The long-awaited Legal Services Regulation Bill is expected to be signed into law by the end of the year, after a four-year incubation period. It will bring in a regulatory authority , a disciplinary tribunal for lawyers, and an independent legal costs adjudicator, all aimed at reducing legal costs and improving accountability.The measures aimed at bringing more transparency to legal costs, and giving the public ready access to an independent complaints mechanism will be widely welcomed. But it remains open to question whether the Bill will lead to a significant reduction in legal costs, which remain stubbornly high despite the recession.
Reform of legal services was first mooted in the 2010 memorandum of understanding with the EU-IMF. The subsequent Bill, published by then minister for justice Alan Shatter in 2011, quickly ran into criticism and stalled. The criticisms, mainly from lawyers, included that the Bill severely compromised the profession's independence and that the regulation measures could lead to increased costs. Of 56 operative sections in the Bill, 21 required ministerial approval, with both the proposed legal services regulatory authority and the disciplinary tribunal for lawyers having majorities of Government nominees.
This level of Government oversight was substantially reduced by the current Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, who has also long-fingered the Bill's proposals to establish legal partnerships, direct access to barristers and multi-disciplinary practices. Proposals to make costs more transparent and establish a regulatory authority and a disciplinary tribunal remain, but will not be subject to Government control. These amendments have ensured the Bill now has the broad support of the legal professions.
Whether the Bill when enacted will lead to significant cuts in legal costs for the public is doubtful. In recent years the courts have seen a substantial rise in the number of personal litigants, as individuals cannot afford legal representation. The civil legal aid scheme is woefully inadequate and does not cover many areas, including those involving debt. New structures for the legal profession, whether legal partnerships or multi-disciplinary ones, are unlikely to address the needs of many litigants, though they could benefit large companies which require regular access to comprehensive legal and financial services.
The reasons for high legal costs go beyond the structures and regulation of the professions and include a court system bedevilled by frequent adjournments resulting in multiple court appearances by litigants and lawyers. Delays in criminal and civil cases are endemic, leading to repeated brief appearances as the court is updated on the state of preparation of cases. The Government may yet have to revisit the issue of costs and consider wider, deeper reform of the legal system.