Lord Hunt's interim thoughts

On 5 May Lord Hunt launched his Initial Response to Evidence submitted to his Review of regulation of the solicitors profession.

Lord Hunt's interim report focuses upon the appropriate priorities for both the new regulatory structure and the professional body, operating  independently of one another under the aegis of the Law Society and enjoying "parity of esteem", as they work to promulgate the highest possible standards of integrity and professionalism amongst solicitors and their firms in all sectors.

In his Initial Response, Lord Hunt agrees with many aspects of the Smedley Report into the regulation of corporate law firms, whilst reserving his position at this stage about the best way forward. He is currently minded to recommend a system of "mandatory self-regulation", backed up with penalties that would be "extremely severe - both for firms and for individuals".

Another significant interim recommendation is that the regulator should take a far greater interest not only in the services provided by law firms, but also in the robustness of their internal governance arrangements. "I believe this would mark a great leap forward, marking a break with the SRA's complaints-led culture,” says Lord Hunt.

Questioning what the ideal regulatory test for ABSs may be, Lord Hunt says "It's not how different their practices are from the best practices in traditional law firms, but how akin to them they can successfully aspire to be. Certainly there must be no question of the SRA being forced to regulate ABSs until it feels genuinely confident about its ability to do so, to the highest standards."

"I want to see clear, principle-based regulatory requirements, allied with a modern professional code and the authoritative promulgation of best practice in internal governance. The best practitioners should not be looking tremulously down for fear of failing to satisfy the basic standards set by a regulator; they should be aiming high, aspiring to satisfy and ultimately exceed the highest professional standards," writes Lord Hunt at the conclusion of this 22-page paper. Further responses to the Review would be very welcome indeed.