Unification of the Legal Profession Robert Ryan provides an overview commentary on two recent Legal Services Regulatory Authority Reports which address the unification of the legal profession, legal education and training
T
he Legal Services Regulatory Authority [“the Authority”] has very recently published two Reports under Section 34 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 [“the 2015 Act”] entitled: • Greater than the Sum of its Parts? Consideration of Unification of the Solicitors’ Profession and Barristers’ Profession [“the Unification Report”]; and • Setting Standards. Legal Practitioner Education and Training [“the Education Report”]. Each Report is dated 30th September 2020, was published on 19th November 2020, and is available to view on: www.lsra.ie/publications. By way of overview, the substantive conclusion of the Unification Report is that there should not be unification of the solicitors’ profession and barristers’ profession; and the substantive conclusion of the Education Report is that there should be Standard Setting for Legal Practitioner Education and Training. Those conclusions accord with the submissions of the DSBA to the Authority on each topic, and which have been extensively referenced by the Authority in both Reports. In a press release dated 19th November 2020 issued by the Department of Justice headed “Minister McEntee to reform legal education and remove barriers to becoming a solicitor or barrister”, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee welcomed both Reports. The Minister made no specific comment in the press release on the Unification Report, but did state in relation to the Education Report that she “was committed to working with the LSRA to drive reform of legal education”. The Minister also stated that she had now called upon the Authority to prepare a report focusing on the financial and administrative barriers that aspiring lawyers face at the outset of their careers, and to make recommendations for change in that regard.
12 the Parchment
Unification The Unification Report (125 pages) analyses the question as to whether there should be unification of the solicitors’ profession with the barristers’ profession. The analysis is applied across the five headings of examination provided for under Section 34 of the 2015 Act – as to the public interest, competition, administration of justice, the consumer interest, and other matters considered appropriate by the Authority. The Unification Report draws on relevant research in Ireland and in other comparable jurisdictions, as well as (extensively) on the various submissions received in response to its consultation on unification (the DSBA being one of the ten bodies listed as having made a submission, and the only solicitors’ bar association to do so). Most of the submissions advocate against unification of the solicitors’ profession with the barristers’ profession, and it appears for much the same reasons. As to whether any such unification might provide lower costs for consumers of legal services, both the Law Society and the DSBA expressed the view that this would require a full economic analysis, with the DSBA adding that reform of the court listing system might also be necessary. The Authority evidently hoped [para. 4.10] it would have received more submissions and from a wider stakeholder base (such as consumer, business and public sector entities or groups which are users of legal services). The absence of other such submissions might be indicative of unification not being regarded at large as necessary. In any event, having considered all relevant aspects, the Authority concluded that “there is a lack of compelling evidence to support a recommendation that the profession be unified” [para. 6.54].
