Legal services regulation should be built around specialist expertise, strong oversight and effective collaboration, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) says.
Responding to the Independent Public Bodies Review of the Legal Services Board (LSB), which called for greater collaboration among regulators and the creation of a shared framework, the SLC cautions against assuming a larger, centralised regulator will result in better outcomes for consumers.
SLC chairperson Simon Law said: “The review correctly identifies the need for effective regulation, strong oversight and greater focus on consumer outcomes. Those are objectives that the Society of Licensed Conveyancers fully supports.
“However, structural consolidation alone should not be mistaken for regulatory improvement. The answer is not simply to merge regulators together and assume that better outcomes will follow.
“Legal services today are vastly different from those that existed when the Legal Services Act 2007 was introduced. Conveyancing, probate, immigration, litigation, corporate law, digital identity assurance, cyber security and AI-enabled legal services each present distinct risks, challenges and consumer expectations.
“In an increasingly complex legal landscape, regulation should be built around expertise and specialism, supported by effective oversight, rather than centralisation.”
While the SLC welcomes the review’s recognition that regulatory oversight should be proportionate and reflect the differing scale, role and capacity of individual regulators, it believes the principle should be extended through a model of regulation by specialism.
Specialist regulators should focus on areas in which they possess deep market knowledge and expertise, the SLC said, operating within a coordinated framework that promotes consistency, intelligence sharing and consumer protection.
“Recent debate within the legal sector has highlighted the important role specialist regulators can play in identifying and responding to sector-specific risks,” the organisation explained.
“The conveyancing market faces unique challenges ranging from fraud and cybercrime to lender requirements, referral arrangements, anti-money laundering obligations and the government’s programme of home-buying reform. These issues require detailed expertise and active market engagement if consumers are to receive effective protection.
“The licensed conveyancing profession demonstrates why specialist regulation matters. Home moving remains one of the most important financial and legal transactions undertaken by consumers. The sector faces increasingly complex challenges, including fraud, cybercrime, financial crime prevention, lender risk management and digital transformation.
“These issues require regulators with genuine specialist knowledge and experience. A generalist regulatory model risks losing the expertise needed to protect consumers and maintain confidence in the home buying and selling process.”
The SLC has also backed the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which was criticised by the Legal Services Consumer Panel in a position paper released last week.
Law explained: “The CLC’s work in regulating conveyancing and probate demonstrates the value that specialist expertise can bring. The question should not be whether legal services are regulated by one organisation or several. The question should be which regulatory model delivers the best outcomes for consumers.
“In an increasingly complex legal services market, the answer is more likely to be regulation by specialism, supported by strong oversight and collaboration, rather than a move towards a single regulator responsible for every area of legal practice.”
The SLC said it will continue to engage with the Ministry of Justice on the future of legal regulation.
