Background
18.In 2001 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)(1) published a report recommending that rules governing the legal professions should be subject to competition law and that unjustified restrictions on competition be removed. Following this, the Government carried out a consultation, and published a report into competition and regulation in the legal services market.(2)
19.In 2003 Sir David Clementi was appointed by the Government to conduct an independent review of the regulation of legal services. He found that many areas were in need of restructuring and development, and agreed with the Government’s earlier conclusion that the current regulatory framework was “inflexible, outdated and over-complex”.(3) Sir David highlighted concerns about the current:
	regulatory framework,
	complaints handling systems, and
	restrictive nature of business structures.
20.In October 2005 the Government published a White Paper, The Future of Legal Services: Putting Consumers First.(4) The White Paper set an agenda for reforming the delivery of legal services. It proposed a new regulatory framework that would direct regulation to those areas where it is needed:
““We will create a Legal Services Board, an Office for Legal Complaints and we will take steps to enable firms to provide services under alternative business structures to those presently available.””
21.The draft Legal Services Bill was published in May 2006 and was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament. The Joint Committee reported in July 2006, and the Government published its response to this in September of the same year.