Scottish legal services research

The CMA researched aspects of the Scottish legal services market to support the Scottish Government’s response to the Roberton Review.

From:
Competition and Markets Authority
Published
10 October 2019
Last updated
9 August 2023 — See all updates
Case type:
Markets
Case state:
Closed
Market sector:
Distribution and service industries
Opened:
17 June 2019

Contact

ScotLegalServices@cma.gov.uk

Personal information

The CMA may collect, use and share personal information (personal data) for its statutory functions under the Enterprise Act 2002. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

For more information about how the CMA handles personal information, please see the CMA’s Personal Information Charter.

The CMA has responded to the Scottish Government’s Call for Views on the Bill that will introduce regulatory reform for the legal services market in Scotland. In its response, the CMA draws on the issues on which it has previously undertaken research and analysis, including its views on what an effective regulatory model for the legal services sector in Scotland should look like.

The CMA will continue to work with the Scottish Government as policy discussions on the Bill progress.

The CMA has published a response to the Scottish Government consultation on legal services regulation reform. We consider that an optimal regulatory framework would have a clear overall objective, be independent, targeted, flexible, proportionate and clear in scope, enforceable and consistent. As explained in our response, we support the primary recommendation of the Roberton Report, for the introduction of a regulatory model in Scotland which ensures that the regulator is independent of the representative bodies. We therefore support the option proposed by the Scottish Government that delivers that full independence.

Research report

24 March 2020: The CMA has today published its research report into certain aspects of the Scottish legal services sector. This includes a range of recommendations to the Scottish Government and sector regulators.

Launch of research project

17 June 2019: The CMA announced it is undertaking research into certain aspects of the Scottish legal services market. This work will provide evidence to assist the Scottish Government in determining how to take forward the recommendations made by the Roberton Review, an Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation in Scotland.

This work will examine whether there is evidence of a similar lack of competition among legal services providers in Scotland, as previously found in England and Wales by a CMA market study into the supply of legal services in England and Wales.

The research will also focus on:

  • the benefits of independent regulation of legal services in Scotland and whether the current institutional arrangement - where the bodies regulating the professions are also those representing and lobbying for them - dampens competition
  • the impact of the current legal services regulatory framework in Scotland on competition, particularly on innovation and the entry of new business models to the market.

The CMA intends to publish its findings in early 2020.

As part of its research, the CMA is currently engaging with a wide range of stakeholders including the regulators of legal services in Scotland, legal professionals and consumer bodies. The CMA has also commissioned IFF Research to conduct a survey of solicitor firms in Scotland on its behalf in autumn 2019.

CMA response to the Roberton Review

The CMA has also published a response to the Roberton Review. The CMA welcomed the Review and its contribution to the debate on future regulation in the sector.

Updates to this page

Published 10 October 2019
Last updated 9 August 2023 + show all updates

  1. CMA response to the Scottish Government’s Call for Views published

  2. Response to Scottish Government consultation on legal services regulation in Scotland published.

  3. Research report published.

  4. First published.

Contents