Exploring the impact of the legal services act 2007 on law clinics: special rules for special bodies?

Charles Plant, the chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, recently warned that every law firm in the country will be affected by the arrival of alternative business structures (ABS). Change that to law firms and law clinics and you get a much more accurate warning. There has been hardly any media coverage on the impact (current and future) on law clinics from the Legal Services Act 2007 and the arrival of ABS. However, if you are a “special body”, such as a not for profit/non-commercial organisation, which provides legal services to the public and those services include reserved legal activities then you will need to become an ABS once the grace period has ended in 2013. After this a tailored ABS regime will be created, although there is currently no guidance on what this regime will look like, require and, perhaps most importantly, cost. This interactive session will look at the wording of the Act and the guidance that has been provided by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and Legal Services Board to date. It will review the key points of the Legal Service Board’s consultation paper on the licensing regime for special bodies – including the idea that general legal advice should become a reserved legal activity and that special bodies should be able to charge for their services - and the response to that paper prepared by Northumbria University’s Elaine Campbell and Fiona Fletcher. It will invite participants to discuss how they have dealt with/will deal with the challenges of the LSA and explore potential lobbying activities.