Abstract
AbstractThis article explores the process and impact of liberalisation on the legal profession in England and Wales. Liberalisation brings a tendency to consider the profession in market-focused terms, with the professional–client relationship reconfigured in overtly economic fashion as constituting the interaction of supply and demand. The article examines the past and present structure of the profession, arguments for liberalisation and manifestations of liberalisation efforts. Having identified the distinctive dynamics of supply and demand within legal services markets, the article considers the potential implications, both immediate and in broader societal terms, of reconceptualising the legal profession in this manner.
Highlights
The legal profession in England and Wales has a long complex history.[2]
The second difficulty is similar to that encountered in the context of the free competition argument: regardless of how effectively competition develops within legal services markets, a sizeable subset of – typically the most vulnerable among – the population remains outside its reach
The extent to which such arguments are plausible and legitimate takes us into delicate political territory beyond the scope of this article; yet the parallel movement towards marketisation of legal aid remains an important component of the transformation of the legal profession which informs our analysis
Summary
The legal profession in England and Wales has a long complex history.[2]. Typically viewed as a bastion of privilege and tradition, from the mid-twentieth century onwards it underwent rapid and notable change: remarkable expansion in numbers, followed by liberalisation which effected far-reaching alterations to rules for entry and practice. The article offers an original perspective on the contemporary profession: aiming both to explain the process of liberalisation on its own – overtly market-focused – terms, and critically to appraise the transformation of the lawyer from counsellor to competitor to date. Comes a tendency to view the profession in market-oriented terms The former professional–client relationship is reconfigured, in explicitly economic fashion, as constituting the interaction of forces of supply and demand for legal services. The article describes and explores the distinctive dynamics of supply and demand within contemporary legal services markets. It considers the potential implications of reconceptualising the legal system and the profession in explicitly economic terms.
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