Sir David Clementi's proposed reform of the regulation of legal services is undeniably a great staging post in the history of the legal professions in England and Wales. But forget about its impact on the Law Society, the Bar Council; forget about the prospect of legal disciplinary partnerships and the potential of non-lawyer ownership of law firms; forget about its almost implicit support for the fusion of the legal professions. There is one shocking story that so far has remained uncovered, but now Obiter can reveal. The proposals are about to trigger a battle royal between Sir David, the government and the Church of England. Owing to inherited Roman legal tradition, the Archbishop of Canterbury is part of what Sir David described as the 'regulatory maze' in as much as he is responsible for the oversight of notaries. It emerged at the IBA conference that the current archbishop, Rowan Williams, finds the role a fascinating one and is not that keen at all on giving it up. Get your bets down now on how this titanic Celtic battle pans out, with the Scottish Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, going toe to toe in the forthcoming draft bill with the Welsh top dog at the Church of England.