Lockton met with Chantel Gaber, newly appointed Head of Member of Engagement in England & Wales for the Law Society of Scotland, and spoke to her about her role, and the recently announced consultation into solicitor regulation north of the border.
"I am the first full time London-based member of staff, and having originally studied law I am fascinated to return to the sector, following a period working in property finance and NGOs. This is an exciting time for the Law Society of Scotland and we are eager to hear from members based outside of Scotland.
One initial area of work for me is to encourage Scottish solicitors in England and Wales(and firms with Scottish-regulated operations) to respond to the current consultations on entity and principles based regulation.
The consultation documents are available on the Law Society website and responses should either be sent to Philip Yelland at consultation@lawscot.org.uk by 10th October 2014 or via the online survey available on the website.
These consultations concern significant changes to the way Scottish solicitors are regulated in the 21st Century and within the spirit of leading and supporting a successful, respected legal profession the Law Society is considering whether the way that Scottish solicitors are regulated now remains the right approach going forward.
The consultations focus on two separate reforms;
Entity Regulation and Charging
The current model of regulation, including professional practice and discipline, focuses on individual solicitors. We are consulting on the option of moving towards a hybrid system, with a greater focus on regulating legal firms or entities. We also consider how our system of charging might need to change from any new approach through a new entity charge and reduced practising certificate fee.
Principles and Outcomes Focused Regulation
The Law Society currently sets practice rules for regulating the professional practice, conduct and discipline of solicitors. We are consulting on the option of moving towards a different system which is based on principle and outcomes - closer to the current SRA Outcomes Focussed Regulation model.
We would particularly value input from Scottish solicitors with an experience of SRA regulation. We may implement these ideas in a different way, but learning from their experiences will be key.
If you are a Scottish solicitor working in England I'd love to hear from you with ideas for how we can improve are work on your behalf."
You can contact Chantel at: chantelgaber@lawscot.org.uk.