Four key challenges facing legal regulators

The legal world is changing fast, and regulators need to change too as they face new challenges and more demanding consumers. Regulation needs to champion consumer needs, promote competition, and be tailored to the needs of individual professionals. Against that background, I would identify four key challenges facing regulators today.

1. Equality and diversity: Regulators have a pivotal role in promoting diversity, and not just in holding up a mirror to the profession and reporting back on diversity statistics. As the LSB states, 'approved regulators and regulatory bodies must meet the regulatory objective – to encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession. A diverse population of consumers and users of legal services requires a diverse legal profession.' We need a regulatory system that reflects the needs of the country. For example, CILEX professionals are among the most diverse parts of the legal sector today with over 75% being women, 50% did not attend university, and 80% saying they would not have had a career in the legal profession without CILEX. Regulators play an important role in opening up routes to the law through promoting inclusive training and education, helping law firms understand and implement good practice, and working with others to understand the impact on those using legal services. Last year we published our first ever EDI Strategy and will be shortly reporting back on progress. 

2. Changing consumer behaviour: Consumers too are changing, being more cost conscious, more diverse, more likely to complain, and rightly wanting legal providers to tailor services to their needs. Regulators need to respond so that consumers obtain the right information about the services available to them, and its cost not least since many are at their most vulnerable when they need legal help. Alongside other regulators, CILEx Regulation Ltd (CRL) has supported the Legal Choices website providing comprehensive information to consumers, and also promoted transparency of pricing.

3. Economic turbulence: The coming period will continue to be beset by a tough economic climate for all legal providers, and it is essential for all regulators to show they are providing value for money. Having delivered a £73 reduction in real terms in the PCF over the last seven years, we are committed to continue to bear down on costs while improving quality.

4. Technology: Already technology is changing the way law firms operate, consumers interact with them, and the roles available to CILEX professionals. It is crucial we understand these changes, and the CRL Board recently agreed to support research by the Legal Regulators Forum for further work this year.

Over the last few months, there has been a significant spotlight shone on these issues in our own debate around changes to regulatory structures following CILEX floating the option of moving regulatory responsibility for CILEX professionals from CRL to the SRA. We welcome this debate, and following the consultation we issued last month, will be setting out our plans in the coming weeks and months. But whatever the outcome of that debate, including the important legal issues it raises, it is important that legal regulation acts on these challenges and sets in place some important building blocks for the future. These should include ensuring that the regulatory system is rooted in the members’ experience and expertise, that the regulatory community is engaged and supportive, and above all that any changes to regulation are made openly, based on evidence. Our focus should be on providing value for money and promoting greater competition and consumer choice.

Jonathan Rees is chair of CILEx Regulation Ltd