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Come Join Us!

Come Join Us!

Membership of Tees Valley Law Society offers opportunities whether you are a qualified solicitor or other legal professional, or you are in the early stages of training.

Members are offered discounted rates for all of our training events, which are held locally and at the end of the working day to ensure the least disruption to you, your firm and your clients. We hold regular networking and social events where members can come together informally to discuss issues within the profession, but more importantly to share ideas.

Membership of TVLS is about offering support whether formally through involvement of the Council or more informally by sharing ideas about best practice with other firms. By becoming a member of TVLS there are opportunities to become involved in the running of the Society, whether through membership of Council or Committees or in a more informal role.

The application process is quick and simple and membership is great value. Join us today.

Legal Services Board

Legal Services Board

The Legal Services Board (LSB) published its “vision for legislative reform of the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales” on 12 September 2016. The LSB’s main proposals include:

  • A single consolidated regulator
  • Revision of the regulatory objectives - there should be an overarching objective to safeguard the public interest with the possibility of further secondary or subordinate objectives.
  • An independent and risk-based review of the regulated activities - this would include services such as immigration advice which are not reserved but viewed as legal services.
  • Regulation should be based on activity not professional title. Award of title should not return to professional bodies as the LSB has concerns it may lead to 'gold-plating' of entry standards, less competition, less consumer choice and a rolling back of liberalising reforms.
  • Independence – regulation should be structurally, legally and culturally independent of the professions and government. The LSB suggests regulators be accountable to Parliament with a role for the National Audit Office in scrutinising regulation.
  • Consumer representation – there should be a general duty on the regulator(s) to consult and engage with consumers to help promote a consumer-focused regulatory culture. There should be an independent sector-specific consumer voice to ensure consumer representation.

The report can be found here (PDF). The Law Society also published a press release in response to these changes which states that the proposals to overhaul regulation of the legal sector are mis-timed given the uncertainty that exists already due to Brexit, and the fact that the CMA market study in still ongoing.

Further to the Law Society’s submission to the CMA following its interim report, they attended a roundtable discussion with the CMA and other stakeholders on Friday (16th September). The roundtable discussion focused on exploring the proposed remedies the CMA are considering, with the majority of the session focused on transparency and consumer information.