Independent body to oversee legal profession

AN independent legal services regulatory body to oversee barristers and solicitors, is to be established by the Government as part of a bill aimed at improving competition and transparency amongst the legal professions.

Under the Legal Services Regulation Bill, which is expected to be published next week, an independent complaints structure is to be developed which will deal with complaints of professional misconduct by solicitors and barristers.

Up to now, such complaints had to be directed to the Law Society and Bar Council. The bill is a response to reforms sought in the EU/IMF bailout programme.

Also as part of the shakeup, a legal costs office will take over the role of the Office of the Taxing Master. According the Department of Justice, an emphasis is to be placed on providing greater detail to clients on costs.

Eleven people will sit on the regulatory body: Two appointed by the Law Society, two appointed by the Bar Council, one ministerial appointment, one legal costs accountant and five lay people.

The bill will also allow solicitors, and not just barristers, to be appointed as senior counsel.

According to Justice Minister Alan Shatter, the bill is a “good day for the consumer and legal profession”.

“It provides for greater transparency for legal costs and greater assistance and protection for consumers of legal services. It also provides an entirely independent dispute system to determine allegations of professional misconduct and a new system for legal costs adjudication where legal costs are in dispute.”

Law Society spokesman Ken Murphy said they can not evaluate the bill properly as they have not seen it in its entirety.

“We have, however, expressed concerns about a possible erosion of the independence of the profession by having civil servants regulating rather than delegating day-to-day regulation to the Law Society and Bar Council as happens in England and Wales. Secondly, there is also a risk that such excessive regulation will end up costing the clients more in the long term.”

Picture: Alan Shatter: Bill is a good day for the consumer.