This month’s Board meeting coincided with the launch of our consultation on encouraging a diverse legal profession.
At the heart of this consultation is a simple but powerful principle: the legal profession should better reflect the society it serves. Greater diversity brings many advantages, not just for fairness, but also for improving the quality, reach, and relevance of legal services. It is also imperative for the sector’s continued economic growth that it has access to the widest range of talent.
At the moment, too many people face barriers to entering and thriving within the profession.
Regulation has a vital role to play in dismantling those barriers and creating the conditions for meaningful and measurable change. This is consistent with the statutory objective we share with the frontline regulators to encourage a diverse profession.
The draft policy that we have shared is based on a comprehensive case for change. It draws on research and data, lived experience and wide-ranging engagement, and best practice in regulation to identify outcomes and expectations that would support practical change.
My fellow Board members and I are delighted to share this work with the sector. I would like to thank everyone who has helped us reach this point, and I look forward to hearing what you think about these proposals, particularly how they would work in your practice area.
The consultation runs until 2 March 2026. We’re inviting you to respond to as many or as few questions as you wish, by email or by survey.
Our November meeting
We were joined, at the start of November’s Board meeting, by Chinwe Odimba-Chapman, Managing Partner for London at Clifford Chance. I would like to thank Chinwe for talking to us about her experience, specifically around how large City firms approach ethics. The conversation triggered many ideas, which we will draw on as we continue to develop our ethics policy, making sure that it will be fit for real-world practice.
There were, for me, three key topics from the rest of the meeting, which I will outline below. More information can be found in the Board papers themselves.
- LSB draft business plan and budget 2026/27
Later in December we will launch an 8-week consultation on our draft business plan and budget, as we do each year. I discussed our anticipated policy priorities back in my blog about September’s meeting, which will remain important themes for us in 2026/27.
We will share the consultation widely on its launch, and I look forward to both sharing our plans in detail and receiving your feedback.
- OLC draft budget 2026/27
One of our statutory responsibilities is to review and approve the annual budget of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), which administers the Legal Ombudsman (LeO). In November’s meeting, our task was to consider its proposed direction ahead of our formal consideration of its 2026/27 budget in March.
The context is challenging: the OLC continues to face a substantial and sustained increase in demand for its services. The backlog of investigations remains high. While the OLC is consulting on four possible options for increasing resources, the Board was clear that we need to see further development of its proposals for transforming the service. We asked for a clearer account of how any additional resources would translate into value-for-money and improved outcomes for consumers.
I would like to thank our colleagues at LeO and the OLC for their important work and ongoing commitment to delivering service improvements.
- Boardroom Apprentice scheme
November’s meeting was our last with Liz Marshall, our Boardroom Apprentice. Liz reflected on her experience with us, in turn prompting the Board to reflect on what we’ve learned. I’m grateful for the time and fresh perspectives that Liz has given to us and I very much look forward to seeing where she goes next. Thank you, Liz!
Catherine Brown
Interim Chair of the LSB
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