Your article, ‘Bar regulator "in stone age" over LDPs’ focuses on the views expressed by a sole practitioner who claims that ‘the Bar Standards Board is "single-handedly frustrating government policy" by its tardiness in changing rules to permit barristers to join legal disciplinary practices’ (see [2009] Gazette, 9 April, 3). This is simply not the case.

The BSB, as regulator, is committed to implementing improvements for the benefit of the profession and consumers. Far from frustrating the will of parliament, the BSB is currently examining the issues relating to barristers working as managers and as employees in LDPs, and issued a consultation paper on this in December 2008. The paper proposes that barristers should be able to join an LDP as either an employee or a manager.

It must be right that the BSB considers very seriously every aspect of its suggested recommendations with regard to LDPs before implementing what are once-in-a-generation changes. This is vital to ensure that any changes: are truly in accordance with the intentions and regulatory objectives of the act; improve access to justice; and impact positively on both the profession and the users of barristers’ services.

Getting this blend right is not an easy task, but it is one which must be undertaken thoroughly and sensitively. The BSB has consulted the profession twice on the implementation of the act, and anticipates being able to report to the board in either June or July. Any recommended changes will require amendments to the bar’s code of conduct. They will also need to be considered by the Ministry of Justice. This process can take up to six months.

The BSB is aware of the pressures and expectations in the legal services market and will consider interim arrangements to expedite permitting barristers to participate in the new business structures pending formal change of the code, should that be the recommendation following the consultation.

Ruth Deech, Chair, Bar Standards Board