The Scottish Government

Law Society Admission Ceremony

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson

Law Society of Scotland

Admission ceremony

March 19, 2004

Thank you President for your kind introduction. I'm delighted to have been invited to talk to you today at the outset of your careers. Naturally, I want to start by congratulating all of you all on your success. It takes a lot of determination, hard work and resilience to get as far as you have today. You deserve this ceremony and all the accolades you will receive.

But I'd also like to congratulate your family and your friends too. I know how much commitment and sacrifice can lie behind your presence here today. I know too the genuine pleasure which your relatives and friends rightly feel on such an occasion. I hope your careers will be rewarding and satisfying.

It's usual on these occasions to tell you not to work too hard. Or in 'Executive-speak', to watch your work-life balance. It's good advice too, so do enjoy your work, but please remember to keep up your other personal interests and don't forget your family and friends now! - people who know me would at this point tell me to take my own advice.

You might expect that a Justice Minister who comes to give you this address will be a lawyer herself. Not so. My own studies were fine art, art therapy and social work, I spent a number of years working for who cares Scotland- an advocacy organised for young people in care. In those days I often worked closely with solicitors.

I learned to recognise the common ground between the professions. People come to you at vulnerable points in their lives. They place their trust in you to help them find solutions to their problems. We need to be worthy of their trust. That lays great responsibility on the professional to provide the best quality service possible.

Another thing the social work and legal professions have in common is that they both get bad press on occasion. Social workers can be criticised for intervening too early, too late or not at all. Solicitors can be criticised when they offer unwelcome advice to their clients, even when that advice is well-judged. The public perception can be unfairly critical however high the standards and however rare the lapses from those standards.

I'm now first and foremost a politician. Not an obvious career choice if you wish to avoid criticism, and I have to accept it goes with the territory. So what do I want to achieve as Justice Minister ? My aim is to reform and modernise the justice system so that people who use the system, even if only once in their lives, find it a positive experience. I want to make the justice system more user friendly and accessible to ordinary people.

Our legal system is a vital public service. Each and every day those working in the justice system whether social workers, solicitors or judges protect individual rights, settle day-to-day disputes and ensure that crimes against person or property are punished. This strong and enduring system has been a cornerstone of Scottish life for centuries.

We need to ensure public confidence in that system. And in your profession too which acts as a link between the public and the justice system. These are aims which can only be achieved by working very closely with the key players, including your own professional body.

There's much to be proud of in our justice system. But society is changing and public scrutiny is high. The national and international context is ever more complex and challenging. That is why we must continue to change and reform to better meet the challenges of modern laws and modern life.

Customer attitudes are changing. Customers today demand more choice. Better prices. Higher quality. And they also expect that when they have a complaint about the services they have received that it's responded to quickly and effectively.

Professional people need to learn how to deal well with a complaint. To avoid the prickly defensive response and injured professional pride. To see complaints as an opportunity to be self-critical and check whether professional service and standards need to be improved. To seek conciliation and, if things have gone wrong, to offer redress. Good complaints procedures and a pride in dealing with complaints at source are the hallmarks of a responsible professional firm.

We need to know more about what people want from the legal system. We already know that there are unmet demands for access to justice.That too many people can abandon legal problems without any resolution. We need to think how to make legal services more accessible to users.

If people could access legal services in their local shopping centre would there be a surge in demand because legal services were available in a familiar setting ?

As we know more about the needs of customers, we need to ensure that services can be provided to customers in a way which properly protects their interests. The core values of the lawyer, independence, avoidance of conflict of interest and confidentiality cannot be ignored when new business structures are contemplated. The lessons of Enron and Arthur Anderson cannot be ignored.

You enter a profession today that is in essence self-regulating. Parliament gave your professional body a dual role - to promote the interests of both the profession and the public. As you can imagine, these are challenging responsibilities. Some are concerned that this creates conflict of interest, but I do not think this need be the case. I see the Society's role in promoting the public interest as compatible with the calling of solicitors to promote the interests of their customers.

The public who use legal services deserve centre stage. They deserve centre stage when the business interests of your practice weigh heavy on your minds. They deserve centre stage when the disciplinary processes of your profession are engaged. Satisfied customers make good business sense too.

Let's have a look at current influences affecting your profession. The first source is close to home, our own Parliament. Devolution has changed the environment in which Scottish lawyers work and enhanced the opportunities available to lawyers. The law used to be relatively static. But nowadays it is evolving quickly. Our Parliament is doing sterling work in modernising our law and making it relevant to Scotlandin the twenty-first century.

In its first session our Parliament's Justice 1 Committee inquired into regulation of the legal profession. The Committee's main interest was in the way the profession handle complaints, which it perceived to be the main source of public concern. The Committee also looked at the general arrangement by which the legal profession regulates itself. The Committee concluded that the best option for Scotlandwas to retain self-regulation. But it also recommended that the present system should be reformed to make it more acceptable to consumers and more representative of the public interest.

