Cutting out the solicitor

THE legal professions have been sheltered from effective competition for as long as anyone can remember.

The situation is changing but only slowly. Many of the proposals in Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s new Legal Services Regulation Bill that is currently before the Dáil have been around for decades. There must be a suspicion they are part of the bailout agreement and only now getting legislated for because of pressure from the troika.

But some obvious and desirable changes are being long-fingered again insofar as the legislation only requires the proposed Legal Services Regulatory Authority to consider them.