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Losers snooze
What will it take to rouse the legal profession from its slumber?
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) wants to regulate every reserved legal service allowed under the Legal Services Act 2007.
On 12 February, the institute launched a consultation to test the appetite of accountants while it puts together an application to become a regulator of conduct of litigation, rights of audience, reserved instrumental activities, notarial services, and administration of oaths.
The work of accountants in these areas will be restricted to tax but if the application
is successful, the effect on the legal profession could be profound.
Accountants may finally be able to claim legal professional privilege in their work -
a highly coveted distinction they have long said creates an unfair distortion in the market.
Furthermore, the move has the potential to shift the balance of 'fairness' in favour of accountants, as the ICAEW is both a professional body and a legal regulator.
It is unclear if the government was also pointing a finger at the body when it announced
a forthcoming consultation on separating legal service regulators from their professional bodies, but this seems unlikely.
Amid this growing encroachment on legal activities, the legal profession seems paralysed with uncertainty and unable to react.
The realisation must be made that consumers no longer deem it necessary to receive legal advice from a solicitor.
Since the ICAEW became authorised to license ABSs and regulate probate in August 2014, it has licensed over 180 accountancy firms to date.
The rise of DIY wills and divorces, McKenzie friends (lack of legal aid certainly plays a role in this too) increasing online solutions, and the holistic offering accountants can already provide is as loud as the wake-up call will ring.
Jonathan Smithers, president of the Law Society, recently made a rallying call and told law firms to set up ABSs to remain competitive in the new professional services marketplace.
Smithers has the right idea, but implementing it would require firms to do something they've never been good at - change.
The alarm bell is ringing loud and clear but the profession is unable or unwilling to be roused from its slumber.
Choosing to snooze only has one outcome.
Binyamin Ali is the editor of Private Client Adviser
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