Martin Shaw – whose closest connection to the legal profession hitherto has been playing the eponymous role in BBC television series Judge John Deed -- warned yesterday that recent legislation allowing non-lawyer ownership of law firms runs the risk of creating a legal profession of ‘the lowest common denominator’.

Butcher’s lament

His remarks – made to England’s Criminal Bar Association – fall against the backdrop of an increasingly long queue of applications for alternative business structure licences. The reforms allow not only outside capital to be injected into law firms, but also for solicitors and barristers to form partnerships, effectively ending the jurisdiction’s long held split legal profession.
In his speech, as reported by the London Evening Standard newspaper, Mr Shaw warned: ‘Industrial scale rather than personal service will be the order of the day. Never mind the lament for the high street butcher, cheesemonger, baker, ironmonger. You'll struggle to find a high street solicitor before long. How is he going to survive if BeastCoLegal can offer advocacy on the same basis that Tesco sells sugar?’

Increased competition

Ironically, it is not the most recent reforms – brought onto the statute books by the Legal Services Act 2007 – that are causing difficulties for Mr Shaw’s audience. The criminal bar, which is suffering considerably in England, is more affected by the gradual affects of 20-year-old legislation that granted solicitor-advocates the right to appear before higher courts, creating increased competition for their services.
In addition, all criminal advocates have been hit by cuts to Britain’s legal aid budget and eligibility levels imposed by successive governments over the last generation.