The BSB deferred making any decision on allowing members of the Bar to work in alternative business structures (“ABS”), until the effects of the transitional LDP regime have been assessed. Further consultation will take place next year. Commenting on the announcements the Chairman of the BSB, Baroness Deech, said: “The Board’s decision today is of considerable signifi - cance for the future of legal services provision in England and Wales. It represents the culmination of more than two years’ careful consideration of the issues, guided by the overriding concern to regulate in the public interest.”

The Bar Council welcomed the decision. The Chairman elect of the Bar, Nicholas Green QC, said: “The BSB’s decisions represent an historic moment for the Bar. Th e BSB has spent an enormous amount of time considering possible changes in the structure of legal practice in order to address liberalisation of the legal services market. Th e care with which they have investigated the issues refl ects
the importance of the BSB’s decisions.”