Regulator approves barristers becoming LDPs

THE BAR Standards Board (BSB) has announced that barristers should not be made to requalify as solicitors in order to join forces with them in the legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) permitted under the Legal Services Act 2007.

LDPs were introduced to the legal system in April 2009, and enable barristers and solicitors to enter into partnership together, as well as allowing for up to 25 per cent of LDP managers to be ‘non-lawyers’.

However, the BSB has made no decision as yet regarding barrister participation in the wider definition of alternative business structures (ABSs), now expected to be effective by mid-2011. A further consultation will be undertaken once the success of the “transitional LDP regime” has been assessed, the BSB said.

In the meantime it has also advised against barristers becoming shareholders in LDP partnerships
until suitable guidance in relation to conflicts has been drafted. The BSB also wishes to safeguard the so-called ‘cab-rank rule’, compelling barristers to undertake those cases that are brought to them.

In addition to LDPs, however, the BSB believes barristers should further be allowed, in principle, to share risk through barrister-only partnerships (BoPs) or other barrister-only companies.

The board now plans to consult on whether or not it should become an entity regulator of such legal structures, in addition to assessing the feasibility of a modified cab-rank rule for LDPs.

Baroness Deech, chair of the BSB, said: “In deciding to apply the cab-rank rule to advocates in barrister-only entities and to seek to apply that rule to all advocates, the Board wishes to preserve a unique attribute of the Bar, in the public interest.”

She acknowledged that “feelings and opinions are very strongly held on all sides” in the debate surrounding ABS.

“As a responsible regulator we have balanced the views and come to conclusions, giving living effect to the regulatory objectives of the Legal Services Act and just as importantly, to the spirit they embody.

“Our decisions on LDPs reflect the need to develop and enhance the supply of legal services so as to best serve clients of the Bar and guarantee access to justice.”