The introduction of multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs) and so-called Tesco Law could be fast-tracked ahead of the Clementi review, the Lord Chancellor revealed this week.

In the first address by a Lord Chancellor to the Law Society Council, Lord Falconer said: 'We must not let the welcome fact of the work of the Clementi review put a stop to all progress in the meantime.

We need to work together to examine areas where change for the consumer's benefit can be delivered in the short and medium term.

'Multi-disciplinary partnerships, the role of employed solicitors, the probate market - these are just some of the areas we should look at quickly and imaginatively to see how we can respond rapidly to consumers' needs whilst, of course, ensuring that their interests are properly protected.'

David Clementi has been charged with finding a regulatory model that would accommodate MDPs and what Lord Falconer called Tesco Law, but speaking later to the Gazette, the Lord Chancellor said 'we won't need to necessarily wait until the Clementi review is completed' at the end of 2004.

'The Law Society could come up with a way to do it without waiting,' he said.

The Society has taken legal advice which indicates that primary legislation would be required.

It would be relatively simple to introduce non-lawyer involvement in incorporated practices - whether used for MDPs or the employed solicitor model - as they have separate legal identities and the Law Society already has the power to regulate the entire incorporated practice.

It would be more complicated to introduce a partnership version.

This is because the Society regulates the individuals in a partnership, and the Solicitors Act 1974 would require more detailed changes to reflect its control over non-solicitors.

The Society has been told there could be regulatory problems if it shared regulation of MDPs with the different professional bodies of non-lawyer partners.

Lord Falconer acknowledged the view of Helen Cousins, who represents the Society's probate section, that there must be proper regulation of non-solicitor providers in the liberalisation of the probate market.

In a largesly conciliatory speech during which Lord Falconer sought to recognise the work of solicitors and the Law Society, while also urging them to improve further - especially in the field of customer care, he confirmed that there is 'unlikely to be any increase in funding' for legal aid.

Calling for greater efforts to ensure a diverse profession, he added that ways to drive down the cost of qualifying should be considered, and expressed concern at the availability of training contracts.

See [2003] Gazette, 19 December, page 10

By Neil Rose