LSB chief executive joins the exodus of regulation heads

The exodus of leading figures from legal regulators has continued with the resignation of the Legal Services Board’s chief executive.

Craig Westwood will leave the oversight regulator this summer after deciding to step down due to personal considerations. He had been in the post for just over a year.

The LSB is already operating with an interim chair following the departure of Alan Kershaw earlier this year, also for personal reasons. Kathryn Stone, chair of the Bar Standards Board, is leaving this summer, while the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s chief executive Paul Philip is departing later this year.

The LSB has had an unusually high profile in the past year, taking enforcement action against the SRA over its handling of the Axiom Ince collapse. The oversight regulator is also in the middle of an investigation into how the SRA dealt with the failure of Sheffield claims firm SSB Law.

The LSB was highly critical of the solicitors’ regulator in a regulatory performance assessment earlier this year, saying the SRA’s delivery was ‘insufficient’ for authorisation, supervision and enforcement.

Under Westwood’s leadership, the LSB has also taken a prominent role in legal ethics, consulting on ways to stem what it perceives as a fall in standards across the profession.

But the LSB has also been censured itself: in her outgoing speech last month, Stone said its board and executive ‘are no more experienced’ than the boards and executives they are overseeing. She added: 'Oversight gives responsibility, but it does not, in itself, give sharper insight into, or greater care for, the public interest. Still less does it give a better understanding of the challenges of front-line regulation.'

Announcing Westwood's resignation, LSB interim chair Catherine Brown thanked the CEO for his efforts during what she called a ‘demanding year’.

‘Craig will leave the LSB in a strong position to continue delivering effective regulation in the public interest,’ added Brown.

The LSB will run a formal recruitment process to appoint a permanent chief executive. Richard Orpin, director of regulation and policy, has been appointed interim chief executive. Danielle Viall, general counsel, has been appointed interim deputy chief executive and general counsel.