Obiter notes with alarm the assertion by certain bigwigs of the bar that the lord chancellor is sympathetic to the culling of the Legal Services Board.

We are not worried so much about how eight junior regulators, ranging in size from the Solicitors Regulation Authority down to the Association of Costs Lawyers, would manage without a ‘mummy’ regulator to keep them in line. Nor are we worried that the landlord of Victoria House (above) ‘a stunning neoclassical landmark’ providing ‘contemporary accommodation within an opulent structure’ will go to rack and ruin if one of its prestigious tenants is given the chop.

No, what keeps Obiter up at night is the prospect of the board fighting back. Even when the going is good, the LSB is not known for the brevity of its publications – its recent baseline report on the Legal Services Act ran to 109 pages, and even its strategic plan 43-odd. What will its output be like when it is straining every sinew to prove its worth? Will the infrastructure of the internet cope with the traffic?

With this in mind, Obiter looks forward to attending the inaugural meeting of Save Our Board (SOB). Suggestions for a suitable venue to obiter@lawsociety.org.uk