Law Society attacks BSB's plans to relax Bar's public access rules

The Law Society has criticised the Bar Standards Board's (BSB's) plans to allow barristers with less than three years' experience to accept work directly from the public, without supervision. The Law Society claims that the removal of the three-year rule is a regulatory risk that could potentially damage the public interest.

The BSB views the rule that barristers must be supervised until three years after qualification as impractical, but the Law Society has argued that newly-qualified barristers may overestimate their competence during the early stages of their careers, thus making them more likely to overlook mistakes. As reported in the Law Society Gazette, the BSB's stance has prompted calls for close supervision of inexperienced barristers to ensure, in the interests of all, that their work is to the required standard.

The Law Society has not extended its opposition to the BSB's stance regarding inexperienced barristers accepting work from clients who are entitled to public funding, recognising that the benefits of choice and access to justice may outweigh regulatory concerns. The Law Society did however insist that there needs to be "clear and enforceable safeguards" where newly-qualified barristers are providing legal aid.

A Law Society statement expressed the organisation's concerns about the BSB's considerations in clear terms: "The society believes that removing the three-year rule, and to do so without providing supervision requirements, is an abdication of regulatory responsibility and places the public at risk. It also dubbed the BSB's plans "astonishing" and evidence of a "surprising lack of knowledge" about the reality of the way chambers' operate.