After several years of prevarication, the Law Society of Scotland has voted by a large majority - 801 to 132 - to open up the country's legal services market to competition.

Legislation is expected to pass through the Scottish Parliament during the second half of 2009, which could see deregulation come into effect as early as 2010 - ahead of England and Wales.

That would enable Scottish-based firms to benefit from external ownership -; partnerships between solicitors and non-solicitors - and the entry of banks and supermarkets into the legal sector ahead of practices south of the border.

Douglas Connell, joint senior partner at Scots private client firm Turcan Connell and a leading campaigner for reform, believes Scotland now has the opportunity to go beyond the reforms due to be implemented in England and Wales in 2011/12, particularly where legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs) are concerned.

'I see no reason why Scotland cannot now take the lead, for example in the way that solicitor-controlled firms are structured,' he said. 'It is probable that there will be some flexibility in the composition of legal disciplinary partnerships, which could be extended to include a minority of non-lawyers.' This would suit Turcan Connell because it employs fund managers, tax specialists and financial planners alongside its lawyers. 'In England, the definition of an LDP is much tighter and is likely to be limited to solicitors and barristers combining together,' Connell added. The move was welcomed by Scottish law firms straddling the border, such as Dundas & Wilson, McGrigors and Maclay Murray & Spens, many of whom had threatened to relocate their head offices to England unless the Scottish society backed reform. Law Society of Scotland President Richard Henderson said: 'The profession was asked by the Scottish government to decide on its future direction, and I think that we have risen to that challenge.'

The Scottish government would not confirm the timing of legislation but a spokesman said 'we are keen to make rapid progress'. The Law Society of Scotland accepted the need for reform after the Office of Fair Trading upheld a super-complaint from Which?, the consumers' association. Which? argued that protectionist barriers within the legal profession were hindering competition, restricting choice and driving up fees.