The Legal Services Board has formally warned the Bar Standards Board over proposed changes to the bar’s ‘cab rank’ rule. It says in a letter that the LSB is ‘considering whether to refuse’ a rule change application submitted by the BSB in October 2011.

The new rule would allow barristers to turn down work from solicitors who refuse to sign up to the bar’s new contract terms, or who are on a new list of solicitors defaulting on counsel’s fees.

In a letter to the BSB’s chair, Lady Deech, LSB chief executive Chris Kenny said: ‘The board remains concerned with important aspects of the proposed changes including, but not limited to, the proportionality of the proposed change, the impact of potentially restricting the availability of the cab-rank rule and/or the terms on which solicitors instruct barristers, and the process by which the proposals have been developed.’

Among the LSB’s queries is a concern that the use of standard contract terms is ‘potentially prejudicial’ to promoting competition in the provision of services. The LSB said the condition for solicitors to sign up to the new terms is likely to inhibit incentives to negotiate on terms and price, and may restrict choice for the lay client.

On the proposed list of defaulting solicitors, which replaces the withdrawal of ­credit list, the LSB said that the ability to impose profession-wide measures against a law firm, in the potential context of a dispute with a single solicitor, does not promote consumer interests.