The Bar Standards Board will decide the role barristers will be allowed to have in new legal structures in November, it announced today.

By then, it says, it will have analysed the results of research it commissioned into the benefits to consumers of the various different business models permitted by the Legal Services Act 2007.

But it says it will consult further before making a decision on whether it should become a regulator of the new business entities, examining the cost implications and the likely take-up by the bar of the new practice structures permitted.

The BSB has been examining the regulatory implications of the new business structures permitted by the act, which include alternative business structures (ABSs) and legal disciplinary practices (LDPs).

Following its consultations on the issue, in November it will decide whether barristers should be permitted to be partners or shareholders of LDPs, and whether they should be allowed to remain independent practitioners at the same time.

BSB chairwoman Ruth Deech said: ‘Any new regime for ABSs and LDPs must be based on a clear assessment of the way in which the different scenarios for the provision of legal services meet the regulatory objectives.’

‘By commissioning the Europe Economics research we will have to hand the evidence needed to underpin effective decision-making. Supporting regulatory objectives and guaranteeing quality legal services to the client lie at the heart of the decision-making process.’