Clients come first, says Deech

The Bar Standards Board (“BSB”) has been analysing the responses to its second consultation on the Act.  Speaking at the Bar Vocational Conference (“BVC”) conference in Harrogate on 9 July, Baroness Ruth Deech, chair of the BSB, said: “Since the closure of the consultation, [the BSB] has sought legal advice on some of the points of law raised. To ensure regulation in the interests of the client and the rule of law it is also commissioning limited research, modelling the likely outcomes of its proposed reforms on the profession, on the provision of legal services and, most importantly, on the consumer’s ability readily to obtain affordable access to justice.” The BSB will make its final decisions on reform in October.