Society to consult over reform plans

By Sue Allen

Solicitors are to be consulted in the next few months regarding a raft of LawSociety reforms, including a proposal for a lay commissioner-led scheme tohandle complaints of poor service.

The consultation was given the green light by the Law Society council at its meeting last week.

The terms of the consultation paper - which propose reforms aimed at improving democracy and efficiency across the Society - will be settled by the council at its October meeting.

At last week's meeting, council members heard that the consultation would ask the profession for its views on the 'polluter pays' principle in relation to the funding of complaints handling.

The council also passed a resolution that 'any change to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors will not impede its drive for greater efficiency and effectiveness'.

The resolution also said the consultation paper would propose 'a renewed commitment to the upholding of standards of the profession and to excellence in the processing of both service and conduct complaints'.

Bill Heaselgrave, chairman of the change management task force at the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS), said he had an 'open mind' about a lay commissioner, but said the role must be 'clearly defined' and its relationship with the OSS clearly understood.

Kevin Martin, chairman of the Law Society's compliance and supervision committee, said he was concerned that any lay commissioner should be independently appointed and should not set back the 'very significant progress' that had been made at the OSS.

Former Law Society president Martin Mears said any proposals for a lay commissioner should be costed if the profession were expected to pay.

Other proposed reforms would see the Council meeting less often, but taking the major decisions.

It would increase in size from 75 to about 100 members, divided on a 50:50 or 60:40 basis between regional and special interest groups.

Additional seats for solicitors from areas including minorities, industry, European and worldwide practice, academe and practice areas were also suggested.

The proposals could also result in redesignation of the Law Society'sfunctions, each of which would be supervised by a board, chaired by a council member.

A new executive board - comprising Law Society office holders, the five new board chairmen and key heads of staff - is also proposed to act as a 'cabinet'.