Alan Shatter: Vested interests won out in legal reform bill

The Coalition’s limited reforms in the legal sector were criticised yesterday by former justice minister Alan Shatter, who declared that “vested interests” had won over the rights of consumers.

He demanded that his successor reveal the legal threats allegedly made by lawyers to block reforms under the Legal Services Bill.

He accepted the proposed reforms, including the setting up of a legal services regulatory authority, would drag the legal professions “out of the 19th century into the 21st century”.