Hayhoe: Not leaping to conclusions
The new Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, needs to recognise the need for an overhaul of the legal regulatory regime, the new chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has argued.
Tom Hayhoe also suggested increased emphasis on ethics within lawyers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in light of the questions about their “moral compass” raised by the Post Office scandal and other developments.
“I recognise the risk of leaping to conclusions when only a few months into a new role,” he said.
“However, in regard to these two questions, I have heard nothing to suggest that ethical standards receive sufficient attention from the legal regulators or that the framework created under the 2007 Act provides the best approach to meeting the interests of the consumers and, indeed, the professionals in legal services.”
In his first blog since taking on the post on 1 May, Mr Hayhoe identified the Legal Services Act 2007 and ethics as two major questions beyond the everyday work of the panel.
While recognising that the new government has a “congested” legislative timetable, “I hope that the new Lord Chancellor recognises the case for the 2007 [Legal Services] Act to be updated”.
He cited as evidence the views of his predecessor, his initial meetings with stakeholders, and work previously undertaken by the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Professor Stephen Mayson, as well as CILEX’s proposed redelegation of regulatory functions to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
He wrote: “With my background in health regulation, where the regulatory and representative functions have been completely separated and the regulators generally much larger than those in legal services, I am struck by the complexity of the current arrangements, the lack of separation of most of the regulatory bodies from the representative organisations (notwithstanding the LSB’s internal governance rules) and how small they are.
“I have been encouraged by the willingness of the leaders of the regulatory bodies to engage with LSCP’s consumer agenda but am concerned by the gap between aspiration and delivery.
“I note, for example, the difficulties they face – reflecting management stretch – co-ordinating their efforts and limited budgets to research and understand the needs of their consumers.”
The other issue was “whether the regulatory regime adequately addresses moral compass, which should be at the heart of professional conduct and consequently central to protecting the interests of the legal services consumer”.
Evidence presented at the Post Office Horizon inquiry “has raised very critical questions about the duties of lawyers”.
Mr Hayhoe also chairs the Taxation Disciplinary Board and noted recent comments by Dan Neidle, the former Clifford Chance partner turned leading tax commentator, that “too many barristers are hiding behind the pretence they are neutral advisers when what they’re really doing is enabling quasi-criminal behaviour”.
Mr Hayhoe said: “The Post Office scandal and Dan Neidle’s allegations contribute to the case for constantly reminding professionals to maintain ethical standards and suggests, for example, that legal services regulators follow [Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales] which has increased emphasis on ethics within CPD for chartered accountants.”
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