The approval of a ‘toothless’ code of practice for non-lawyer will-writers can be viewed as both a step forward or a missed opportunity, depending on your outlook. We note that, in the very same week, the Scots have chosen to proceed with a system of ‘proper’ regulation that is set to include full protection for clients. ‘Wills should not be approached as being unimportant or peripheral documents,’ the Law Society of Scotland sagely observed.

In Scotland, the proposals will help ensure a level playing field following the introduction of alternative business structures. But as the council of the Law Society of England and Wales met this week to agree its own policy on ABSs, it was far from clear that the Legal Services Board is committed to a consistent regulatory approach south of the border. The board has said only that ABSs should be subject ‘as far as possible’ to the same consumer protection requirements as non-ABS firms. Why only ‘as far as possible’?

A report to council on ABSs alludes to the LSB’s seemingly unreconstructed approach to market liberalisation. Anyone who raises concerns is automatically assumed to be seeking to block ABSs, which is not a very helpful attitude at all. It is surely time that the board tempered what the same report describes as its ‘outdated belief in the infallible wisdom of the market’.