Work arising from Competition and Markets Authority legal services market study

On 13 January 2016 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market study into legal services to see if they are working well for consumers and business. The market study examined three key issues:

  • Whether customers can drive effective competition by making informed purchasing decisions
  • Whether customers are adequately protected from potential harm or can obtain satisfactory redress if legal services go wrong
  • How regulation and the regulatory framework impact on competition for the supply of legal services.

The CMA’s final report was published on 15 December 2016. Further details of the CMA study can be found on their website: Legal services market study.

The CMA made a specific recommendation to the LSB that it:

  • Monitors and engages with the frontline regulators on their progress in implementing the CMA’s recommendations directed to them
  • Reports publicly, at appropriate intervals, on the sufficiency of action plans published by regulators individually and collectively and the progress in delivering those action plans
  • Takes appropriate action where regulators fail to address information gaps.

We have agreed to this recommendation and published a document which explains how we will deliver it. You can find this document below.

The LSB engaged with the CMA throughout its market study. In particular, we made a series of announcements and made written submissions to the CMA at different stages, which you can find below.