The Legal Services Board (LSB) has refused the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ application to regulate conveyancers conducting litigation and advocacy.

The LSB said it had not granted the application 'on the grounds that the CLC lacks the legal power to make rules and regulations that would allow it to authorise entities for these activities and failed to demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the specific risks of the new activities'.

The CLC is an approved regulator for the reserved legal activities of reserved instrument activities, probate activities and the administration of oaths. In February 2011 it applied to the LSB to extend the reach of its regulatory activities. That application was supported by the Office of Fair trading and the Legal Services Consumer Panel, but opposed by the Law Society and the lord chief justice.

In response, the LSB said the CLC had demonstrated that it a ‘good regulator’ of the activities it is currently permitted to regulate, but said it had ‘not demonstrated that it has completed a detailed risk analysis for the new activities.’ This meant that the LSB ‘could not say that it was satisfied that the regulatory arrangements were appropriate nor that the CLC had sufficient competence and capacity to be a regulator of these activities,’ said the LSB.

The LSB’s chief executive, Chris Kenny (pictured), said in a letter that the LSB would be willing to work with the CLC to resolve issues raised in the rejection. Responding to the refusal, the CLC said it was disappointed but that it would continue to work towards its plans to regulate litigation and advocacy services.

CLC chair Anna Bradley said: ‘The LSB’s willingness to work with us to address the issues they have identified is very welcome and gives us comfort that we will be granted approval in due course.

‘Whilst we believe it has always been the intention of parliament to permit such an extension of scope, we acknowledge that amendment of the legislation will provide clarity on this point,’ she said.

Bradley added that widening consumer access to legal services ‘remains the CLC’s primary focus. We believe a successful application to regulate litigation and advocacy services will create the regulatory conditions for increased consumer choice and a more competitive marketplace.’

Meanwhile, Bradley told the Gazette that the CLC expects to grant its second alternative business structure licence in the next couple of weeks. It became the first legal regulator to license an ABS in October 2011, when Premier Property Lawyers became the first ABS in the UK under the Legal Services Act.

The regulator is also working through ABS applications form 40 LDPs, currently regulated by the CLC, who have until April 2013 to change their status.

In addition she said the CLC has been approached by a wide range of organisations looking to be regulated by it, including some currently regulated by the SRA, and has several live ABS applications in the pipeline.