By Neil Rose


Efforts to fast-track legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) into being on 1 March 2009 could be scuppered by government plans to submit the rules governing them to the Legal Services Consultative Panel.



The move could put a brake on plans by law firms of all sizes to bring into partnership other lawyers such as barristers and legal executives, as well as non-lawyers such as accountants and surveyors.



Legal services minister Bridget Prentice said she would be 'loath' not to seek the assistance of the panel, which advises the Lord Chancellor and was at the centre of controversy after taking two years to approve the Solicitors Code of Conduct. The fear is that this delay will be replicated with the LDP rules.



The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) admits that its 1 March target is tight. In an interview to be published next week in the Legal Executive Journal, Prentice said that while the date is 'probably realistic', the panel 'is an important part of looking at the rules'.



Prentice would not commit to a timeframe for its work, saying only that the panel would be aware of the importance of getting the LDP structure up and running as quickly as possible. She added: 'It's better we take a little bit longer and get it right, than we rush it and get it wrong. That won't help the consumer.'



SRA chairman Peter Williamson said he was looking forward to helping the panel meet the tight timetable for such vital measures.



Prentice also revealed that the government will pick up £2 million of the £32 million transition costs of setting up the new regulatory regime created by the Legal Services Act, of which £20 million will be for the Office for Legal Complaints. The Law Society will be expected to pick up £10 million, with the remaining £10 million to be split among the other legal bodies in proportion.



The government had originally said that the whole cost must be met by the profession.