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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can’t find an answer to your question about the LSB on this website? Please email us at: contactus@legalservicesboard.org.uk and we will try to help.

The Board, its work and policies

  • Why were you created?
    The 2001 Office for Fair Trading report, Competition in the Professions, identified a number of issues that had the potential to disadvantage consumers in the legal services sector. Following that work, Sir David Clementi undertook an independent review of the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales. His 2004 report highlighted the need for a new oversight body to bring much-needed consistency and clarity to the regulation of lawyers, and a sharper focus on the interests of consumers. That body, the Legal Services Board, was subsequently established under the Legal Services Act 2007. The Act sets up a framework that includes eight regulatory objectives which will ensure a clear focus on regulation in the public interest.

  • How are you paid for?
    A principle underlying the Legal Services Act is that the legal profession should pay for the LSB and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), which is the body that provides the Legal Ombudsman service. Accordingly, the LSB is required to impose a levy on the approved regulators and that levy covers the full cost of running the LSB and OLC.

  • How much do you cost and how big are you?
    The LSB’s operational budget for the year 2011/2012 is just over £4.9m and we plan to reduce this amount over both of the next two financial years. We have a small team of 30 staff all based in Holborn, plus nine Board Members including the Chief Executive.

  • Do you cover the entire United Kingdom?
    No. The LSB is the oversight regulator for legal services in England and Wales. Its remit does not extend to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

  • Are you really independent?
    The LSB is independent both of government and the profession. Our Board has a lay Chairman and a lay majority, meaning that its membership brings to the table the perspective of non-lawyers. While the LSB is part of the public sector, it operates independently of government. This was important as maintenance of the rule of law was thought to depend on the regulation of lawyers being handled independently of government.

  • Are you the same as The Law Society?
    No. The Law Society is the professional representative body for solicitors in England and Wales. The LSB oversees the work of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, which is the independent regulatory arm of The Law Society.

  • Do you want supermarkets to run law firms?
    An early priority for the LSB has been to liberalise the legal services market so new entrants can come into the sector to deliver services to consumers. This has meant that new Alternative Business Structures (ABS), which can be owned and run by non-lawyers, can exist alongside traditional law firms. A whole range of organisations might wish become new entrants to the market. Liberalisation has been about taking down unnecessary barriers to entry and increasing competition – it has not been about sponsoring any particular type of provider over another.

Legal services providers and how they are regulated

  • How many lawyers are there?
    The UK legal service sector is a significant employer. In 2011, in England and Wales, there were:
    • 119,641 Solicitors with practising certificates. This represents a 3% increase with respect to 2010 (116,122 practising Solicitors)
    • 15,309 practising Barristers. This represents a 1% increase with respect to 2010 (15,157 practising Barristers)
    • 7,467practising members of the Institute of Legal Executives. Most Legal Executives work for Solicitors’ firms, although a few work independently from Solicitors
    • 1,115 Licensed Conveyancers in England and Wales. This represents a 9% increase with respect to 2010 (1,021 Licensed Conveyancers)
    • 620 registered Trade Mark Attorneys and 1,687 United Kingdom registered Patent Attorneys
    • 845 Notaries on the Roll and 411 authorised Law Costs Draftsmen.
  • What activities are regulated under the new framework?
    There are certain types of legal advice that only lawyers, who are authorised to do so, can undertake on behalf of clients. These are called “reserved legal activities” [Section 12 and Schedule 2 of the Legal Services Act]. For example, a lawyer cannot represent a client in court unless he or she is authorised and regulated under the Legal Services Act framework.

    The six reserved legal activities are:

    the exercise of rights of audience (ie appearing as an advocate before a court);
    the conduct of litigation (ie issuing proceedings before a court and commencing, prosecuting or defending those proceedings);
    reserved instrument activities (ie dealing with the transfer of land or property under specific legal provisions);
    probate activities (ie handling probate matters for clients);
    notarial activities (ie work governed by the Public Notaries Act 1801); and
    the administration of oaths (ie taking oaths, swearing affidavits etc).

    Lawyers carrying out these activities are regulated by the approved regulators in the legal services sector, working under the oversight of the LSB.

  • Will the activity of will-writing be regulated in the future?
    The activity of will-writing is not presently a reserved legal activity. However, there have been calls for mandatory regulation to be introduced in this sector. In our Business Plan 2010/11, we undertook to examine whether the scope of reserved legal activities should be altered. In doing this, there may be fine judgements to be made for example between the desirability of extra consumer protection and the adverse impact of possibly higher cost owing to compliance with regulation. To gather evidence on the particular question of whether will-writing should become reserved, we asked our Consumer Panel to conduct an investigation into consumers’ experiences. The Panel provided its advice to the Board during 2011 and we are currently undertaking a statutory process to review the appropriateness of the regulation of will-writing based on its findings.

If you’re a member of the public and need help

  • Can you help me get Legal Aid?
    No. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is the body responsible for running the legal aid scheme in England and Wales. Their website can be accessed using the following link http://www.legalservices.gov.uk.

  • How can I find a lawyer?
    Although the LSB cannot find a lawyer for you, several organisations can help you find advisers who specialise in your type of problem:

  • Can you help me with my court case?
    No. The Legal Services Board has no remit in respect to court cases. However, Her Majesty’s Courts Service provides information on the courts system and how to deal with cases. You can access this guidance through the HMCS website.

  • How do I complain about my lawyer?
    Please note that the Legal Services Board does not handle complaints about lawyers and cannot intervene in any new or ongoing complaint or dispute.
    If you are not happy with the service you received from your lawyer or law firm, you should complain to them direct. Tips on how to complain to your lawyer are available on the Legal Ombudsman’s website. If you are not satisfied by the way in which your complaint was dealt with by your lawyer of law firm, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman. Their website is: www.legalombudsman.org.uk and their telephone number is 0300 555 0333.

  • What is the Legal Ombudsman?
    The Legal Ombudsman has been established by the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) under the Legal Services Act 2007 to administer an independent, consumer focused scheme to resolve complaints about lawyers. The Legal Ombudsman began accepting complaints about lawyers on 6 October 2010. More information about the Legal Ombudsman is available at: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

  • Can you intervene on a consumer’s behalf when they disagree with the decisions of an approved regulator?
    No. If you wish to complain about the service you received from an approved regulator when they considered your complaint, you should contact the approved regulator direct. The LSB is an oversight regulator and does not have jurisdiction to review approved regulators’ decisions or process on individual cases. In fact, the Legal Services Act 2007 explicitly prohibits the LSB from exercising its powers to give a direction requiring an approved regulator to take steps in respect of a disciplinary case or other regulatory proceedings. Instead, the LSB is concerned with systemic issues in the legal services market and the role of regulation in protecting consumers.

  • How can I become a lawyer?
    Entry to the legal profession has become highly competitive, with those wishing to enter greatly outnumbering the places available. We have been working collaboratively with approved regulators and Skills for Justice to developing a map of the current qualification routes and create profiles of each branch of the legal profession which falls under the oversight regulation of the LSB. Each profile appears in the legal services section of Skills for Justice Career Pathways portal which provides information on careers within the justice system.

If you’re a lawyer and need help

  • How do I follow up on a legal aid payment I have not yet received?
    Call the Legal Services Commission (LSC) Customer Services team on 0300 200 20 20 or contact your local LSC office.