued:

"My concern is that even limiting investment to, say, a 30% stake doesn't mean the investor won't have a real say in the running of the business. If you go to someone to invest in your firm because you need the money, you are extremely vulnerable to any threat to withdraw that investment...I also believe outside investment could fuel a litigation culture because investors will want a return on their money, therefore they will want to grow the market so they can get a bigger share of a bigger market."

The Bar Council chair also criticised the plans put forward in the Clementi report to create an Office of Legal Complaints (OLC), explaining that:

"Putting complaints against barristers in with complaints against solicitors and all other legal professionals will mean ours are at risk of being drowned."

Welcoming the new system for appointing QCs, Mr Mansfield told Lexis Nexis that the Bar Council was preparing itself for a "continuing dialogue" on the implementation of the Clementi report.

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