LSB to identify the cost of legal services regulation

The LSB is to identify the true cost of regulation with the launch of a new online survey, it has announced.

The survey will gather lawyers' views on the costs regulation imposed on them and their businesses, and aims to identify unnecessary burdens that could potentially be removed.

Legal Services Chairman, Sir Michael Pitt, has called on solicitors, barristers, chartered legal executives, licensed conveyancers, patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys, costs lawyers and notaries to get on board."

"This is an opportunity for you to have your say on a priority issue (namely deregulation) - an area in which we are increasingly cooperating with legal services regulators to deliver progress," He said.

Sir Michael stressed the success of the project depended on the participation of lawyers, firms and the profession as a whole.

He continued: "If there is engagement with this survey then we can wipe away all the anecdotes, conjecture and presumptions about costs and replace them with real facts and figures which could be crucial in prioritising areas for deregulation."

Lawyers, firms and the profession can make their voice heard by responding to the LSB's cost of regulation survey which can be accessed here. The survey will be followed by an in-depth assessment which will seek to quantify the costs of complying with legal services regulation.

The survey will be open for six weeks finishing on Friday 28 November 2014.

Last week, Sir Michael wrote to his counterparts at the legal services regulators, welcoming the progress made on collaborative working following a recent meeting of the chairs of the various regulators.

The meeting was arranged by the LSB as a follow-up to the ministerial summit of regulators on 21 July, at which ministers tasked regulators with seeking further deregulatory measures to encourage growth and innovation in the legal services market.

Sir Michael said he was pleased with the progress the LSB had made with their regulatory colleagues last week.

"We have identified a list of key actions on which immediate steps can be taken including: steps to communicate more clearly how the work of the legal services regulators already contributes to deregulation; increased collaboration and knowledge sharing on specific initiatives such as financial protection arrangements; and working together to explore legislative changes to lighten the regulatory load both within the framework of the current Legal Services Act and beyond."

Sir Michael said the group would reconvene in early 2015 to follow up and discuss further actions.