A year of Clementi, criminals and QCs

New bar council chairman Guy Mansfield QC tells Philip Hoult that responding to the clementi review is just one of many tough issues on his plate over the next 12 months

There can be few chairmen of the Bar Council who can have endured a baptism of fire quite as hot as the one Guy Mansfield QC has been through.


As he took up the post, the 55-year-old professional negligence specialist from 1 Crown Office Row was tasked with responding to Sir David Clementi's report on the legal profession.

It cannot have made good reading - if anyone got a kicking in the report, it was the bar.

Much of Mr Mansfield's year as chairman, unsurprisingly, is likely to be taken up with the aftermath. But he leaves you in little doubt that the council will be making strenuous efforts to 'narrow the issues down' - water down, critics might say - before a White Paper is published. Many of the questions to Sir David at his post-publication press conference centred around whether he expected the bar to scupper his report through lobbying Whitehall.


On regulation, Mr Mansfield says he has 'no problem in principle' with the separation of regulatory and representative functions. The council's professional conduct and complaints committee is already ring-fenced and 'if it needs a bit more fencing, then we will do it'.


He also defends the decision not to consider potential models of governance in advance, rejecting the suggestion that it showed the bar was reluctant to change. 'We took the view that until Clementi had produced his report, there was no point,' he says.


Mr Mansfield even sees some advantages in a new system, particularly if it is faster than the current regime where it took 20 months to get approval for the changes on direct access.


Mr Mansfield says he can also understand the logic in having all complaints against lawyers processed through the proposed office for legal complaints. However, he foresees complaints against barristers being sucked into the vortex created by those against solicitors. 'Our fear is that the change will actually lead to delay and expense,' he claims.


Of even greater concern are the proposals for the introduction of legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) and, in particular, for outside investment in law firms.


'We do not have theological objections to LDPs, but we do not think it is a good thing for barristers acting as referral advocates to go into them,' Mr Mansfield says, insisting that the chambers system provides choice, flexibility and lower overheads.


Should LDPs get the go-ahead, however, then the regulation must be based on 'the highest common factor, not the lowest common denominator'.


On the even more vexed issue of outside ownership, his predecessor Stephen Irwin QC warned it could lead to criminals and terrorists taking over law firms. Mr Mansfield denies this is scaremongering, insisting that the task of regulating ownership and investment will be extremely complex.



'If the RAC does get involved, they will want to keep their good name,' he says. 'But not all investors will be of the same calibre.' A ruthless businessman, for example, may be able to exert leverage on the management of a small firm by threatening to withdraw his stake.


Above all, though, the new chairman is worried that these reforms will have a negative impact on the bar's culture. 'In opening things up, you have to take great care not to lose the existing culture of good practice and integrity - once you lose that it is very difficult to get it back again.'


But there is life beyond Clementi. Another key battleground is the future of public funding. 'It is no good having a right if you cannot exercise that right,' he says, adding that morale is low in this branch of the profession.


In criminal work, for example, there is 'a real issue' about cases lasting one to ten days in the Crown Court - where counsel's rates are based on those set in 1995 - while in family he is concerned about proposals to make divorcing parties borrow against the security of their home, rather than see the legal aid fund take a charge over the property recovered.


Paying below the odds in these practice areas is effectively discrimination against female and ethnic minority barristers, he says. 'Ultimately, that means you are not going to have the diverse pool of recruits to the judiciary,' he warns, and the vulnerable and socially excluded are not going to have the representation they need.


However, Mr Mansfield stresses that while demanding better pay, the bar will work with the Legal Services Commission on how to make the most of what money is available, pointing to pilot schemes where chambers have been providing housing law advice to not-for-profit organisations as an example of its willingness to be innovative.


That campaign is an important part of what Mr Mansfield sees as another of his main aims - promoting an effective system of justice.


The profession has a key role in guarding against 'disproportionate measures' put forward by government, he says. 'You have to ask yourself whether any proposal is a reasonable and proper response. Will it be effective and what will its cost be both financially and to society?' Proposals such as ID cards and the removal of jury trials in terrorist cases should be measured against these benchmarks, he says.


On the positive side, this year will also see the re-introduction of the QC system.


'We are still working through the mechanics,' says Mr Mansfield. 'The moment we have got that sorted, we will start work with the Law Society on a mark of similar standing for lawyers who reach a standard of excellence in areas not involving advocacy. It is important that whatever skills you recognise, you do it effectively, fairly and transparently.'


There will also be a marketing drive to promote public access, which the new chairman sees as an increasingly important opportunity for the bar.


He admits that 12 months is rarely long enough to meet the challenges of leading the legal profession. 'We often do not have a finished product for the year [in office],' Mr Mansfield says. 'What I want to do is build on what we have been doing and build for the future.'