Public interest not served by ill-judged reforms

NOW that former solicitor Thomas Byrne has begun a 12-year sentence for fraud-related offences committed while operating his own multi-disciplinary practice, close attention needs to be paid to the introduction of new or alternative business structures for lawyers and to the measures which may be introduced to regulate them.

Recent commentary on the exit from the troika bailout has included references to “vested interests” delaying the reform of legal services in the Legal Services Regulation Bill, which was first published in Oct 2011.

Such analysis is entirely wrong. The Bar Council supports the independent regulation of the legal professions.