Government confirms Legal Services Bill
Will Writing Services - 01/12/2006 14:09:57
The government has finally published the Legal Services Bill and as was suspected it has paved the way for non-legal firms to acquire solicitors' practices.
Supermarkets, insurance firms and other high street stores are anticipated to use the Legal Services Bill to broaden their product range and to provide will writing services, divorce advice and other legal systems.
Formally announced in the House of Lords last week, the bill had been anticipated for sometime and is expected to come into action in 2008.
In addition to opening up the legal profession to investment and takeovers by non-traditional firms, the Legal Services Bill has outlined a regulatory body that would have the right to strip underperforming bodies of their powers.
Lord Falconer, head of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, said: "These are bold steps. But they have been taken after long and careful study, informed by a large cross-section of people from expert bodies such as the Office of Fair Trading, to the consumer panel to individual complaints from consumers."
Dubbed Tesco Law, it is believed that the new laws will make the legal profession far more transparent, competitive and open to the consumer market.
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