Neighbours in the global village

This month saw me at the Annual Conference of the Law Society in England and Wales in Birmingham and at the International Bar Association meeting in Auckland.

The impending report of Sir David Clementi into the regulation of legal services in England and Wales, which is due to be published by Christmas, was noteworthy for its lack of prominence at the English conference. A stark contrast to the IBA where we had a day session on the topic, opened by a video conference with Sir David himself.

It is quite apparent that the very concept of treating lawyers as mere providers of legal services is one which causes much greater concern to the international legal community than to the Council or Secretariat of LSEW, who appear sanguine about the changes which this might bring about and require. It was stirring to hear speakers from Africa, other developing countries and countries from the former Soviet bloc reinforce the need for independence from government to fulfil the very evocatively expressed role as the “voice of the voiceless”. In our relatively comfortable secure democracy it is too easy for us to forget the vital role which lawyers play in maintaining the rule of law and restraining the state.

Speculation about Clementi’s recommendations at this stage is perhaps of little benefit, but his report will clearly have reverberations across the international community. The Scottish Executive is rightly committed to finding Scottish solutions for Scottish issues, but depending on the nature of the Clementi proposals there may be a risk of significant read-across. Watch this space, as they say.

Both conferences again had much to say about pro bono and corporate social responsibility. It is timely that Council is going to consider a scoping paper which a working party has researched as to how the Law Society can best address these issues in Scotland.

Strategic planning – something much talked about for legal and other businesses – was in my view very helpfully defined by one of the speakers at the IBA as “working out a way to make your business more competitive and to make more money”. I entirely support the IBA line that there is no conflict between the aim of upholding the lawyer’s core values of competence, independence, professional ethical standards, protection of client confidential information and loyalty to the client through the avoidance of conflicts of interest, and lawyers obtaining financial reward for their efforts. Thinking how such a definition might be modified to be applicable to the recently published Strategic Review on the Delivery of Legal Aid, Advice and Information in Scotland, including the role of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, gives some food for thought.

This Review is clearly an important document and one which will require to be examined closely and considered thoughtfully. I fully intend that we shall consult widely in framing the Society’s response to the Review and the forthcoming consultation paper from the Executive which is to be published shortly.

I hope that all your firms have completed your Master Policy renewal process successfully. The Master Policy, of which we can be rightly proud and which is much envied in many other jurisdictions, is undergoing a formal review by the Office of Fair Trading. We have had little feedback about the investigation or how long it will take, but I should warn you that if the OFT does seek to close the Master Policy there will be substantial ramifications, not least of which will be a much more time consuming and difficult renewal process for your firm.

It was good to meet the Chief Justice of Tonga while in New Zealand: for those of you who, like me, had missed the appointment, Robin Webster who was latterly an employment tribunal chairman sitting in Edinburgh was appointed Chief Justice of Tonga in June of this year.

The Chief Justice has stamped his authority on matters by recently determining in a judicial review brought by 173 plaintiffs that Tonga’s controversial media laws were invalid. The reach of Scots lawyers in this global village goes further and further, as Ken Baddon recently stepped down from Council to take up appointment as Attorney General to St Helena. I would take this opportunity to thank him for all his sterling efforts on Council and for the enormous contribution which he made.