The reform process is already underway, and I congratulate the Society for their progress in implementing some of the Committee's key recommendations. Some recommendations need further consultation and possibly legislative change.

I am happy to confirm my commitment to take forward a programme of reform based on the Committee's work. Its purpose will be to place the interests of users of legal services at the heart of regulatory arrangements. And to increase accountability, transparency and public confidence. These reforms will be developed in close consultation with the professional bodies to ensure they are well targeted.

There are other developments too. The European Commission has been reviewing competition in the professions and the legal profession in particular. The Commission believes that more competition is a spur to wealth creation and has been studying the economic impact of professional regulation in member states. Its report published last month requires member states to review professional rules and identify any that might hinder effective competition.

An important part of the contemporary scene is the lively and far-reaching debate about regulatory issues going on in our neighbouring jurisdiction to the south. It began when the Office of Fair Trading challenged restrictions on competition in the legal profession in EnglandandWales.

The process was taken forward by extensive consultation. It led to the announcement by the Lord Chancellor last summer of an independent review of the regulation of the legal services market south of the border. The review is led by Sir David Clementi, chairman of the Prudential. Its aim is to promote competition and innovation in the provision of legal services and to improve services for the customer. Sir David is to deliver his recommendations by the end of this year.

The review team published a consultation paper this March which seeks views on a range of options for improving the regulatory framework inEnglandandWales. At one end of the spectrum it suggests a Legal Services Authority, on the lines of the Financial Services Authority.

Such an agency would regulate all providers of legal services, would be completely independent and would end self-regulation in EnglandandWales. At the other end of the spectrum the option suggested is that self regulation should be retained but a Legal Services Board would be set up to absorb the existing regulatory functions of the Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls and others.

The review team invites views on multi-disciplinary practices, though recognises concerns about how such practices would be regulated. The different ethical codes for solicitors, accountants, and auditors for example vary widely in the values they represent.

There is also what is commonly called Tesco law. This is the idea that non-legal businesses might employ solicitors to give advice direct to the public. I know that Tesco are slightly bemused by this appropriation of their name as they have no intention to offer such services. Other companies such as the RAC are showing signs of interest in being able to offer legal services to their customers.

The review will be looking at whether changes in the delivery of legal services might satisfy unmet customer needs. It will be looking at ways to increase competition in interests of users. It will be bearing in mind at all times the need to safeguard the public interest, to keep consumer protection to the fore and to maintain the core values of the lawyer.

As you can see the scenery is changing. As Justice Minister I wish to study these developments and assess whether they have implications for Scotland. Our first step is the logical one of acquiring an evidence basis on which to formulate policy. We are commissioning research into the legal services market in Scotlandto that end. The research is to be guided by a Working Group which includes representatives of consumer interests and the legal professional bodies.

The group will be chaired by the Justice Department and include senior academic researchers working in the fields of law, economics and consumer rights. Once the findings are available, we will initiate discussions and consultation. We wish to ensure we are taking the opportunity of devolution to develop policies which suit Scottish circumstances and the Scottish market.

With all these developments in play, it would be premature to predict the extent of reform which might be needed inScotland. But I am happy to explain the principles on which the Executive will proceed. The market for legal services has traditionally been regulated by the legal profession itself, and to a lesser extent by public policy. The status quo is often considered to be primarily in the interests of the legal professional, rather than the user of legal services.

We wish to put the user of legal services at the heart of regulatory arrangements, we wish to promote competition and competitiveness, working closely with professional bodies, consumer interests and the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman.

The legal services market is important to the Scottish economy. We wish Scottish solicitors to be able to participate in multi-national practices with solicitors from other jurisdictions and are preparing legislation for that purpose.

We want Scottish solicitors to have the opportunity to work alongside foreign lawyers. We want them to be able to offer a comprehensive service to their clients with business interests worldwide. The ability of our law firms to provide advice on the law in a number of jurisdictions helps encourage inward investment too.

Conclusion

As you will see, there is a lively dialogue underway about regulation of your profession and the ways in which legal services might be delivered in the future. It is not just a debate for politicians and professional bodies, the issues are for you as tomorrow's lawyers and consumers too. I hope I've got you thinking about the future. In a time of change I am in no doubt that your core values must be integrity, independence and confidentiality and that these should remain the hallmarks of your profession.

I hope you enjoy the rest of today with your family and friends and will embark on your careers with a sense of excitement and challenge and a commitment to service, both of your customers and the justice system.

In a decade or two or perhaps sooner you will be the decision makers. You have the opportunity, the skills and the training to make a difference, to serve people and to contribute to society. Teachers and trainers open the door but you enter by yourselves. Thank you for listening to me on this important day in your lives and my best wishes to you all for your future.